Southern California Reservoirs
Target species: Largemouth bass
January avg. temps: 64 high, 45 low
Round-trip airfare to Los Angeles: $295
Accommodations: Camping at about $20 per night

Dozens of small lakes and reservoirs in Southern California hold huge bass. Most are in the vicinity of Los Angeles and San Diego, where the weather is warm enough to allow fishing all winter. Many lakes are stocked with rainbow trout, which are like candy bars for the potbellied largemouths. Castaic Lake and Lake Casitas both offer plenty of water (2,500 surface acres each), are famous for lunkers, and have campsites available. For an excellent descriptive listing of these and other regional bass waters, including some fishing reports, see westernbass.com/scalifornia/featured.

--John Merwin