Santa Ana River Lakes trout bite continues to perk along

The trout bite remains good at Santa Ana River Lakes, but most of the trophy rainbows from the two plants of super trophies from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms earlier this month have been landed but each week more trophy trout are stocked.

The last big rainbow reported was taken this past Thursday when Ken Kim of Fullerton landed a 15-pounder on a nightcrawler off Levitz' Corner. On Tuesday last week, Jocko Smith of San Pedro landed an 18-pound, eight-ounce rainbow on chartreuse Nitro Bait, also at Levitz.

That rainbow would have been the biggest fish reported this past week if it wasn't for Ricardo Landeros of Pico Rivera. Landeros was fishing a nightcrawler at Three Pipes when he hooked, battled, and landed an 85-pound sturgeon this past Sunday. This was not only the biggest fish of the week, but the biggest fish landed so far this year at Santa Ana.

The warmer weather has turned on the catfish action, too. During the night fishing this past weekend, Sylvester Alverado, Garden Grove, caught eight catfish fishing shrimp in Chris' Pond. The total stringer weighed 13 pounds and his best fish was a 2 1/2-pounder. Sal Martinez, Whittier, caught a 4 1/2-pound catfish and four trout to fill out his five-fish stringer. He was also fishing nightcrawlers in Chris' Pond.

The hot trout action has been on chartreuse Nitro Bait with garlic-flavored Nitro Gravy or nightcrawlers, and the best spots have been Levitz' Corner and the pump house.

This Saturday, April 18, Santa Ana River Lakes and Eagle Claw are hosting Angler Appreciation Day. This is a special two-for-one event. With each purchase of a full-price lake admission, your fishing partner gets in free, and the first 200 anglers in the gate will get a free Nitro Bait and pliers belt holder.

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. The next 24-hour fishing will be May 8 and 9, which kicks off the weekly 24-hour fishing that will last through the summer. For Santa Ana River Lakes fishing information, call 714-632-7830 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com