A special bonus stocking of trophy rainbow trout from the Calaveras trout farm is due at Irvine Lake on Friday of this week. "The big fish will all be rainbows from 5 to 14 pounds", reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "We will also finally be able to get the Kids Lagoon open on Friday as well."

Getty tipped, "The past couple of days have seen the bite stays good in the morning until about 9:30 AM, and after that it becomes kind of a pick until about 1:30 PM. The afternoons can be almost as good as the mornings."

Large crowds over the Veteran's Day holiday slowed the trout action somewhat. Dropping down to extremely light tackle and a more precise presentation made the difference. Adding a garlic-flavor scent spray like Gulp! Alive also helped.????

Large numbers of trout are still inhabiting virtually every location in the lake, with good catches made at the west shore, boat dock cove, Santiago Flats, Sierra Cove, and near the dam. Most of the trout are running 1 to 3 pounds, with bonus catches of larger-grade rainbows, or even beautiful brook trout and brown trout highlighting the stringers.??????????

Bait dunkers have found the fish most willing to hit on the Power Mouse, with Power Bait, Gulp! Trout Dough and nightcrawlers all taking their share. Bait leader lengths should be anywhere from 12 to 17 inches.?? ??

Once again the top producer for bait anglers has been the Power Mouse. This bait is constructed by using a "Gulp Salmon Egg" as the head, and a 2-inch piece of Power Trout Worm as the wriggling tail. Many unique color combinations have been working on Irvine Lake's trout population this week, in particular the "White Rat" [white Gulp Egg and pink Power Worm tail], and the "Dirty Rat" [white Gulp Egg and brown Power Worm tail].

Trollers are starting to find trout more willing to hit lures dragged behind a boat. So far this season the best choice is the Rapala CD03 in firetiger trolled on a flatline about 125 feet back.

Bass anglers are finding decent numbers of largemouth up to 4.5 pounds. Some huge bucketmouths have been seen chasing the newly planted trout around in Sierra Cove, and swimbaits have been especially productive. Plenty of catfish in the 2 to 6-pound range have also been caught incidentally by trout anglers.????

The Kids Lagoon is now filled with water, and will re-open with a fresh load of trout for families with children age 12 and under on Friday, November 14. ??????

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Kevin Xiong of Irvine, 6.6 pound rainbow trout on Power Bait near the docks

Louie Jordan of Huntington Beach, 4.1 pound brook trout on nightcrawlers at the west shore

Richard Hernandez of Riverside, 4.0 pound rainbow trout on a Power Mouse at the flats

Shannon Gibbs of Rowland Heights, 5-trout limit totaling 14.1 pounds on Power bait at the west shore

Veteran's Day Tournament winners:

Larry Faiello- 3.12

Darren Hubacker- 3.4

Art "Dr. Hook" Villa- 3.2