The trout bite remains very good at Santa Ana River Lakes. With another stocking of Lightning Trout and trophy Mt. Lassen Trout Farms rainbows slated for this week for two special events, the fishing should stay hot.

Trout fishing has been best from boats, due to the fish moving into deeper and deeper water as the weather continues to warm. Shore anglers are having the best success at the sandy beach. Top baits continue to be dough baits or nightcrawlers.

Mark Coffman, La Habra, caught the top trout this week at 18.6 pounds. Coffman was fishing with green Nitro Bait at the pump house when he caught this monster fish. Ricky Esparza, La Verne, caught a 14-0 trout on pink Nitro Bait at Bubble Hole. Tommy Sullivan, Hemet, caught a 10-8 rainbow on corn yellow Nitro Bait fishing Rainbow Basin. Arturo Velazquez, West Covina, brought in another nice stringer of fish for the third straight week. Velazquez caught three trout totaling 19-0 with a 10-0 topping the catch, and he was fishing with Lip Ripperz at the spillway.

Santa Ana River Lakes and sister water Corona Lake are in the final week of a Tagged Trout "Poker" Tournament that started three weeks ago and runs through this Saturday, April 19. During the event hundreds of tagged trout have and continue to be planted each week. Each tag carries a card value. There are daily winners -- $55 worth of Eagle Claw fishing tackle -- for the angler who catches the best poker "hand" at either lake. Then on Sunday April 20, there will be a drawing for cash prizes up to $500 among all anglers who caught tagged trout at both waters. Each tag will be an entry in this drawing. In addition, the angler who caught the highest daily "hand" in the tournament will win an additional $1,000.

In addition, Saturday, April 19, is also Lip Ripperz' "Fan Appreciation Day" at SARL. This tournament is running in conjunction with the tagged fish event. The first 250 anglers through the gate this Saturday will be given a free pass for the lunch barbecue, hosted by the Lip RipperZ GirlZ. Those 250 anglers plus the next 50 will get a free package of Lip RipperZ baits. Finally, the anglers catching the five top fish of the day will win a Lip RipperZ prize package valued at $100. The tackle shop will also be having a blow-out sale on Lip RipperZ products, with special "buy three, get one free" pricing.

For these two special events, Santa Ana River Lakes will receive a special stock of Lightning Trout from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms along with a bonus plant of Super Trout -- the big rainbows over the 10-pound mark. This is the last Lightning Trout plant of the season at Santa Ana.

Santa Ana River Lakes 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 lake's 24-hour passes are available only once a month during trout season -- the weekend closest to the full moon -- which means this Friday and Saturday night. These passes have a 15-fish limit and cost $60. A spouse and up to three kids 12 and under can help dad catch his 15-fish limit on these passes. The lake will be planted every Wednesday for the remainder of trout season. For Santa Ana River Lakes fishing information, call (714) 632-7830 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.