Fishing at Cedar Creek Falls?

I have tried there, and came up with nothing. But that was two years ago, things can change fast when we get massive rainfall like we got near the end of December. Supposedly, trout do reside in Cedar Creek, but due to low water levels in years past, the population may be low. I would bring a pack rod, and also check upstream from the falls up towards Eagle Peak Road. You can follow the creek back up to to where you park (pretty much, a little steep hike up the canyon). I recently hiked to the Three Sisters (before all the rain) which is just a few miles upstream from there. I tried fishing in all three of the waterfall pools and the stream below. Came up with nothing. That may have changed since the rain as well. Just as an example as to how quick they can change, one day I was out scouting for Wild Turkeys, and I encountered a dried streambed with a big pool bowl that looked like a dust bowl. It hadn't seen water for many months. We had one and a half days of rain, and two days later I returned and the creek was flowing and there was a huge pool 30 feet across and up to five five feet deep in places. Swimming around in the pool were four Green Sunfish, catchable size. I was amazed. So yes, bring your ultralight and a few small barbless mini jigs.

 

cool I always wondered also about the fishing at cedar creek, it's been 10 years since I last hiked it, now I may have to make a visit.

 

Everything creeker said x2

Ultralite mini jigs = war faced bass and little bg.
There is some bass heading south towads Bobby's house and el cap but he does NOT like visitors so stay clear of his property and his dam.
The creek leading up to devils punchbowl does have small sunfish. As well as the punchbowl itself, try some spit or a tiny piece of bread on a barbless hook.
Once you get the school's attention. Its extremly easy. But were talkin 1/8-1/4.lbrs

Have fun be safe C&R and if you want some good fishing mojo, bring a trash bag to fill up. They may still have the trash deposit area. It's in the neutral zone where the reservation, helix wd, and public land meet.In the valley just south of the bowl. You can leave bags and they will be picked up.

At least they used to.

 

Theres soo many green sunfish at the punchbowl and creek downstream, I don't think a trout would be able to compete for food. I was catching them on a baby topwater torpedo with 20 people jumping in the punchbowl and swimming around. When everyone left, I was catching bigger sized ones on a scrounger in the middle. So Yes, bring a fishing pole!

I went out to 3 sisters as well, but caught the center of a doughnut. Good hike, but I did not see a single fish. Heres a cool picture from the last rainfall

 

Thats a cool picture Dshotter. I might have to go hit up the punchbowl again. Would be nice to catch sum quality sized sunfish and such. Bring the ultralight bass rod/reel combo for sum more added fun. Honestly, ima hit it up shortly and post my results. Been wwwaaaayyyyy to long!!!!

 

Gene,
That is an awesome picture, it dosent even look like SD!
Im lookin forward to sunday!! 8)

 

The pic, is that the punch bowl? I don't remember it looking like that.

 

No thats one of the three sister's. The bowl has a short 7ft fall into a steep 65ft straight drop.

Man Ive see that place go from an average depth of 15ft to a complete wet sand bowl. It's radical to see God's work in progress!
Now the punchbowl is about 8ft deep. But still has some small sunfish to play with.

 

The real "Devil's Punchbowl" is located a few hundred yards above the Three Sisters top falls. Dshotter's pic is of the top and middle part of the Three Sisters.I think the guys here are calling the bowl below Cedar Creek Falls the Punchbowl. It looks like this......

 

Yep thats the Devils Punch Bowl.
The name suit's it. A friend was buzzed slipped and fell down the fall's in 2002
Many have under estimated those fall's since the natives began to jump there.
Great pic's Creeker!


R.I.P Jason

 

man that place was awesome but after the October fires it was filled with ash and not deep enough to safely jump into. i wonder if that last rain washed some of that crap out. i remember seeing a few little sun fish and a water snake chasing them. after seeing the snake i started to wonder what else is in that water... if someone lives near by or has gone there recently after the rains how deep is it now?

 

My photos are from March '09. The ash and residue was long gone by then.

 

man does that bring back memories
back in 1969 during in high school we used to go up and camp at the trail head and party. I look back and wonder how we survived. At night we hiked to the falls with flashlights and jumped off the rock ledge on the left side. It was a blast but don't recommend it

 

There are great waterfalls all over the county if you are willing to hike. Chris Shaffer wrote a book called " the Definitive Guide to Waterfalls in Southern California." It has waterfalls I did not know existed and I grew up in the San Diego backcountry. It is a good read.

 

Here are two more falls in SD County............

Kitchen Creek






Cottonwood Creek Falls

 

[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Hey all, enjoyed reading all these great comments, especially about Cedar Creek Falls! In the early 1960's we would drive in from the south side, thru the Barona Indian Reservation (a lonnng time before casinos!)... IF the gate was open! We didn't have enough gas money to drive in via Julian. We drove to and camped within a 5-minute walk to the falls, and often went days not seeing another soul! The plunge pool was alive with fish, and the waterfalls lasted longer into the year.

I'd like to correct a couple of 'names' for the area from Cedar Creek Falls, to Three Sisters. Even back in the 60's Cedar Creek Falls was mistakenly called The Devil's Punchbowl, even by us. When I hired-on as a wildland firefighter at the Julian CDF (Calif. Div. of Forestry... now CalFire) station in 1967-68, I learned that "Devil's Punch bowl" is miles away from Cedar Creek, closer to Three Sisters.
'Devil's Punch bowl' actually appears on a US Geological Survey topographical map... and it is in Boulder Creek. It is SE of Eagle Peak, on the W side of Boulder Creek Road. The creek bed there runs across solid, polished granite. Over time, water and churning gravel and rock have swirled to create large, deep pools - bowls - in the smooth granite riverbed. Unfortunately, access is in plain sight across private property; in the past the owner shot at trespassers. Besides begging to be arrested (or worse), the very steep, overgrown terrain makes access from other directions nearly impossible... and you'd still be easily spotted if you made it there.
I realize the different names will stick, just sharing what I learned over the years.

Creeker 1 has good knowledge of the area, and has shared some great photos!

 

Awesome report! I love that you can combine two really worth while hobbies. Call it hike-a-fish. I'll have to add this to the family hiking list.