The Land of Disney is also home to a handful of park lakes that can offer very good seasonal fishing.
This article specifically looks at freshwater lakes where you can fish in and near Anaheim and nearby communities, including Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Orange, Placentia, and Yorba Linda, where I grew up and learned to fish in several of the following spots.
These lakes are places where you might catch the rainbow trout that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) regularly plants during the cooler months and channel catfish might be stocked spring into early fall.
You might also catch largemouth bass, bluegill, bullhead catfish and other species found year-round in local waters in some of these lakes.
After the locations, I’ve included links to even more places to go fishing in and around Orange County and a few tips that will help you catch more fish.
Carbon Canyon Regional Park
Located about 10 minutes east of Brea, I remember heading up here as a kid with a baggie of cut mackerel and catching channel catfish.
The lake is probably even more popular in the cooler months of fall and winter, particularly after CFW stocked hatchery trout. That can happen multiple times per season, given good conditions and fish availability.
Additional amenities at the regional park include picnicking, sports courts, and even a nature trail to the county’s only grove of redwood trees.
The park’s website offers more information.
Clark Regional Park Lake
Ralph B. Clark Regional Park Lake will also be most popular when trout are stocked in the fall and winter.
The Buena Park lake, located along Rosencrans Avenue, is the centerpiece of a park that offers a range of outdoor amenities, including picnic tables, an open lawn, trails, and sports facilities such as softball fields and tennis and volleyball courts.
Expect the fishing in the three-acre pond to be excellent in short bursts after the stocking truck makes a delivery. With promising water conditions and fish supplies, this can begin in the fall and continue every so often into the winter.
Catfish have also been stocked in the lake at times.
See the Ralph Clark Regional Park website for fees and other information.
Eisenhower Park Lake
This is one of the city parks my family came to when it was trout-stocking season, and it remains true for fishing families today.
This is a 16-acre lake at the north end of the city of Orange, located within a great picnicking park.
As with other OC lakes, Eisenhower may be stocked with trout during the cooler months, beginning in mid-to-late fall and potentially continuing into the winter. That’s when the water here will be cold enough to sustain trout long enough to be caught.
Catfish also have been stocked at Eisenhower Lake at times, and you might find other warm-water gamefish as well.
The park is just west of the Costa Mesa Freeway (SR-55).
See the Eisenhower Park website for more information.
Laguna Lake
I remember catching bluegill after bluegill in this Fullerton park lake decades ago, but it appears to be less weed-choked these days.
This lake also is on the stocking schedule during the cooler months. That season might begin by November and continue into the winter with periodic plantings of hatchery trout.
Catfish may also be stocked, and some other warm-water fish species may be present as well.
Some reports suggest that some largemouth bass here can grow large feeding on freshly stocked trout, so if you want to catch the trout before they do, try to get there soon after stocking. Or bring some large trout-pattern swimbait lures and see if you can catch (and release) a trophy bass.
Laguna Lake is in neighborhoods on the north side of Fullerton, just south of La Habra.
There is a small parking area at the south end of Clarion Drive and walk-in access from Lakeside Drive and Lakeview Drive. There’s also a walking trail along one side.
Tri-City Park Lake
This 8-acre lake is also commonly known as Anaheim Union Reservoir.
Whatever you call it, trout anglers call on it for good catches soon after it’s stocked with hatchery fish, which can occur periodically during cooler months.
Species such as catfish and bluegill might take up the slack when trout fishing fades soon after the final planting, as waters warm up.
It’s located in Tri-City Regional Park off North Kraemer Boulevard, on the northern border of Placentia near Brea.
See the park’s website for more information.
Yorba Regional Park Lakes
Don’t get me started about that summer night long ago when a buddy and I caught catfish nearly every cast and failed to meet my dad at the rendezvous spot.
Indeed, this large park on the northern bank of the Santa Ana River in the Anaheim Hills area of Anaheim can offer very good fishing at times in its chain of small lakes.
Trout are likely to be stocked when the water temperature and quality are right, which could start in the late fall and continue periodically through much of the winter.
Catfish fishing is likely to take the spotlight starting with a planting of channel catfish in the spring and perhaps a couple more times in the summer to early fall.
This park stretches for more than a mile and is also excellent for picnics, walks and bike rides along its many trails. The park’s website has the details.
Catch More Fish
Check out our easy fishing guides for: