Good day to my family and friends of East Meets West! This is BIG. I’m writing my first post and a review of our overnight camping and fishing trip at Santa Ana River Lakes in Anaheim, CA on Friday, July 22, 2016.

After I left work I stopped by my parents’ house in Artesia to pick up my niece and nephew. We then went to my house in Norwalk and packed up our gear and headed out. The kids were super excited, Carrie and I could tell from their behavior.  They kept asking “When are we going to leave?  When will we be there?  Will we catch catfish?"  It’s needed to say that we are glad we don’t have kids now or we might go crazy. But my niece and nephew are actually cute when you really know them.

The entrance fee was $80 (family special: Dad, Mom & 3 minor kids) for overnight fishing/camping and our fish limit was 15.  We chose a spot in Big Lake and unloaded my jeep.  The first order of business was setting up our tent.  Afterwards, I lit a campfire and then got our lines in the water. I used a combination of baits, including nightcrawlers, hot dogs, and catfish dough bait. Sadly we didn’t get any bites all night.

So the next morning we packed up our stuff and headed to the huckleberry kids pond which is to the left of the front entrance of the tackle shop.  In just in 15 minutes, my niece and I successfully landed a catfish.  Our total rose to 2 fish, it sure beats a big fat zero.

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All in all, it was a fun trip and the main point was to get outside and be together as a family.  See you all next post.

Santa Ana River Lakes Information

• Day and night fishing- no license required
• Open 6 days a week
• Closed Thursdays for stocking catfish
• Day fishing session: 6am- 4pm
• Mid day fishing session: 12:30pm-11pm
• Night fishing session: 5pm- 11pm
• 24 hour overnight fishing/ camping sessions
• Seasonal fish species: Tailwalkers, SierraBows, Ruby Red Steelhead, Lighting Trout, Brown Trout, CutBows, BrownBows, Sliver Cats, Blue Catfish, Tilapia, Sturgeon, Largemouth Bass, Wiper, Crappie, Bluegill, Carp.