Corona Lake's awesome trout action continues; trophy trout this week
A plant of trophy trout up to 20 pounds will go into Corona Lake for holiday weekend to augment the already-excellent rainbow trout action here where limits of trout have been common for shore, boat, and float tube anglers.

The big trout this past week was a nine-pound rainbow caught by David Rodriguez, Corona, while fishing at the dam with rainbow Nitro Bait dough, while rainbows at eight and 6 1/2 pounds were caught by Bill Battle, Riverside. Kristeena Widmer, Riverside, also caught an eight-pound rainbow. Scott Duff, Anaheim, landed a 7-8 rainbow, and Sean Allen, Arrowbear, had a 7-4..

A wide variety of floating dough baits and colors are being used by anglers, but chartreuse, yellow, rainbow, and white have been the top colors, with the green/chartreuse colors the top pick. Inflated nightcrawlers doused with garlic scent have also been good, and the small trout jigs and trout plastics are seeing a lot of use by many anglers.

In total, there were at least 40 limits of rainbows were reported by anglers. Photos of these catches are being uploaded daily to Corona Lake's 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.

Anglers should also note that the sturgeon and tilapia are being caught. An 8 1/2-pound sturgeon was landed by John Hancock, Elsinore, and he had a second sturgeon on his stringer. While fewer tilapia are being caught now as the water cools, the quality is excellent. Tops was a four-pounder landed by Steve Malcolm, Riverside.

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, with the next 24-hour fishing set for Dec. 4 and 5. They 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.