What Is The Best Place To Live In California?

[BasshunterJGH]

Kind of a random topic, but I'm just curious:). If you could live anywhere in California which city/town would you choose with great bass fishing and a good mix of lakes in the area? What is your favorite lake in California? I'm not moving anywhere (at least for a few more years) but like I said I'm just wondering.

[Slade House]

If i could afford to I'd live on Lake Sherwood , but i  can't afford to do that yet. so i'd live on westlake village , and fish Lake castias.  Ive fished Castaic, Pyramid , Diamond Valley, and none of them compare to lake casitas for the ability to consisently produce fish I catch 5-8lbs , period.  its because its so close to the ocean and its underwater topography and its pristine wilderness area.  all other lakes are like mcdonalds to me. so iu'd live in Oak View right near lake casitas 

[benthinkin]

I would live a little more northeast than where I am now. You would have Clear Lake, Lake Sonoma, and Lake Berryesa all within an hour of each other, as well as access to the ocean for salt water. On a side note the delta would probably be 2 hours away. Some of the best variety of fishing all within a couple hours of each other.

[bmlum415]

Maybe a bit north of me, I'm 2 hours away from the delta and motherlode lakes. Could be nice to live closer to clear lake or bullards.

[RSM789]

I'd say go the other direction, south towards San Diego.  Some of the towns between San Diego proper & the Orange County line are really nice.  There are plenty of lakes that have kicked out huge DD bass as well as many other small watersheds in the hills that most people don't know about or fish.  The weather in this area is probably the most "non-factor" weather in the entire country, so rarely would a trip get wiped out due to weather. 

 

That said, while I haven't fished a lot of lakes in California, my favorite so far was the Delta.

[WRB]

Right where I live!

Tom

[SDbassin]

well, my family just moved to north san diego, and diamond valley is about an hour away, lakes hodges is 20 min and probably 5 or 6 good bass lakes within an hour drive. I haven't really fished any other lakes in Ca tho, but san diego bass are usually good sized, this summer I didn't catch anything smaller than 2-3 pounds, even though the water level in our lakes are dropping like crazy. GIVE ME RAIN!!!!!!!!!

[BasshunterJGH]

Right where I live!

Tom

Where's that? L.A.?

[WRB]

Where's that? L.A.?

Ventura county

[gulfcaptain]

I live in the LA area.  But honestly if I could move, I'd go to Texas.  Yes the fishing is good in CA, but the traffic is horrid, the cost of living is outragous.  But yeah the fishing's good.

[WRB]

I live in the LA area.  But honestly if I could move, I'd go to Texas.  Yes the fishing is good in CA, but the traffic is horrid, the cost of living is outragous.  But yeah the fishing's good.

Texas is full of Texans and the weather sucks!

Our politics, taxes and traffic sucks, can't beat the weather and the bass fishing is OK.

[RSM789]

Texas is full of Texans and the weather sucks!

Our politics, taxes and traffic sucks, can't beat the weather and the bass fishing is OK.

I can put up with the Texans (at least the ones in Wimberley http://www.cityofwimberley.com/ where my sister lives); they are friendly & there aren't many of them (which probably explains the friendliness). 

 

Texas weather does have more extremes than ours, but it isn't necessarily bad.  When you compare anyplace to coastal So Cal & our "non-factor" weather, the other places lose bad.

 

The deal breaker in my family with Texas would be the bugs.  Again, I can live with them, but my wife would look like she had permanent goose bumps if we lived there.  Those little critters find her very appetizing. 

 

But if you can get access to those private ponds & lakes on the various ranches, the bass fishing will make you forget the negatives...

[BasshunterJGH]

I think Chester Ca near Lake Almanor would be a nice place to live. Great fishing and hunting with lots of good bass lakes in the area, and of course Almanor. Demographics look nice (at least for California) lol. Texas sounds great besides the weather, but then Chester probably gets pretty cold!

[benthinkin]

I think Chester Ca near Lake Almanor would be a nice place to live. Great fishing and hunting with lots of good bass lakes in the area, and of course Almanor. Demographics look nice (at least for California) lol. Texas sounds great besides the weather, but then Chester probably gets pretty cold!

good smallie fishing on almanor

[gulfcaptain]

Texas is full of Texans and the weather sucks!

