Camping & Fishing?

[MaxStar]

Hey everyone. I'm taking my girlfriend car camping this weekend and was wondering if anyone knew of a lake no more than three hours from the San Francisco Bay Area where we could camp and fish. We're looking for a more quiet and secluded lake without jei skis and ski boats and loud, partying people (like Lake Sonoma, Clear Lake, Barryessa etc.). We'd also love to find a campsite right on the lake, so we can throw a few lines in right from our campsite. Any ideas? Thanks so much for any advice.

[renodesertfox]

Hey everyone. I'm taking my girlfriend car camping this weekend and was wondering if anyone knew of a lake no more than three hours from the San Francisco Bay Area where we could camp and fish. We're looking for a more quiet and secluded lake without jei skis and ski boats and loud, partying people (like Lake Sonoma, Clear Lake, Barryessa etc.). We'd also love to find a campsite right on the lake, so we can throw a few lines in right from our campsite. Any ideas? Thanks so much for any advice.

Howdy MaxStar,
You already narrowed it down quite a bit now, haven't you? I never lived in the Bay area but have run across many campers who have and they all agree with you! For peace and quite you have to drive pretty far away to get away from the revelers that have no respect for others. Let's see here are a few suggestions. East of Stockton there is the Don Pedro Reservoir, New Melones Lake and Woodward Reservoir. That's more than five hours drive but even those places can be crowded during the peak season of summer for camping. Oh, we are still in the month of August, late summer, but still summer. Just South of Livermore there is a pleasant lake called Lake del Valle where I have camped. Nice spot in early September, but crowded too. And north of Clear Lake there is Lake Pillsbury but the road in is dirt and for high clearance vehicles. We camped there in the late 1990s, beautiful location and no crowds then. I would suggest you might purchase a California Road & Recreation Atlas found at any good book store or they can be ordered at: http://www.benchmarkmaps.com. The atlas has landscape maps, recreation guides, great detailed roads and GPS grids.Thanks for joining camping forums, good luck!

[angler57]

Hey everyone. I'm taking my girlfriend car camping this weekend and was wondering if anyone knew of a lake no more than three hours from the San Francisco Bay Area where we could camp and fish. We're looking for a more quiet and secluded lake without jei skis and ski boats and loud, partying people (like Lake Sonoma, Clear Lake, Barryessa etc.). We'd also love to find a campsite right on the lake, so we can throw a few lines in right from our campsite. Any ideas? Thanks so much for any advice.

Sounds like stream camping/fishing might fit your goals
better than a lake.
Many folks overlook these beautiful second choice camping/fishing sourses.
Don't know your location. Most places offer many more streams than lakes.
Many streams can be waded for fished or just a quick and scenic cool off. Our kayaking or canoeing rentals.