Lake Poway — Local services in Poway

The lake itself is clear, clean, and beautiful. It's surrounded by beautiful mountains and has a very nice park. There is vibrant wild life with bald eagles, osprey, cormorants. and pelicans that can frequently be seen snagging fish from the lake. Lots of ducks, geese, coots, and other water fowl hang out near the dock as visitors frequently feed them. The concession/tackle shop is well stocked, reasonably priced and the clerks and park rangers are friendly. The daily fishing permit prices are cheaper than other local lakes in SD County and you don't need a State Fishing License to fish here, just the daily lake permit. Parking fee is waived for those who are going to be purchasing a daily fishing permit. However... that's extent of the positives that I can share. The hordes of hikers that head out from the park parking lot are constantly screaming and yelling as they hike the trail that follows the lake shoreline. Their noise echos across the entire lake. If you love obnoxious, immature young teens to middle age men running back and forth along of the shore chasing a school of fish while casting over and in-between your lines and not respecting your space, then this is the place for you. Not even joking, my wife and I had our poles no further than 8' apart and we had not one, not two, but three different occasions of other fishermen deciding it was perfectly acceptable for them to run up and cast out in-between our poles to try to catch a fish from a school of trout passing by. Apparently it's too much to wait on one side of the other of other fisherman to cast out and try to catch a fish from the passing school. Then there's the bass fisherman in the boats that aren't supossed to be closer than 100' to the shore. They are regularly 50' or closer and cast their large noisy lure right on top of where shore fisherman have their lines cast. Good luck catching any trout when a large bass lure hits the water making a loud SLAP right above your bait followed by the flapping and splashing sounds as it's reeled back into the boat. I've been fishing all over the state of CA and in many other states and I've never seen the level of disrespect for other fisherman that I've seen at Lake Poway. Even fisherman at Santee Lakes show more respect for fellow fisherman. I thought it might have been a one time thing, but I've been to this lake 3 times for a day of fishing and it's happened each time. Don't go to this lake looking for a peaceful relaxing day of fishing. I will not ever be returning to Lake Poway for a day of fishing as the experiences I've had each of the 3 times I've been there are intolerable. I wish I could give Lake Poway more stars, but because I go to the lake for fishing, I can not based on my horrible experiences there. It's certainly not a fault of the lake, but rather the other visitors. I've never run into these issues on such a consistent basis anywhere else I have ever fished in my...

Nice-size scenic fishing lake, surrounded by chaparral & rock-covered mountains, with plenty of winter-time trout stocked here. I went with my son & grandsons for the Kid's Trout Derby at Lake Poway, on 2/5/22. Word definitely got out on this promotion, creating what I call "Combat Fishing," elbow to elbow kids & their dads, all around the lake.

I saw Bald Eagles & Ospreys hunting & finding some of the unluckier trout in this lake, which picked the wrong time to rise to the surface. Lots of ducks of varying species, coots, Cormorants & White Pelicans, floated atop the glassy water here, as well.

There's a wide dirt walking trail that circles the lake, as well as multiple slender, rough & hilly trails closer to the water. There was some aquatic vegetation you could clearly see, on the lake bottom. This is something to strategize for, if you're bait fishing, when determining your leader lengths.

Power Bait worked a bit, but by far the most successful method, in catching these rainbow trout, was casting mini shad jigs & spinner lures, on light line. The kids who perfected these methods with lures, were the ones carrying large stringers of fish.

I saw several aluminum boats on the lake, so I assume they operate a boat rental here, if you're inclined to use...

Lake Poway is one of my favorite places in SD. I walked around the lake several times. It took 4 hours at first and I was able to reduce time to 3 hours. There are bikers too so be mindful and share the road.

If you don't have the energy to hike, there's a lot of benches to sit on and just enjoy the serene view. You can also bring food and have a picnic with family and friends. Bring a mat and read a book, there's a wide area with trees and it's cool and shady.

Trout fishing is available depending on the season. Boats are available for rent. There's also a lot of ducks living in the lake. There's a playground for kids as well.

There's a vending machine to buy snacks and beverages. I believe the snack bar is open only on schedule so check their website or better yet, bring your own snacks/food.

You can also get to the Potato Chip Rock via the Mt. Woodsoon Trail, the trailhead is a few miles from the...