Trout season kicks off next week at Corona Lake; catfish bite still good
Cooler evenings and winds have hampered catfish anglers at Corona Lake this past week, but it also helped to drop the water temperature enough to allow for the first trout plant of the season next Thursday, Oct. 15.

With lighter fishing pressure, the few anglers toughing out the conditions have had good catfish action this past week with some nice stringers reported. The low water conditions still have made for tough shore fishing, but the boat anglers are really scoring well on the catfish.

Greg, Jeff, and Paul Hollman, Anaheim, landed 15 catfish on a 24-hour pass and the total weight was 42 1/2 pounds. The big fish was a 6 1/2-pounder, and the three anglers used nightcrawlers, shrimp, and mackerel from a boat to collect their fish. Robert Parron, Norwalk, and Karl Freeman, Perris, had nine cats for 21 pounds on mackerel with a six-pound their top fish. They were fishing from a boat, too. Jake Miller, Riverside, landed four cats to four pounds for a 13-pound stringer, also on mackerel from a boat. Raul Ruiz, Corona, had a pretty typical limit of five that weighed 11 1/2 pounds with a 3 1/2-pound his best, while Ramon Diaz, Perris, had five that went 12 1/4 pounds and his top fish was a 3 1/4-pounder.

While targeted by few anglers, Fred Offeney, Corona, caught carp at 18 and 16 pounds fishing dough bait from shore this past week.

Next Thursday's trout plant will showcase the new Ruby Red steelhead-strain rainbows from Jess Ranch in the Hesperia. These fish are descended from steelhead stock and noted for their hard-fighting and high-jumping antics. Over the following two weeks, the other two types of rainbow scheduled to be planted this fall and winter will make their appearance. First will be the pink-meated, full-finned Mt. Lassen Sierra 'Bows from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms in Red Bluff. These will be followed by the extremely popular Nebraska Tailwalkers from Chalk Mound Trout Ranch in Nebraska. Anglers will see bigger and bigger rainbows as the season progresses, and there will also be bonus plants of Lightning Trout, German brown trout, and Eastern brook trout during special events. The whole package is designed to give fishermen the most diverse trout fishing available in Southern California and the finest quality trout.

Private boats are still allowed at Corona Lake. While Corona's sister water, Santa Ana River Lakes, has been closed to private boat launching because of fears of quagga mussel infestation, Corona Lake continues to offer private boat launching.

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 pay only $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. This is the last weekend of the weekly 24-hour passes sold every Friday and Saturday for just $60. Anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit. Once trout season kicks off, the 24-hour passes will only be offered once a month during the full moon with the first 24-hour fishing set for Nov. 6-7. For Corona Lake fishing information, call 951-277-4489 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.