Irvine Lake adds Thursday night hours, 45-pound limit highlights action
A new night-time fishing opportunity is being added at Irvine Lake. Starting this Thursday night June 19, Irvine Lake will stay open for fishing until 11:00 PM. For the time being, night hours on Fridays and Saturdays will remain until 2:00 AM as usual.

"The catfish bite was fair overall on Friday and Saturday this week", observed Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "Due to our Regatta, anglers were restricted to the west shore only during the day, but Santiago Flats were opened back up to anglers at about 7:00 PM both nights."

The overall size of the stocker cats being caught was around 2 pounds, with plenty of plump 3 to 6 pounders spicing up the stringers. Some larger whiskerfish over 10 pounds reminded anglers of the even bigger fish that live in the lake. The usual catfish baits all produced this week, including mackerel, Catmando, DuMongs, Gulp!, shrimp and nightcrawlers.

Crappie anglers found excellent action on medium size slabsides. Most were caught under floating crappie lights at night, but a few were also caught during the day. Best lures for crappie were white Atomic Teasers and white 2-inch Gulp! Minnows fished at the flats and along the west shore.

Bass anglers scored fair numbers of 2 to 4-pound largemouth. Daytime bassers used dropshot-rigged plastics at 15 to 25 feet along the red clay cliffs, while topwater baits were best at night right in front near the docks.

Trout anglers who know their way around deep-trolling methods nailed some nice fish up to 9 pounds in deep water near the dam. Pulling a red frog or cop car-color Needlefish on 3 to 6 colors of leadcore line was best, but deep-drifted baits also fooled the trout.

Some bluegill were also caught near the docks on waxworms and mealworms. Families with children age 12 and under found pretty good numbers of stocker catfish using the marshmallow/mealworm combo in the Kids Lagoon.

This weekend will feature the "Summer Kickoff Catfish Tournament" on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Entry fee is $10, with lots of prizes being given out.

Anglers are reminded of Irvine Lake's mandatory release policy on all catfish and sturgeon over 20 pounds, along with all largemouth bass. A voluntary release policy exists for catfish over 10 pounds. Lucky anglers who release fish over 20 pounds will receive a free pass to the lake, and a free boat/motor rental for releasing catfish over 50 pounds.
The Department of Fish and Game and Serrano Water District announced the formal discovery of adult quagga mussels at Irvine Lake last week, following the detection of microscopic larva several weeks ago. Inspection of all private boats will continue in an effort to block the additional introduction of the related zebra mussel.
Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Adrian Pintor of North Hollywood, 5-catfish limit totaling 45 pounds, topped by a 15.6 pounder, on mackerel at the flats
David Castro of Industry, 14.0 pound blue catfish [released] on mackerel at the flats
Mike Benge of Villa Park, 9.12 pound rainbow trout on Power Bait near the dam
Raymond Sota of South Gate, 5-catfish limit totaling 19.4 pounds, on mackerel at the west shore
Hank Thompson of Rancho Santa Margarita, 5-catfish limit totaling 18.9 pounds, on DuMongs at the flats