Santa Ana River Lakes crank out an 18 1/2-pound catfish during good bite
An 18 1/2-pound catfish highlighted the good catfish action at Santa Ana River Lakes this past week. Limits and quality cats have been more common, especially for boats anglers working the Levitz\' Corner part of the big lake with shrimp fished with no weight.

The big fish was caught by Miguel Moreno, Anaheim, while fishing with a nightcrawler at Levitz\' Corner. Top stringer was a 15-fish, 24-hour pass stringer caught by Benny Batrez, West Covina, that weighed in at 28 pounds. He was fishing mackerel at the road and his top fish was a 6-4. Sharon Green, Placentia, caught a 6 1/2-pound cat, while five-pounders were landed by Sean Green, Yorba Linda, and Julian Casillas, Garden Grove.

A 7 1/2-pound carp was caught by David Bautista, Long Beach, fishing worms at La Palma Point, but sturgeon are still quiet.

Catfish plants are twice a week, with the tilapia going in weekly.

Each week through August 2, anglers can save $10 or get a free South Bend rod and reel combo with the purchase of a $60 24-hour fishing pass. Those passes are on sale Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for all-night fishing. To help save anglers a few dollars, they can also save $10 off any boat or pontoon boat rental during this same time period.. Coupons for the $10 off or free rod and reel combos are available on Santa Ana River Lakes\' web site (www.fishinglakes.com). They can be downloaded and printed out, and a coupon must be presented to get the discount.

There is an ongoing big fish contest with a $100 gift certificate given away each week on Sunday afternoon. The winning angler can use the certificate only at the new Jimmy\'s Outdoors Hunting and Fishing Supply, just around the corner from SARL on Tustin Avenue. The week\'s winner will be posted at 4 p.m. each Sunday at the tackle shop at Santa Ana River Lakes.

Santa Ana River Lakes is 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 24-hour passes are now sold every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and remain just $60. Anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit. For Santa Ana River Lakes fishing information, call 714-632-7830 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com

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