Corona Lake trout bite sizzles with wide open rainbow action
The trout bite has been wide open at Corona Lake and there were over 40 trout limits checked in at the tackle shop over the weekend, and most anglers didn't both stopping by to have their stringers weighed.

The quality of the trout has also been excellent with every stringer having at least a couple of three to five pounders with some bigger. Top trout reported was an 11.3-pound rainbow caught by Steve Netter, Riverside. A 5 3/4-pounder topped the eight-fish stringer landed by James and Kyle Nelson, Lake Elsinore, that weighed 20 pounds. John Torres, Highland Park, landed a 5 3/4-pound rainbow, while Adam Smith and Matt Jackson, Little Rock, had 10 trout that weighed 30 pounds and their best fish was a 5 1/2-pounder.

The excellent action should continue this week with the first plants of trophy rainbows topping 10 pounds for the second half of the trout season grand opening extravaganza that started last week with the season\'s first plants of Nebraska Tailwalkers. This week's plants will feature the new Sierra Bows from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms, including the biggest fish planted so far this season.

So far the best action has been on chartreuse, orange, yellow, and rainbow Nitro Bait, but small trout worms and micro jigs have also been getting good stringers of fish.

Anglers shouldn't forget the tilapia, sturgeon, and catfish bites at Corona. All three have also been pretty good for the few anglers targeting these game fish. The sturgeon are getting better each week and the best bite has been on shrimp with fish to seven pounds. The tilapia are running up to four pounds and showing mostly on nightcrawler pieces. The catfish are mostly showing on cut baits and fish to 4 1/2 pounds were caught this past week. 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. The 24-hour passes are sold the Friday and Saturday nearest the full moon each month. Thy cost just $60, and anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit. For Corona Lake fishing information, call 951-277-4489 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.