Seventeen rainbows over 17 pounds caught at Santa Ana River Lakes
A flurry of big trout hit the scales last Thursday at Santa Ana River Lakes when 17 rainbow trout between 17 1/4 and 19 1/2 pounds were weighed in at the tackle shop.

"I was really surprised when all those big trout came in last Thursday," said Holly Jelderda at SARL. "We always get a few big trout when Mt. Lassen stocks, but we had a lot caught that day."

The biggest rainbow was a 19 1/2-pounder caught by Jeff Carpenter, Lomita, to top off his four-fish stringer that weighed in at 75 1/2 pounds at the Bubble Hole on floating bait. The other three fish on that stringer were all in the 18-pound class, too. Another 19 1/2-pound rainbow was landed by Robert Ojeda, Van Nuys, fishing a nightcrawler at the pump house.

Trout at 18 3/4-pounders were caught by Anthony Perez, Azusa, to top off his nine-fish catch that weighed 28 pounds while fishing nightcrawlers at Levitz' Corner; Anton Smith, Santa Monica, who also had a 17 1/4-pound rainbow while fishing nightcrawlers off the sandy beach; and Justin Stallings, Chino, who used salmon eggs off the north shore to get his trophy.

An 18 1/2-pound rainbow was caught by Frank and Larry Aquila, Orange, while Larry Houchan, Long Beach, also had trout at 18 1/2 and 18 1/4 pounds. Mark Serrano, Downey, caught a 17 3/4-pounder, as did Chales Hallam, Buena Park. Trout at 17 1/2 pounds were caught by Manual Mugica, Anaheim, Jordan Mugica, Anaheim, and Don Alvarado, Los Angeles.

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

Trout will continue to be planted each week all the way through May or until the temperatures rise too much to support healthy rainbows. Anglers need to keep an eye on the Lakes' web site or call the 24-hour fish recording because the last weekend of trout plants will be another Angler Appreciation Day. This past Saturday's event went so well, that the Lakes' staff has decided the last big Saturday of trout fishing season will offer special half-price admission.

"But there's even more for this event," said Doug Elliott, who owns the fishing concession at SARL with partner Bill Andrews. "It's half-price at the gate and no limit on the trout. That's right, no limit on trout. We want our anglers to help us remove all the trout before the water is too warm for their survival.

"We don't know the exact date, yet, because it depends on the water temperature, but we'll keep monitoring the temperatures and then set the date for this half-price special," said Elliott.

This all means that catfish season is just around the corner, and starting this week the big, Imperial County catfish will be stocked at SARL every other week until the end of trout season and then plants will be made each week.

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