Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir Fishing in San Mateo County, California

• Overview

  Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir is one of the San Mateo County waters in California. The ground round it is dry hill. Roughly 595 acres of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. Nothing else we list in San Mateo County covers more water. The town to know is Highlands-Baywood Park, 1.9 miles out. The big place round here is San Mateo, 5 miles distant. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Draw-down through summer strips the margins, so follow the water out. Look for where the old bank line still shows under the surface. Survey and observation records for San Mateo County include rainbow trout, bluegill and redear sunfish. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put September near 62°F and January near 49°F. The hard part of the year is the heat, not the cold. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer squeezes it into the edges of the day. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to fish here. The season on Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Parking sits half a mile out, which makes for a walk with tackle. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. If the gate is shut, Water Dog Lake at 1.7 miles is the nearest alternative. Treat Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.