Irvine Lake trouting topped by 9-6 rainbow, bass action explodes

Largemouth bass stole the spotlight at Irvine Lake this week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "We had Will Rakowitz and Panos Malkian of the Anglers Marine Pro Staff check in with a 5-bass limit totaling over 30 pounds, with a 9.38 pound kicker", observed Getty. "The fish were caught on large 8 to 12-inch plastic worms fished at 20 feet near Rocky Point and Red Clay Cliffs. Very good numbers were also found by other angles focusing on bass." Fellow Irvine Lake Pro Shop staffer Nick Sepulveda added, "Many anglers have been finding easy limits on 2 to 6-pound trout; the trout bite has also been really good." Best bait offerings have been rainbow or chartreuse garlic Gulp!, along with red salmon egg-color Power Bait. Leader lengths should be 12 to 16 inches. Productive locations include the west shore, Trout Island, boat dock cove and Santiago Flats.

On rainy days, channel catfish ranging from 2 to 8 pounds bite aggressively at flowing creek mouths on chicken liver. Crappie numbers are increasing for smaller male fish in the shallow treetops of Santiago Flats for anglers dropping white Atomic Tubes. The larger females should follow within 2 weeks.

The Kids Lagoon is still suffering from muddy water and slow action. Surface temperature on the main lake is in the low 60's, and the lake level is 4 feet from spilling.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Philip Albano of San Pedro, 9-6 rainbow trout on a Kastmaster at the south shore
Al Tagami of corona, 8-13 rainbow trout on a mini jig at Woody's Cove
Panos Malkian of Anaheim, 9.38 largemouth bass [released] on plastics at Rocky Point
Patrick Sebile of Paris, France, 3-1 largemouth bass [released] on a Sebile Lure at the west shore
Phil Hildenbrant of Anaheim, 7-1 channel catfish on chicken liver at the creek