Santa Ana River Lakes action still good with lots of Lightning Trout

Plants of Lightning Trout last week and three weeks ago combined with Nebraska Tailwalkers in between made for a great fishing weekend at Santa Ana River Lakes with a lot of trout limits, with most stringers holding the brilliant-colored Lightnings.

The fish are mostly in the one to three-pound range, but a lot of trout from four to six pounds were in the mix.

Tyler Mahoney, Garden Grove, had five trout that weighed 19 pounds total, including a seven-pounder. Rod Kerfoot, Garden Grove, landed a 6-4 as part of his catch, while Jason and Pops Clark, Duarte, had a 5-12 to top off their 12-fish, 25-pound catch. Kevin Cohn, Rancho Cucamonga, caught a five-pound rainbow, while Ron Grass, Anaheim, landed a limit that weighed 15-8 and including a 4-8 trout.

The best action over the past week has been on floating dough baits, especially Eagle Claw's Nitro Bait in the chartreuse or yellow. Hot spots have been the Bubble Hole, the sandy beach, and Chris' Pond.

It's time to mark the calendar.

The largest rainbow trout planted in Southern California since 2005 are going to be planted in Santa Ana River Lakes, and its sister Riverside County water, Corona Lake, for two trophy trout fishing weekends in March and April.

"The goal is to have the state record broken here. Again," said Craig Elliott with The Lakes.

The current state record is a 28-pound, five-ounce fish caught from a private lake in Butte County in 2006. Before that, the record was a 28.1-pound rainbow caught by Mike Lopez of Paramount while fishing at Santa Ana River Lakes in 2005.

So huge, 20 to 30-pound class rainbows from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms will be planted just before a big four-day fishing blowout set for March 19-22, and the bruisers will go in again for another four-day bash on April 2-5.

Two other events during this same time period will help cement the reputation of Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake as the region's premier fisheries.. The first event is an earlier-than-normal catfish event set for the weekend of March 13-15, when broodstock blues and channel cats will be planted, and there will be 24-hour fishing the Friday and Saturday nights of that weekend. The second event is Angler Appreciation Day, a special two-for-one event sponsored by Eagle Claw on Saturday, April 18. With each purchase of a full-price lake admission, your wife or fishing buddy gets in free. Or maybe you can get your fishing buddy to buy.

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