Rainbow trout action stays hot at Santa Ana River Lakes

Limit-style trout fishing is on tap for anglers at Santa Ana River Lakes with alternating weekly plants of Mt. Lassen Trout Farms super rainbows and the Chalk Mound Trout Ranch Nebraska Tailwalkers. Five-fish stringers typically weigh from 10 to 16 pounds, with most stringers having at least one or two fish in the three to six-pound range.

The top rainbow landed this past week was an 8 1/2-pound rainbow as part of a stringer caught by Georgina and George Perez of Paramount. The pair also had a 4 1/2-pounder as part of their catch. Tim Morlan and Ron Graeff, both of Anaheim, had 10 trout that weighed 38 pounds and included a 6-12 rainbow. Rick Pointer, Garden Grove, landed five trout that weighed 14 3/4-pounds and included a five pounder. Pete Hansen, San Diego, also had a five-pounder topping his 14 1/2-pound limit.

The action has been best on floating dough baits in chartreuse, rainbow, lime twist, and corn yellow, with both Nitro Bait and Power Bait catching lots of fish. Nightcrawlers and small trout jigs have also been very good this week.

While the rainbows have been showing all around the big lake and from Chris' Pond, the hot spots have been La Palma Point, Levitz' Corner, and the pump house.

Lightning Trout will be coming to SARL for two big weekends next month, February 7-8 and February 21-22. This is the only time this season these popular trout will be planted and they will feature thousands of pounds of pan-sized and broodstock-sized fish. The first plant will be after the lake closes on Feb. 4, giving anglers a four-day weekend from Feb. 5-8 to fish for the golden-colored, pink-meated beauties. The second plant will be Feb. 18, meaning anglers will again have a four-day weekend, Feb. 19-22, to land these popular trout.

Between the plants of Lightning Trout, SARL will be planted with a bonus load of Nebraska Tailwalkers for the three-day President's Day weekend -- Feb. 14-16. That weekend will also feature the monthly all-night fishing with 24-hour passes sold Friday through Sunday. These $60 24-hour family passes allow Dad, Mom, and up to three kids 12 and under to catch the 15-fish limit. The price also includes camping at the lakes' complex.

Santa Ana River Lakes is normally 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 passes is $22. Seniors only pay $20, with a special $17 pass sold on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. The once-monthly 24-hour passes remain just $60. These passes have a 15-fish limit. For Santa Ana River Lakes fishing information, call 714-632-7830 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com