Excellent trout action including lots of better-grade fish, coupled with a nice assortment of exotics was the story this week at Irvine Lake, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "Our most recent stocking had a lot of nice fish in it, and we are seeing a good number of bigger 8 to 10-plus pounders. Overall the trout bite is very good, and some beautiful brown trout and a few brookies are also being caught."

Both trolling and bait fishing are producing trout at an equal pace. Bait dunkers did slightly better with nightcrawlers than Power Bait, and favored leader length was 12 to 16 inches. Trollers did best with brown trout-color Rapala Countdown CD05's and CD07's. Good catches were reported from the west shore, Trout Island and Santiago Flats.

Bass chasers have found their quarry in abundance at 15 to 20 foot depths off Rocky Point and the red clay cliffs. Largemouth in the 2 to 4-pound range are biting jigs and dropshot baits, with up to 20 fish per day being reported by some anglers.

Action in the Kids Lagoon is very good, with "Grand Slams" of brown trout, brook trout and rainbow trout possible, along with plenty of tagged fish that can be redeemed for prizes. The surface temperature of the main lake is in the high-50's, with the water level rising slowly.

Anglers are reminded that the lake will be open regular hours on Christmas Eve [Dec.24], but will be closed on Christmas Day [Dec. 25]. For the week following Christmas, regular hours will be maintained on both New Years Eve [Dec. 31] and New Year's Day [Jan. 1], so anglers will have the opportunity to catch their first fish of 2010 as the sun rises on New Years Day!

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Ryan Murrietta of Orange, 11-4 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the East Shore
Don Garlichs of Lakewood, 10-14 rainbow trout on a Thomas Buoyant at Woody's Cove
Toni Aquino of Tustin, 10-14 rainbow trout on a Rapala at Woody's Cove
Luis Chavarria of Santa Ana, 10-8 rainbow trout on a Power Worm at Trout Island
Andrew Manne of San Dimas, 10-0 rainbow trout on an SC Shiner at the west shore
Juan Mejia of Orange, 9-12 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore
Greg Khorikyan of North Hollywood, 9-10 rainbow trout on Power Bait at Trout Island
Richard Linastruth of Orange, 8-10 rainbow trout on a Rapala at mid-lake
8-year old Enzia Goldshmied of Orange, 8-8 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at the Kids Lagoon
Bob Wertz of Yorba Linda, 8-8 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the flats
Matt Wong of Orange, 4-4 brown trout on a jig at the flats
Adrian Pintor of North Hollywood, 3-8 brown trout on a Power Worm at Woody's Cove
Johnny Faiello of Orange, 3-6 brown trout on a Rapala at the flats
Nick Sepulveda of Silverado, 4-1 largemouth bass [released] on a jig at Rocky Point