It took almost three weeks, but the huge, trophy rainbows planted at Santa Ana River Lakes for Thanksgiving weekend are finally starting to show up at the lakes' tackle shop scale. This past Friday Chris Van Aagten, Ontario, landed a 20-pound, eight-ounce rainbow fishing near the boat dock with a white trout jig, and then an hour later Alex Chavez, Buena Park, landed a 20-pound, two-ounce trout on a jig at Three Pipes. SEE PHOTOS Overall, the rainbow trout bite has been very good with quite a few limits posted this past week, and this Wednesday's plant of Nebraska Tailwalkers should just keep this action sizzling. The average fish are running from one to four pounds and many stringers have kicker fish over that four-pound mark. Carlos Ortiz, Buena Park, have a five-fish, 18-pound stringer that was anchored with a 5 1/2-pound rainbow, while Jacko Smith, San Pedro, topped off his five-fish limit with a 4 1/2-pounder. Roland Hoshizaki, West Covina, and Chico Cisneros, Torrance, teamed up to landed 10 trout with a total weight of 23 pounds, and their top fish was a 3 1/2-pounder.

The best action has been on floating dough baits, especially Eagle Claw Nitro Bait in the chartreuse and rainbow colors, inflated nightcrawlers dipped in Nitro Gravy, or one of the small trout jigs or plastics on the market. Chris Elliott, SARL's new pro staffer, said the key to getting bit has been to keep leaders short with nightcrawlers and floating baits, no more than eight to 10 inches long, so the bait stays near the bottom. He also noted that a sleeper bait has been the marshmallow-salmon egg combination

The new SARL Pro Staff will be walking the lakes' shorelines giving anglers tips and advice on how to catch the rainbows. They will also be taking photos of the fish being caught and trout plants. These 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.

As a way to say thanks to all the anglers using Eagle Claw Nitro baits and Gravy, the company is sponsoring a $20 off boat rental coupon on The Lakes web site. From now through December 24, anglers can download the coupon off the web site (www.fishinglake.com) and use the coupon for $20 off on a boat or pontoon rental at Santa Ana River Lakes.

Anglers are reminded 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.

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. These passes remain just $60, and the new full moon event is New Year's weekend. 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