Irvine Lake trout season opener is Friday November 6; 21-6 catfish highlights final night session
The final night-fishing session of the year saw some of the bigger units landed, and anglers are reminded that Irvine Lake will be CLOSED to the public from Monday November 2 through Thursday November 5. Fishing will commence at 6:00 AM on Friday, November 6.

Some 20,000 pounds of trout will be planted during the 4-day closed period. The majority of the stocking will consist of rainbow trout in the 1 to 6-pound class, along with some steelhead, brookies and brown trout. A liberal sprinkling of larger-grade fish from 8 to 12 pounds, and even some real trophy trout to over 20 pounds will be available.

Veteran trout chasers at Irvine Lake always recommend using ultra-light line to get their limit. Trollers can get by with 6-pound test line, but most lure casting and bait fishing should be done with nothing heavier than 4-pound test mono-filament line. If the fish are acting finicky, or there is heavy pressure from weekend crowds, dropping down to 2-pound test line will often get trout when nothing else will.

Bait fishing with Carolina-rigged PowerBait or Gulp! Trout Dough is the most common way to catch trout from shore. Under normal to clear conditions, go with a 12 to 18 inch leader, but when rains decrease visibility, leaders from 6 to 8 inches work best. Favored bait colors include chartreuse, rainbow and white.

The popular concoction known as a "Power Mouse" is made by threading a floating Gulp! Salmon Egg onto a hook as the "head", and adding a 2-inch piece of Power Trout Worm as the wriggling "tail". Contrasting color combination of chartreuse, fluorescent orange, white and pink did the trick last season.

Trollers usually go for Rapalas, in most cases the smaller the better. Top choices are the Rapala Countdown CD01, CD03, and CD05 in firetiger color, or the Rapala X-Raps in the XR06 size and clown or hot pink colors. When the fish want more movement, the Jointed Rapala J05 and J07 in chartreuse or brown trout colors are the go-to baits.

Catfishing was good overall with plenty of 2 to 6-pounders filling the stringers. Some larger fish to 20-plus pounds kept everybody on their toes. Best bet for catfish was mackerel or bonito at Santiago Flats or boat dock cove. Very few anglers ventured out for crappie or bluegill, and the bass anglers were keeping mum as usual.

The main lake's surface water temperature is 64 degrees, and the water level is dropping slowly. The west shore road is inaccessible, but after checking in at the office, trout anglers may park at the upper campground, and make the short hike down the fish the west shoreline. The road to Trout Island is open.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included;

- Fred Ambergey of Costa Mesa, 21-6 catfish [released] on mackerel at the flats
- Tiny Pearson of Garden Grove, 21-4 pound blue catfish [released] on mackerel at the flats
- Phil Hildenbrandt of Anaheim, 15-12 catfish on mackerel at the flats