Santa Ana River Lakes trout bite remains excellent; two-for-one pass day Saturday
The trout action remains excellent at Santa Ana River Lakes thanks to three trout plants again this past week. There were Jess Ranch Ruby Reds planted on Tuesday and Friday, and the Chalk Mound Nebraska Tailwalkers went in on Wednesday. Limits have been reported every day, and there have been a lot of four to six-pound rainbows on stringers.

The top trout posted was a 6 3/4-pounder, part of a two-fish catch that also included a 4 3/4-pound rainbow landed by Joe West, Garden Grove, and Enele Scanlan, Tustin. The pair were fishing a chartreuse dough bait at the spillway.

Rainbows at 5 1/2-pounds were reported by Alfonso and Kevin Andrade, both Los Angeles. Alfonso's fish was part of his 12-pound, three fishcatch, while Kevin's had a four-pounder to go with his 5 1/2. John Cohnen, Fullerton, also landed a 5 1/2-pound rainbow.

Levitz' Corner and Chris' Pond have been the hot spotsfor the rainbows, and the best bite has been on floating baits in orange, rainbow, or chartreuse, and adding a garlic-flavored scent has helped the bite.

While it's been a month since the last brown trout plant, a few of these red-spotted fish are still showing, mostly for anglers fishing jigs, spinners, or spoons. Andy Schena, Placentia, landed a 4-4 brown, while Jacob and Logan Van Olphen, Covina, had a four-pound brown to top off their seven fish, 12-pound trout stringer.

Sturgeon also continue to be caught with most in the eight to 12-pound range, but Juan Villegas, Baldwin Park, landed and released a 130-pound class sturgeon fishinga nightcrawler in Chris' Pond Saturday. Chase Britt, Covina, and Janice Earhart, San Dimas, had a 12-8 sturgeon to top off their stringer that included nine trout averaging about a pound each. Colby and Leonel Menendez, Hawthorne, had an 11-8 sturgeon fishingshrimp.

The annual Eagle ClawAngler Appreciation Day will be this coming Saturday, April 17. When you buy one adult gate pass, your wife or fishing buddy gets in free -- buy one pass, get one free. The tackle shop is also having an Eagle Claw product special the same day. When you buy one Eagle Claw product, you get a second one of equal value free.

Coming up in two weeks, Santa Ana River Lakesis going to save you some money. Instead of driving up to the Eastern Sierra Nevada, you can go to SARL and catch more and bigger fish than you will during the trout season opener. The biggest Chaulk Mound Trout Ranch Nebraska Tailwalkers ever planted will go into the Lakes' complex for the special April 22-25 event. These will all be five to 15-pound rainbows -- nothing smaller. In addition, SARL will get another load of those three to five-pound brown trout that have been so popular with lure anglers. And to sweeten the deal even more, there will be 24-hour fishing Friday and Saturday nights(April 23 and 24). The 24-hour pass entitles Mom and Dadand up to three kids 12 and under to fish and help fill the passes' 15-fish limit. Best of all, camping is free with the 24-hour pass.

Over both of these two special events the coming two weekends, anglers landing a trout limit or a trout over five pounds can get a free one-year subscription to Western Outdoor News if they report their catch at the tackle shop and have photos taken. Existing subscribers can get half off on a one-year renewal.

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. 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 714-632-7830or log on at www.fishinglakes.com