Irvine Lake trout to 12.3 pounds keep biting

The return of good weather conditions slowed the action slightly at Irvine Lake, with plenty of good fish still in the offing. Last weekend's winds were only a memory, and rental boats were out on the water.

Good stringers of trout in the 2 to 3 pound category were being caught, with plenty of larger fish to over 12 pounds and some nice browns and steelhead keeping things very exciting.

Bait fishing was again more productive than trolling, with a chartreuse-based Power Mouse being pegged as the top producer.?? Experimentation with leader length was also important, with the fish responding best to 12 to 18-inch leaders depending on the day.

Favored spots for bankees were Trout Island, but the west shore spots were open to those willing to hike. Boaters found lots of fish along the west shore and at Santiago Flats.

A few fortunate anglers managed to locate pre-spawn concentrations of crappie, and scored decent numbers of slabsides to over a pound on Atomic teasers. Anglers who targeted bass found fair numbers of 1 to 4 pound largemouth on jigs and plastics in areas of submerged brush. The Kids Lagoon kicked out good numbers of trout to families with children age 12 or under.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Scott Holley of Torrance, 12.3 pound rainbow and 9.3 pound steelhead on Power bait at the flats
Varian Virgen of Buena Park, 11.4 pound rainbow and 5.12 pound brown trout on jigs at the ramp
80-year old Ivory Toussant of Los Angeles, 11.2 pound trout on Gulp! at the flats
Emilo Rebollar of Orange, 10.2 pound trout on a mini jig near the docks
Rudy Murrietta of Huntington Beach, 10.1 pound trout on mini jigs at the ramp
Henry Scott of North Hills, 9.1 pound trout on Gulp!/nightcrawler at Trout Island
Steve Guerrero of Brea, 8.2 pound trout on Power bait at Trout Island
Ronnie Murrietta of orange, 8.1 pound rainbow and 6.8 pound steelhead on mini jigs at Sierra Cove
Manuel Chavez of Tustin, 8.1 pound trout on power bait at Trout Island

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