Nice weather brings out an angler crunch at Corona Lake

Fishing pressure skyrocketed at Corona Lake this past week with the nicer weather, but the trout bite remained good for boat and float-tube anglers while the shore anglers had a little tougher time of it.

That pressure might also have put the big fish down, but there were still a few quality rainbows landed and some very good stringers of smaller rainbows and Lightning Trout.

Top trout was a 14-pounder caught by Dominic Lane, Riverside, on green Power Bait fishing from a boat, while Reno Jones, Bell Gardens, caught a 13 1/2-pound rainbow on Nitro Bait, also from a boat.

Joe and Sarah Manwaring, Riverside, had 10 trout between them that weighed 19 1/2 pounds fishing at the dam with floating bait, and Fred Hernandez and Dick Ponce, both Perris, had 10 rainbows that weighed 23 1/2 pounds. Top 10-fish stringer, however, went to Allison and Riley Berghern, Canyon Lake, who had a 26 1/2-pound stringer topped by a 9 1/2-pound rainbow.

The best trout action has been on floating baits or inflated nightcrawlers doused with scent and fished on a short leader.

More and more catfish are beginning to stir, with the top fish this past week at 26-pounder caught and released by Karen Lee, Mira Loma, while fishing with mackerel from the shore.

Corona Lake is open seven days a week with fishing allowed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on day passes or from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on an evening pass. Each of these $20 passes has a five-fish limit. The popular 24-hour fishing passes are offered on Friday and Saturday nights on the weekend nearest the full moon for the rest of trout season. These passes have a 15-fish limit and cost $60. The family special, where mom and up to three kids 12 or under can help dad catch his limit, will apply on these all-night passes. For more Corona Lake fishing information, call (951) 277-4489 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.