Irvine Lake monster trout bite explodes, steelhead stocking slated
The parade of huge rainbow trout at Irvine Lake continued, helped along greatly by the frigid weather conditions of the holiday week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "Christmas Eve was the best day for big rainbow trout over 10 pounds here at the lake in many years. The bite started off slowly, but from 8:30 AM to Noon it was just one huge fish after another!", exclaimed Getty.

Getty added, "Sometime in mid-January, we are getting another stocking load of the famous ???Silver Bullet' inland steelhead. These steelhead will be in the 5-pound range, and are absolutely the hardest-fighting freshwater fish you will ever encounter."

Good numbers of big fish were caught on the days following Christmas as well, with overall action rated good. Most trout filling out the limits were in the 1 to 6-pound range, with plenty of 7 to 9-pounders mixed in on the stringers.

A few lucky anglers scored multiple monsters, and Omar Banks of Moreno Valley actually had a pair of trout that exceeded 12 pounds each. Many more opportunities at the really big fish were lost in heartbreaking fashion; with snapped lines, pulled hooks and failed net jobs telling a sad story.

Best bait for the double-digit rainbows was an inflated nightcrawler, liberally spritzed with Berkley Alive! Garlic Spray. Limits of stocker-size fish were best garnered with garlic-flavor Power Bait fished on 12 to 14-inch leaders.

Trollers were few over the weekend, and they found somewhat lesser results than the bait-n-wait crowd. Mid-week trollers did better, catching fish on firetiger-color Rapala CD03's and CD05's, along with chartreuse-color Rapala X-Rap XR06's.

The largest fish were active around boat dock cove, but good catches were made at Trout Island, the west shore and Santiago Flats. Some trophy-class brook trout were also seen, along with a few brown trout.

During the rainy periods, savvy catfish specialists made a move to wherever there are creeks running into the lake. Offering shrimp or mackerel baits under these conditions yielded easy limits of 2 to 6-pound whiskerfish.

Only a few bass anglers ventured out, with good numbers of fish reported, but other details were sketchy. The Kids Lagoon remained good on the usual assortment of baits for families with children age 12 and under, and another stocking is due in the Lagoon on New Years Eve.

The intake pipe at Sierra Cove is now shut off, and the lake level is holding steady. The current high lake level will be maintained for several weeks into the New Year. All roads around the lake are now open, except the west shore road which is open only as far as Woody's Cove. The popular west shoreline can be accessed on foot via a short 10-minute hike. A free trout fishing seminar will take place from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM on Saturday, January 10. Instruction will be given by Marlon Meade and the lake Pro-Staff, with topics to include trolling, bait fishing and jig fishing techniques. The seminar is free with paid admission; please make reservations by calling the Pro Shop at 714-649-9111.



Anglers are reminded that Irvine Lake will be open regular hours on New Years Eve [Dec. 31] and also open normal hours on New Years Day [Jan. 1], creating the perfect opportunity to catch your first fish of 2009!

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

- Jen Nguyen of Yorba Linda, 15-4 rainbow trout on an SC Shiner near the docks
- Glen Casale of Trabuco Canyon, 14-2 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at Trout Island
- Omar Banks of Moreno Valley, 12-12 and 12-4 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers near the docks
- John Licata of Corona, 12-10 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore
- Mia Tronosco of Norwalk, 12-0 rainbow trout on a Rapala near the dam
- Lisa Gray of Corona, 10-14 rainbow trout on a Kastmaster near the docks
- Jake Robinson of Trabuco Canyon, 10-10 rainbow trout on a Rapala at Sierra Cove
- Bob Barr of Tustin, 10-2 and 8-4 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers near the docks
- Alan Ruud of Orange, 9-7 rainbow trout on an SC Shiner at Trout Island
- Adrian Pintor of North Hollywood, 5-0 brook trout on a Power Worm at the south shore