Irvine Lake parade of big catfish "as good as it gets", Trout Opener slated for October 31

The traditional autumn bite on big catfish hit with full force over the weekend at Irvine Lake. "Thursday and Friday nights were as good as it gets", observed Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "Many anglers had 3 or 4 big catfish each, and there were really a lot of limits. Saturday night's action dropped off slightly, but it's still very good fishing out there."

Most catfish chasers are using mackerel baits, but bonito, shrimp, Dumong's and several other exotic combinations have also scored nice catches of Whiskerfish. Productive locations included Santiago Flats, the west shore and near the docks.

Typical catfish are running from 2 to 8 pounds, with plenty of bigger units spicing up the limit stringers. Nearly every day reports come in of monsters being hooked but never slowed down.

Bass anglers are still finding their quarry very co-operative, although not at the red-hot pace of previous weeks. Experienced bassers are releasing 15 to 20 largemouth per day; with most fish under 3 pounds. Worms and jigs fished at 20 feet are the ticket.

Anglers skilled in European specialty carp fishing techniques continue to score some impressive catches of fish to 14 pounds. Some crappie are still available, and plenty fop bluegill can be caught near the docks on mealworms and waxworms.

The lake level is dropping slowly, allowing construction improvements to be made at the launch ramps.

The Irvine Lake trout season opener will take place on October 31, with some 20.000 pounds of trout being planted for opening day. The Kids Lagoon is currently closed for maintenance, and will remain open for trout season.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Richard Arthur of Los Angeles, 17.9 and 13.2 pound catfish on marshmallow/shrimp/Catmando combo at the west shore
Mitz Onizuka of Irvine, 17.0, 14.0 and 12.0 pound catfish [released] on mackerel at the west shore
Ronson "Catmando" Smothers of Los Angeles, 16.0, 14.1, 14.0, 13.4 and 13.1 pound catfish [released] on Catmando Bait at mid-lake
Donovan Swann of Fontana, 13.14, 10.8, 10.2, and 10.12 pound catfish [released] on mackerel at the flats
Ernest Chan of Arcadia, 12.0 and 10.14 pound catfish [released] on mackerel at the west shore
Bill Hildenbrandt of Anaheim, 11.8 pound catfish on bonito at the west shore Terry fox of Trabuco Canyon, 10.0 pound catfish on mackerel at the west shore
Emil and Noah Jaksa of Lake Forest, 14.0 and 12.0 pound carp on carp dough at the flats
Janko Grnja of Palos Verdes, 13.0 and 12.0 pound carp on carp dough at the flats

Media contacts;
Daniela Gavaldon or Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop [714-649-9111]
Steve Carson at [email protected]