Holiday weekend anglers at Irvine Lake will be happy to find a fresh new stocking of trout, reported Daniela Gavaldon at the Pro Shop. “We will be getting a stocking load of thousands of pounds of beautiful Nebraska Tailwalker-strain rainbow trout, just in time for the holiday weekend. Some nice limit stringers were checked in on Saturday for anglers on the west shore. Anglers who targeted bass or catfish also had some good reports on those species. ”

Gavaldon added, “The lake will be closed on Monday-Tuesday November 23-24, open Wednesday November 25, closed on Thanksgiving Day, and open Friday-Sunday November 27-29 from 6 AM-4 PM.

All of this year’s trout stockings have consisted of quality Nebraska Tailwalker rainbows from 2-7 pounds. PowerBait, nightcrawlers, and pink/white Berkley Mice Tails were the best bet. Some very good catches of trout were also made on lures, with Rapala countdown CD05’s in both firetiger and black/silver colors specified as especially good choices.

Ultra-light leader material when fishing with PowerBait is an absolute must, with 2-pound test being favored, and 4-pound test being the absolute maximum. Leader lengths vary with water clarity, shorter 6-10 inch leaders are best when the water is stained, and longer 14-30 inch leaders are best when the water is clear.

Bass anglers found very good numbers of 2-3 pound largemouth using a variety of plastics and crankbaits. Lunker hunters found some 4-8 pound bucketmouths using larger swimbaits. A few anglers also fooled some large carp using specialized European techniques.

Catfish chasers noted that an excellent bite on both blue and channel cats went off every afternoon past the west shore berm from about 2 PM-4 PM, using mackerel, shrimp, and bonito baits. Longtime Irvine Lake catfish expert Chris “Trolly” Hagopian of Redondo Beach was on fire Saturday afternoon, scoring easy limits of good-grade whiskerfish on mackerel.

The Kids Lagoon is reserved for families with children age 12 and under, and the limit is 3 fish in the Lagoon. Surface temperature on the main lake is 67 degrees, with underwater visibility rated mixed. Anglers are reminded that no watercraft are permitted. Regular lake hours are Wednesdays through Sundays, 6 AM-4 PM; additionally, the lake will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Matt Northrup of Orange, 5-1 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Jose Valenzuela of Orange, 5-1 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Jeff Sato of Harbor City, 8-2 largemouth bass [released] on a swimbait at the west shore
Chris Hagopian of Redondo Beach, 10-1 blue catfish [released] on mackerel at the west shore
Chris Hagopian of Redondo Beach, 8-0 channel catfish on mackerel at the west shore
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