Lake Nacimiento | Santa Margarita Lake | Lake San Antonio

Lake Nacimiento

Nestled in the foothills of the California coastal range, Lake Nacimiento is located just 15 miles northwest of the beautiful and historic town of Paso Robles. Highways 101 and 46/41 make access easy for those visiting the beautiful Central Coast.

“Naci” as the locals call it, was formed in 1959 when Monterey County built an earthen dam across the Nacimiento River. The lake is now over 15 miles long with 165 miles of varying shoreline and depths of up to 200 feet.

As the lake was forming, largemouth and smallmouth bass were introduced along with threadfin shad to feed these voracious eaters. The shad population exploded however so in 1964 the Department of Fish and Game introduced white bass in an attempt to control the shad. Many people now come to Lake Nacimiento exclusively targeting the hard fighting white bass which are vulnerable to many lure types.

The smallmouth bass who initially made Lake Nacimiento famous, have given way to their eastern cousin, the spotted bass after the spots were introduced in the 1990’s. Given their incredibly curious and aggressive nature, the spotted bass are a great addition to this fishery. They will readily take most artificial lures and are easily caught any time of year making them an ideal bass to learn or hone your fishing skills on. There are still largemouth and smallmouth bass in the lake but they are now outnumbered by spots 50 to 1.

Nacimiento is a relatively clear (4’-12’ visibility), rocky lake with many points and coves. The water hits the mid 80’s by late summer making it a great lake for swimming and watersports. The warm water also brings topwater lures into play for at least 6 months every year. The large spotted bass are particularly fond of large topwater lures and I have caught my share of spots over 4 lbs using this technique.

The campground is more peaceful in the spring and fall although the fishing will be anything but quiet during these 2 seasons. The spawn at Nacimiento usually starts in March depending on the weather and this is the time of year all bass fishermen live for. The fish move very shallow, often in only a foot or two of water and become very aggressive toward any lure moving through their nesting area. In the fall, the water begins cooling which sends the fish on a feeding binge as they “bulk-up” for the cold winter months (if you can describe a Central Coast winter as “cold”?).

Lake Nacimiento Resorts
(1-800-323-3839) www.nacimientoresort.com has wonderful condominiums for rent on a daily or weekly basis which have a commanding view of the lake.

Paso Robles Inn
15 miles east in Paso Robles at the junction of Hwy 101 and 41 is the century old Paso Robles Inn (1-866-321-1828) www.pasoroblesinn.com.