Our politics, taxes and traffic sucks, can't beat the weather and the bass fishing is OK.

No, it's full of Texans and people who moved from California..lol.  But yes the other is true.  But I have to say, working in the South (Texas/Louisiana), most are some of the nicest people I've ever met.  But the bugs are bad, the weather....and all 4 seasons. But have to agree, our bass fishing is OK.

[fisherrw]

probably redding.. you are a hour from trinity lake right next to wiskeytown and shasta plus only a few hours to clear lake...

[WRB]

No, it's full of Texans and people who moved from California..lol. But yes the other is true. But I have to say, working in the South (Texas/Louisiana), most are some of the nicest people I've ever met. But the bugs are bad, the weather....and all 4 seasons. But have to agree, our bass fishing is OK.

Texas bass fishing is excellent, too bad it's in Texas, no mountains, flat, cold windy winters, hot with high humidity and bugs in the summer. You can find friendly folks everywhere and Texans are good people.

California has phenomenal small towns near good bass fishing located from SoCal to NorCal, the problem is cost of living or making a living in those small towns.

Chico is a mid size college town, Paradise locate near Chico being a small town in the foothills, both near good bass lakes and the Delta. Towns like Chester are dotted all throughout California and the reason I live here.

Tom

[BasshunterJGH]

I always thought Alabama would be a nice place to live. Haven't been there, but it seems like compared to Texas the weather would be a little better and less people. Plus mountains in some areas. How's the fishing compared to Texas?

[AndrewJ]

On 12/7/2014 at 10:53 AM, fisherrw said:

probably redding.. you are a hour from trinity lake right next to wiskeytown and shasta plus only a few hours to clear lake...

I like the Redding area.  As mention you are 30 mins from Shasta (where it is easy to have 50-75 fish days), 15 mins from Whiskeytown (where there is huge spotted bass, a 10+ lbs spot was caught this month) and then you are within 2 hours of both Trinity, Oroville, and the Afterbay. 

[Caliyak]

My top 2:

Vallejo CA to get the northern pigs

Ventura CA to get the southern pigs

[blckshirt98]

You didn't mention if you were specifically talking about bass fishing, or if you could afford to live anywhere in California, but assuming you mean fishing opportunities in general and that you can afford anywhere, I'd go with -

Saltwater Emphasis - Southern California - San Diego - access to Mission Bay and the surf, and the boats out of San Diego for offshore.  Saltwater fishing in SoCal is light years above NorCal because of the warmer water and number of different species you can catch.  San Diego has has a lot more freshwater options(water levels notwithstanding) for LMB than Los Angeles or the Central Coast, including the famed Barrett Reservoir.  A close runner up would be Dana Point - walking distance to surf/jetty fishing, all the San Diego locations are a short drive away, access to some of the freshwater inland places (Elsinore, Diamond Valley), dingy rentals out of Newport Harbor, offshore charters from San Diego all the way up through Los Angeles, a couple of trout options in Irvine, and even Big Bear two hours way to get into the mountains and even better trout fishing.

Freshwater Emphasis - Northern California - Discovery Bay - small man-made community where you tie up your boat in your own private dock at the back of the house and you can fish the CA Delta whenever you want, without needing to go through inspections or wait for a marina/ramp to open.  Lake Berryessa, Folsom Lake, and many of the Mother Lode lakes in the Sierra Nevadas are less than two hours away. There's a lot of trout/freshwater options in Contra Costa County only an hour away (Los Vaqueros, Del Valle, San Pablo Reservoir, among many others),, and you have tons of shoreline access for saltwater 1-2 hours away in San Francisco Bay and up and down the coast from Santa Cruz up to Bodega Bay.  But really, with Discovery Bay you're in a nice community on the freaking CA Delta, where you can fish every day for your entire life and never fish the same spot twice.

[Slade House]

if i could i would live at this house in Ojai, CA .  its literally less than a mile from Lake Casitas and it also happens to have its own private lake on the property . only 4 million dollars but you get a lot of acerage and some horse stables and such