One thing to consider about Cuyamaca is that due to the high elevation here, the bass bite is slow in March and April. To find more active fish, you’ll need to arrive in May and June when the water warms. And keep in mind, bass fishing is challenging here.

“It’s hard to catch bass here because there’s so much natural feed in the lake. It’s full of golden shiners, crawdads, crappie and lots of trout we feed them,” Lepley added.

Lake Jennings is another sleeper. But use caution. Jennings is similar to Poway and Dixon, in that there are very large bass here, but there aren’t a lot of them. A lake record near 17 pounds is proof that big bass grow here, but there’s only a handful to go around. And with the lake as small as it is, there’s a lot of pressure on these big fish.

“I think we’ll see an 18- or 19-pound bass caught this year,” says ranger Hugh Marx. “They aren’t easy to catch, but we know they are here. These bass have a lot of trout to eat and shad. They grow big pretty fast.”

If you aren’t concerned with catching trophy bass exclusively, then there are dozens of other options.

Topping that list, Santa Barbara County’s Lake Cachuma is a sleeper fishery that has the ability to produce trophy fish, yet also offers great action. Cachuma affords anglers the opportunity to catch largemouth and smallmouth bass in the spring.

“I’d say, yes, there’s a 20-pound fish in here, but it’s never bit my hook,” says Lake Cuyamaca Ranger Willard Lepley.

Cachuma is benefiting from a massive storm that occurred in late December of 2004 and January of 2005, when heavy rainfall brought the lake from drought levels to full pool in two weeks. The storms drove the water level up 55 vertical feet.

As the water rose, it flooded prime bass habitat and spilled lots of feed into the lake, which is a huge positive for Cachuma’s bass. Anglers should notice a difference in the quality of fish this spring.

Pushing closer towards Central California, Lake Isabella has been talked down upon since the early 1980s. A lack of catch-and-release fishing during the heyday spelled doom for this fishery at the tail end of the Sierra. But many believe that’s set to change this year.

“Isabella pretty much dropped off the map in the late ’80s when people raped it of all the big bass,” says Jeff Huth of Valley Rod and Gun. “I’ve heard it’s really come back well. There’s a few people from So Cal who are catching a ton of bass out of there and keeping a lid on it.”

A little bit farther north, Pine Flat is one of the state’s most overlooked fisheries. For some reason it’s never included among the best, yet it’s kicked out more world-record spotted bass than anywhere else in the world.