As far as So Cal lakes go, soome lakes have been claimed to hoid northerns (Barrett, Piru, Cachuma) while others claim to hold Florida strain (Casitas, Castiac, SD city Lakes). Hey I'm no expert on the subject but I do tend to believe that many of the lakes here in So Cal and probably Norcal alike have both Northern and Florida strains combined in the form of a hybrid as a result of mix breeding between the two strains.

My favorite waters to fish are ones which contain salt but I do fish a lot of fresh waters too. I fish several times a week on waters big, medium, and small. Big water will build your skills and improve your catch ratio but so will small. I think it's more a matter of big, small, medium, and most importantly new waters that will add variety and enlightenment to your time spent on the water.

I have found it easier to get bit bigger lakes simply because they are deep enough to provide fish with stable water temps and conditions which are generally more stable than in smaller waters with maximum depths of only 15'(Santa, Legg, Eldo, Yorba, and so on). When the bite gets tough on a big lake if you dig deep enough you can ussually find treasure but small park waters are ussually shallow and the fish have no where to run for stable water temps after sudden rises or drops in water temprature. For the fish this means a sudden change in their body temprature sending them in to shock, not to mention the fact that they see lures just about every day of the year. You better believe those fish's jaws will become locked. They're are several keys which may open the door but it's like the others have said it will take something different. If you follow the advice provided by the posts above you will be well on your way to finding the keys.

JerryG