The trout fishing remains good at Santa Ana River Lakes for anglers fishing deep water off the Bubble Hole, but this is the final week trout will be planted at this popular Orange County fishing spot. The warm weather has turned on the catfish and the huge sturgeon are still being landed by anglers, and the catfish season kicks off next week, May 24-27, with big "pre-grand opening" plants of pan-sized fish

The official catfish "Grand Opening" has been set for May 31-June 3 when a huge plant of channel catfish, including trophy catfish over 10 pounds, will go into SARL.

The trout bite remains surprisingly good for anglers fishing the deep water off the Bubble Hole in boats. or in the deep water of Chris' Pond from shore. The best action has been on chartreuse, lime, or yellow Nitro Bait fishing on light line in the deep water, but many of the bigger fish are still showing on small jigs fished deep. The biggest rainbow reported was a 15-pounder landed by Luis Camtoran, Los Angeles, fishing lime-color floating bait in Chris' Pond. Gilbert Chavez, Long Beach, landed a 10.8-pound rainbow on a jig in Chris' Pond. Trout at 10 1/2 pounds were caught by Mike Hubbard, Anaheim, on a Roostertail, John Chapman, Yorba Linda, on a jig, and by Mike Lopez, Paramount, on a small, trout jig.?? Lopez' fish was part of a stringer that weighed 41 pounds.?? All three 10 1/2-pounders came from Chris' Pond.

The catfish action has been best on the M&M (marshmallow and meal worm) combo, shrimp-marshmallow combo, and Nitro Shrimp. The fish are averaging from 2 1/2 to four pounds. Jimmy Suchi, Anaheim, and Tony Avila, Orange, caught 30 catfish that weighed 102 pounds. Paul Dao, Orange, had 15 fish that weighed in at 44 1/2 pounds.

The big fish of the week was landed by Charline Shiroma, Orange. She managed to wrestle to shore a 50-plus pound sturgeon near the boat dock.?? The sturgeon are catch-and-release only but Shiroma won a $200-value prize package that included two free gate passes ($40 value), a free pontoon boat rental ($85 value), and a top-quality Eagle Claw fishing combo that includes a graphite catfish rod, multi-ball bearing spinning reel, and spool of Lazer line ($75 value).

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 $20 passes has a five-fish limit. The lake's 24-hour passes will be available every weekend starting May 18-19. These passes have a 15-fish limit and cost $45.

For Santa Ana River Lakes fishing information, call (714) 632-7830 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.