Corona Lake anglers cashing in on the good catfish and tilapia action
The catfish bite has been very good at Corona Lake over the past week, perhaps spurred on by the full moon. Lots of nice stringers of cats are showing on JD's Mackerel or shrimp doused with shrimp Gravy, and boat anglers are still seeing the best action.

Perhaps the top catch of the week was posted by Sang Dang, Moreno Valley. He weighed in 10 cats that tipped the scale to 29 pounds fishing nightcrawlers and mackerel from shore, and his best fish was the top cat reported this week at six pounds. Earl Stephanie III and Earl IV, both Riverside, caught 11 catfish for 27 1/2 pounds total, while Nick and Jimmy Davelle, Inglewood, also caught 11 cats and their total was 28 1/2 pounds. Dwayne Ward, Compton, had a typical five-fish limit that weighed in at 16 pounds.

Tilapia are also pretty good for the anglers targeting them, and they are running from one to nearly three pounds. Gilbert Garcia, Los Angeles, landed three tilapia that weighed in at seven pounds total -- better than a two-pound average -- and he also had nine catfish at 21 1/2 pounds.

Not to be outdone by the federal government, Corona Lake has initiated its own version of a stimulus package to keep a little extra money in anglers' pockets. On Fish Day Fridays, anglers now can get huge discounts off regular day, evening, and 24-hour passes with a coupon from the lakes web site. With this coupon, the regular $22 day or evening pass is only $9.95 and the 24-hour pass is just $29.95, well below the regular $60 price. And anglers can still bring the wife and up to three kids to help dad catch the 15-fish limit on that 24-hour pass.

This represents more than a 50 percent discount on both the 24-hour and regular day and evening passes, but anglers must get a coupon from the web site to cash in on this discount and the coupon is only valid on Fridays, and the coupon discount will be offered through the end of September. Catfish and tilapia are planted each week at Corona Lake.

Corona Lake 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 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. Don't forget to download the coupon for more than a 50 percent savings on Fridays. For Corona Lake fishing information, call 951-277-4489 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com