thinking about going over to echo park lake after the next trout plant. does anyone have any info about this lake. is the neighborhood safe? are there largemouth bass in the water?

i posted earlier about lincoln park lake but i received some replies about the neighborhood being unsafe. thanks for looking out for me guys. really appreciate it. im just trying to find a body of water in LA.

One word for you . Ghetto! You can catch fish , score drugs , and pick up a greencard all in one spot .:+

Peace,
FishjunkeyOG

Where do you live at Pan? I'm sure someone can point you to a lake where you won't have to fear for your life if they know where your at. You may just have to drive down the road a little ways. Those small park lakes are all over the place.

i live in LA, around the midwilshire area. east of me is downtown, west is ucla, north is hollywood, and south is usc. the entire area is pretty urban. i'd go to places like pyramid or castaic but im a grad student so i have no time and/or money. i just need to find a place nearby where i can throw out a line for a couple of hours.

Pan,

I have the same recommendations for Echo as I did for Lincoln in your other post. I have fished both of these lakes and based on my experiences the fishing is better at Echo I'm for the most part a saltwater angler and I fish for freshwater bass when I have spare time. My idea of trout fishing is taking one of my saltwater jig rods to the lake and throwing big trout plugs and swimbaits. so I couldn't tell much about the trout or catfish bite. Both these lakes are in the ghetto, never let yourself fall in to thinking you are safe and secure. Be aware of your suroundings at all times. If you have thought about checking out McArthur Park I would recommend skipping it the other two should be ok but over at McAurther your likely to have problems. There are much better places to fish that are 15- 30 minutes of Mid-Whilshire - Down Town. Do a web search on the DFG stocking schedule and it should provide a good list of locations.

JerryG

I agree with the other posts. I know of someone who was robbed of their fishing gear at Echo Park. Now MacArthur park on the other hand is full of crack heads and drug dealers. It's not worth your safety to wet a line at these parks.

Pan,
Don't believe the hype. It's too bad that Echo Park carries the negative mystique that it does. The truth is it's no safer than your surrounding mid-wilshire neighborhoods. Don't let the cultural diversity in the area scare you into thinking that fisherman are not welcome. On any given (sunny) day you will find joggers, families, business-types out for lunch, ect... And yes, fisherman as well (knowledgable ones at that). Sure there might be homeless, transients, and a few bad seeds here and there, but the place has come along way from what it used to be several years back. I'll be the first to admitt that the lake is rough around the edges, but there are fish to be had in this lake... Just use your best judgement, don't be knucklehead, go with the right attitude, watch your back when you need to and you'll be fine. My final word of advice is, don't fish there at night (although, people do fish at night and have been known to do well), leave that to the locals... fish anywhere from early morning through dusk. And don't be afraid to talk to fellow anglers. Most will be willing to share some type of info. that could help catch fish. If you need any other info or would like a chaperoned trip, feel free to hit me up @ chefreno@hotmail

Have some faith in society, and pray to God you don't get jumped! J/K!!!
aaron

:-)