Irvine Lake brown trout to 7-8 going off, night-time bass tourney this Saturday

Perhaps the best action on brown trout in the history of Irvine Lake highlighted what was a generally very good bite on all the lake's species this week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The bite over in Woody's Cove has been insane", remarked Getty. "The water temperature is a little cooler over there, and we have had people limiting out by 10:00 AM consisting of several different species."

The rainbows still outnumber the browns in Irvine, and plenty of rainbows from 1 to 8 pounds have also been on the stringers. Bait dunkers have done best with 12 to 20 inch leaders, and Power Mouse or Power Bug combinations using chartreuse, white and pink colors.

Trollers have scored using both flatline and leadcore techniques and CD05 or J07 Rapalas. In the early morning, bright colors such as firetiger are best, with more natural colors such as brown trout or black/silver better as the day wears on. Leadcore line trollers are going out 3 or 4 colors.

Bass chasers are still doing very well on largemouth from 2 to 6 pounds, but specifics have been hard to come by due to anglers pre-fishing for the upcoming May 10 night-time bass tournament. Fish are being taken on various plastics rigged Texas, dropshot or Carolina styles, along with topwaters.

Crappie action has taken a slight downturn, with fewer and smaller slabsides being reported this week. The panfish slack has been taken up by an upsurge in the number of thick-bodied bluegill to over a pound in weight hitting on mealworms and waxworms in the back of Santiago Flats.

Catfish action is still decent, with whiskerfish from 1 to 5 pounds reported for anglers using DuMong's, shrimp and nightcrawlers in boat dock cove. Families with children age 12 and under are also finding good action on catfish in the Kids Lagoon.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Michael Joey of Anaheim, 10-8 rainbow trout on a Power Mouse at Woody's Cove
Chris Edwards of Tustin, 8-6 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at Woody's Cove
Shawn Onch of Trabuco Canyon, 7-8 brown trout on a Thomas Buoyant at Woody's Cove
Brian Pichon of Corona, 7-6 brown trout on a Kastmaster at Woody's Cove
Duane Painter of Oceanside, 6-8 brown trout on a crankbait at Woody's Cove
Steve England of Anaheim, 5-12 and 2-16 brown trout on Power Bait at Woody's Cove
Doug Conrad of Mission Viejo, 5-6 and 4-12 brown trout on a Thomas Buoyant at the flats
Jay Bolton of Corona, 3-2 brown trout on a Kastmaster at Woody's Cove
Wally Corbler of Newport Beach, 3-2 brook trout on an SC Shiner at mid-lake