5 Best Fishing Spots In Orange County

Orange County boasts some of the best fishing in Southern California. There are so many places you can go fishing in Orange County. You can go fishing along the Orange County coastline, go sport fishing and whale watching from Dana Point, or utilize any of the community park lakes. Everyone 16 and up must have a fishing license. Click here to find licensing requirements and fees.

Here are the five places I have found to enjoy fishing in Orange County. This is no particular order. My choices are based on the ease of parking, no large crowds, and good cleaning stations.

Carbon Canyon Regional Park

Carbon Canyon Regional Park has a 4-acre lake with two piers for fishing. The regional park lake is stocked with rainbow trout during the late winter months and catfish during the warmer months. The regional park has 3 acres of coastal redwoods and trails for hiking and biking. A fishing license is required. There are few shelters throughout the park lake.

Address: 4442 Carbon Canyon Rd. Brea, Ca. 92823

Eisenhower Park and Lake

A beautiful park located west of Orange Hills. The 16-acre lake has hatchery trout fishing usually stocked by mid of late winter. It is stocked with catfish by early spring. There are plenty of walking paths and plenty of space to find great fishing spots around the lake. I find the park is still great to fish in early fall. A fishing license is required.

Address: 400 N. Main St Orange, Ca. 92868

Irvine Lake

I love this fishing spot in Orange County. Irvine lake is great because they have more variety of fish species. Most fishing holes in Orange County have trout and catfish. Irvine lake has trout and catfish. They also have bluegill, crappie, carp, largemouth bass, and sturgeon. The only drawback with fishing in Irvine lake is all the special angling rules and limited fishing hours. Other than that it is a great place to fish.

Address: 4621 E Santiago Canyon Rd. Silverado, Ca. 92676

Laguna Niguel Regional Park

Also known as Sulphur Creek Reservoir. Laguna Niguel Regional Park is a 44-acre lake that has trout fishing, carp, crappie, catfish, and big largemouth bass stocked in the lake. It is a beautiful lake with ample parking, cleaning stations, and plenty of good spots around the lake to use your best bait. The park lake has picnic areas, hiking trails, and biking trails. A fishing license is required.

Address: 28241 La Paz Rd Laguna Niguel, Ca. 92677

San Clemente Pier

San Clemente pier is one of my favorite pier fishing spots for the Pacific ocean. A fishing license is not required. If you don’t feel like booking charter boats pier fishing on San Clemente’s pier can be pretty fun and relaxing. I have caught mackerel and a stingray. I have read anglers have caught baby great whites, black sea bass, yellowfin croakers, queenfish, bat ray, and sheepshead. There are plenty of cleaning stations and bait stores in the area.

Address: 601 Avenida Victoria San Clemente, Ca. 92672

FYI

There are two times of year in Orange County when you can fish for free without a license. It is the Saturday of the 4th of July weekend and the Saturday of the Labor day weekend. So if you want to see if you have any passion for angling that is the best time to go.

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5 Best Fishing Spots In Orange County

Table of Contents

Carbon Canyon Regional Park

Eisenhower Park and Lake

Irvine Lake

Laguna Niguel Regional Park

San Clemente Pier

FYI

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