Irvine Lake catfish opener sees limit-style action
Opening weekend of catfish season at Irvine Lake saw night-fishing sessions return, and the predictable good night-bite on catfish and crappie returned as well. "On Friday and Saturday night, had a very good catfish bite at dusk, and then it picked up again at 10:00 PM", reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "We had one very big fish that was hooked and lost, to go along with limits of great eating-size channel catfish from 2 to 8 pounds. We sold quite a few double-limit tickets, and even a few triple-limit tickets."

Good numbers of catfish were caught at all the usual spots at anywhere from 0 to 15 feet; including boat dock cove, the west shore, and Santiago Flats. Most standard catfish baits were producing, including mackerel, chicken liver, DuMong's, Gulp!, and shrimp.

Crappie anglers were also happy to see night fishing resume, and the few anglers after crappie were rewarded with good catches both during the day, and at night under a floating lantern. Best lure for crappie from hand size to about a pound were white Berkley Atomic tubes tipped with a meal worm.

Only a handful of anglers fished for trout, but they found rainbows from 1 to 3 pounds biting very well in deep water. Trout limits were scored by trollers dragging 5 or 6 colors of leadcore line and a cop-car color Luhr Jensen Needlefish, or on deep soaked baits.

Bass anglers are still doing best during daytime hours. Good numbers of largemouth from 2 to 6 pounds are hitting on spinnerbaits and other reaction baits near the red clay cliffs, rocky point, and around shallow vegetation.

The Kids Lagoon is kicking out good numbers of catfish for families with children age 12 and under. The main lake's surface water temperature is 71 to 73 degrees, and the lake level is dropping very slowly.

The summertime schedule at Irvine Lake will include being open for night fishing on Thursdays until 11:00 PM, and on Fridays and Saturdays until 2:00 AM. There will be a special $5 discount if entering the lake after 5:00 PM on Thursdays. The lake will be closed on Tuesdays.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

- Fred Ambigous of Costa Mesa, 8.0 pound channel catfish on mackerel at the flats.