Weekend Fun at Lake Lopez in Arroyo Grande, California
After quite a few cold and rainy weekends, we finally had a gorgeous weekend where the weather was perfect for some time on the lake! Last Saturday, we headed out to Lake Lopez with our boat and it was a great day! All 6 of our kids love going out on the boat and are excited to have lots of chances to go out on the water!
We live on the California Central Coast and are literally 20 minutes away from Lake Lopez, 20 minutes from the ocean and an hour away from Lake Nacimiento. We haven’t been out in the ocean in our boat, but have been sticking to the nearby lakes. In San Luis Obispo County, they have an issue with invasive mussels and if they find them on your boat, you won’t be able to go into the lake until the problem is remedied. When we arrived at the registration office, a group of park rangers checked all over our boat (both inside and out), making sure there were none onboard. Once they finished, we were cleared to head on in to the park.
For a while, Lake Lopez was not open to launch boats as the water levels were too low. It opened back up on January 23rd, 2017 as the water levels rose due to all the rains we had – yay! We are ready to get a lot of use out of our jet boat!
Frank really enjoys driving the boat and the boys love going fast in the boat. I enjoy sitting back, relaxing and taking pictures. Maybe I’ll try to drive it sometime, but I’m not in a hurry to do it – ha ha! While Lake Lopez is not a huge lake, nearly 1,000 acres, it is definitely a fun lake to enjoy boating and fishing on!
Lake Lopez is located just ten miles east of Arroyo Grande, California. It’s one of the top choices for camping and leisure trips. With 22 miles of shoreline and summer lake temperatures around 70°F, visitors can enjoy camping (we’ve camped there in our RV), fishing, boating, picnicking, hiking and equestrian trails, mountain biking, zip-lining (we haven’t done this yet), birdwatching, water slides and more!
I learned that Lake Lopez was actually once covered by the ocean. The surrounding hills of Lake Lopez are gorgeous this time of year – green and filled with oak trees. There are over 175 species of flowering plants and more than 150 species of birds within the park. The beautiful canyons were once hunting and fishing grounds for the Chumash Indians. Later, homesteaders and ranchers inhabited the area and harvested grain crops for Mission San Luis Obispo. Lopez Lake was then created in 1969 to provide domestic water for the Five Cities area of the California Central Coast.
In addition to riding around the lake in the boat, we fished for a little while. Lake Lopez is filled with largemouth and smallmouth bass, red-ear sunfish, crappie and catfish. In fact, catfish exceeding 25 pounds are caught at dusk and dawn all during the year. While we had fun fishing, the biggest catch we had was a large stick, caught by Brian.
We found a great little dock to tie up to that we were able to fish from. We fished both from the dock and the boat. The kids loved it! Although they were slightly disappointed we didn’t catch any fish, they still had a blast! Haha… And if you need to climb up short or tall vertical access with a fixed dock ladder that includes walk-thru handrails, you can shop from EGA’s online store for help!
After boating and fishing for a while, we headed back to the marina for lunch. The marina is complete with a launch ramp, a food store, snack bar, tackle shop and boat rentals. We opted to rent a boat slip for the day, which made it easier when it came time to get lunch and head to the bathrooms in the marina store.
After lunch, we headed back out on the water again. We drove around the lake some more and then pulled up to our original dock as another boat was leaving. We fished for a little while longer and then it was time to head home. It was a lot of fun and we can’t wait to go out again!
Do you enjoy boating and fishing? Where do you go?
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Wow, this looks like a ton of fun! It’s been so long since I have been fishing or boating – would love to go this summer!
My family would love to spend the weekend at Lake Lopez. We love to be out and about on the water.
Did you ever notice that being on the water gives you a huge appetite? Of course you did! Snack bars rock! This looks like a serene place. I want to go!
It looks like you had such a fun time! I would not say that I’m an avid fisherman but I do like to go fishing sometimes. It’s relaxing and get you looking around enjoying nature more than looking down at your phone.
That looks like a fabulous adventure! My kids love fishing and I can’t wait for the weather to turn around so we can start enjoying things like that!
You managed to capture so many awesome photos! Looks like you had a great time – that boat ride looked so adventurous, especially for your kiddies!
I can not wait for the weather to get warm enough to get out on the water. It is always so much fun to get out on the boat with the kids.
It’s been a long time since we last went boating and fishing. I miss the old days.
A boating trip is such a great getaway. It would’ve been perfect for yesterday – our temps got into the 90s already!
I have to admit I have never been to California, although I would love to!! Moving to Texas from Georgia only added to my desire to travel more!
Having been born and raised in Florida, we always had a sailboat while growing up. As an adult, we’ve never owned a boat. LOL, I don’t even think we’ve been out on one more than twice in the last 43 years. It looks like you all had a great day.
That looks like a lot of fun. This is something my family would enjoy as well. All your photos are so nice too! Great place for fishing/boating!
Fun… The lake looks pretty, I love fishing and can’t wait to take my kids to visit one of the lakes in MN.
Oh my goodness, what an amazingly beautiful lake! My husband would absolutely love a boat like that! He has been talking about getting one!
Sounds like you had a fun and relaxing weekend! It looks so nice and warm out there!
It sounds like you guys had a great time! This looks like the perfect weekend getaway – I need to get out west ASAP! Love it there!
How fun! The last time I went boating was many years ago. I would love to go boating again with my son and husband this time.
Ahhhh, the boat life… I cannot wait for Summer to start this up and take my kids out on the water… life is always good on the water enjoying beautiful scenery : ) that food looks good too! might have to venture to CA!
Looks like you guys had a blast! This was an amazing experience! I am glad your kids got to go for this adventure, and I know they will always remember it! Enjoy the sunny days, and love your adventures!
This burger looks incredible, I’m such a burger and fry girl. I went on a boat for the first time last year. I thought I would hate it but I loved it. I want to experience that again this year.
We’re thinking a boat in the next few years. We went back and forth between a boat or a camper last year and ultimately decided on the camper because the camping season is longer than the boating season in northern Michigan. Both are a blast.
Gosh I would love to visit there. It looks so fun and WARM! Right now it is cold here, these are places I dream of. I wouldnt mind moving there!