Irvine Lake whopper rainbow goes 16-8, weather hampers results

Another monster trout was landed at Irvine Lake, but fewer fish than normal were caught this past week, according to Daniela Gavaldon at the Pro Shop. "With the combination of lots of wind and rain, and fewer anglers turning out, we had only fair totals this week. We did have an absolutely beautiful 16 pound, 8-ounce rainbow brought in, and several people reported losing very large fish", said Gavaldon.

Bait anglers did best this week, with 12 to 18 inch leaders being the ticket. Power Mouse combinations and Power Bait in white, chartreuse and orange colors were best.

Trollers caught fewer fish than bait dunkers, but found the larger specimens on average. Hottest trolling lures were Rapala Countdown CD03's and CD05's in firetiger and black/gold colors, or Rapala X-Rap XR06's in chartreuse/red or orange/gold colors.

Some information has leaked out from the normally secretive bass anglers at Irvine, and bassers have been releasing up to 20 largemouth per day, most in the 2 pound class, along with a few large specimens up to 4 pounds. Best bets for the deep-holding bass have been dropshot and Carolina-rigged plastics and Rapala Ice Jigs.

Some trouters stumbled across concentrations of very large bluegill, with a few anglers catching up to 5 bluegill in the 1.5 pound range. The Kids Lagoon was re-stocked this week, with excellent results for families with children age 12 and under.

Although it rained several times over the past 10 days, all roads remain open, and the water level is holding steady.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Bud May of Huntington Beach, 16-8 rainbow trout on a trolled Joes Fly at the west shore
Steve Burridge of Alta Loma, 9-14 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore
Greg Lyznicki of Laguna Niguel, 8-10 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the flats
Dick Ableser of Garden Grove, 8-10 rainbow trout on Power Bait at Woody's Cove