Irvine Lake catfishing topped by massive 129-pound, 20-fish stringer

Generally good catfish action at Irvine Lake on Thursday and Friday night was topped by the heaviest catfish stringer of the year, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "A group of some of our most skillful regulars brought in a massive 20-catfish limit that totaled 129 pounds. It was good all around on Thursday and Friday night anyway", observed Getty. "But these guys said that the fish just went berserk for them. They could barely get 2 rods in the water at the same time!" Getty added, "The anglers were Terry "Pontoon" Lairson of Huntington Beach, Chris "Trollmeister" Hagopian of Redondo Beach, Art "Dr. Hook" Villa of Eugene, Oregon and Mitz Onizuka of Irvine. Both Terry and Chris had 10-pound channel cats as part of their limits, and Art managed to include blue catfish weighing 8 and 6 pounds on his. They fished near the hump at mid-lake using mackerel."

Best locations for catfish were Santiago Flats, mid-lake and near the dam. Favored offerings included mackerel, marshmallow/mealworm combo and DuMong's. Saturday night's catfish action slowed somewhat due to heavy boat traffic, with the typical whiskerfish on the stringers going 2 to 6 pounds. The excellent catfish bite has kept most anglers from trying for crappie. The bright floating lights needed to attract the crappie are generally believed to repel catfish. A few nice slabs to 2 pounds were caught on 2-inch white Gulp! Minnows rigged on a small leadhead.

Bass anglers found very good numbers of largemouth up to 4 pounds. The fish are hitting reaction baits early and late in the shallows, and dropshot-rigged plastics at 20 feet during mid-day. Anglers are releasing 10 or more bass in just a few hours' fishing time.

Plenty of bluegill and redear are available for anglers using mealworms or waxworms in the shallows of boat dock cove. The Kids Lagoon was very good for families with children age 12 and under. Some 600 pounds of catfish were planted in the Lagoon, with the marshmallow/mealworm combo and mackerel being good choices.
Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Chris Hagopian, Art Villa, Terry Lairsen and Mitz Onizuka, 20-catfish limit totaling 129.0 pounds topped by twin 10.0
pounders, on mackerel at mid-lake
Robert Avemaria of Placentia, 9.0 pound catfish on mackerel near the docks
Daniel Sanchez of Inglewood, 6.8 pound catfish on shrimp near the docks
5-year old Brandi Swann of Fontana, 5-catfish limit totaling 23.1 pounds on mackerel at Rocky Point
Joey Arbalo of Orange, 5-catfish limit totaling 20.1 pounds on marshmallow/mealworms at the flats