Excellent rainbow action at Santa Ana River Lakes; trout to 20 pounds coming
Trophy trout have been planted for this Thanksgiving weekend and the action has been excellent over the past week with scads of limits and rainbows to eight pounds-plus reported.. Mt. Lassen Trout Farms was set to deliver a load of its super trophy rainbows this week, with fish expected up into the 12 to 20-pound class.

Over the past week, the top trout reported was an eight-pound, six-ounce rainbow landed by lake regular Craig Joachim, Anaheim, fishing chartreuse Nitro Bait dough near the boat dock. He also had a trout at 6-5. Ioy Chang, Los Angeles, landed an eight-pounder on a nightcrawler at the Bubble Hole, and David Mahood, Fullerton, had a 7 3/4-pounder on the same bait and in the same spot. Steve Higginbotham, Lakewood, landed a seven-pounder, while Nathan Cardenas, Placentia, had a 6 1/2-pounder.

The big fish of the week, however, was an 85-pound sturgeon caught and released by Rob Willis, Torrance, fishing a nightcrawler off La Palma Point. It was just one of several sturgeon caught, but most are in the five-pound range. While most of the sturgeon are being hooked by trout anglers by accident, targeting these fish with shrimp is a good bet.

Photos are being uploaded daily to The Lakes website so anglers can keep tabs on the fishing. In addition, anglers who catch fish and report them to the tackle shop and have photos taken are eligible for a weekly drawing for a package worth $300, including lake passes, pontoon boat rentals, and fishing gear. This past week's drawing winner was Norma Larson, Rialto.

SARL closed 2 p.m. Wednesday and it will remain closed through Thanksgiving day. The lakes complex will reopen to fishing Friday. A reminder that private boats are no longer being allowed at Santa Ana River Lakes do to fears of invasive quagga mussels being introduced into the water system. This closure does not apply to SARL's sister water Corona Lake.

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 sold once a month on Friday and Saturday nights nearest the full moon with the next event set for Dec. 4 and 5. These passes 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.