Santa Ana River Lakes has two major fishing changes starting this week. First, weekly catfish plants begin, and second, no-limit trout fishing starts Friday so anglers can take home as many of the rainbows left in the lake as possible before it gets too warm for them to survive.

The kick-off of catfish season also means there is now 24-hour fishing every Friday and Saturday night each week. The "family special" applies to the 24-hour passes, when mom and dad and up to three kids under 12 can all fish on the same permit and help fill up the 15-fish, 24-hour permit limit.

The catfish action is already good on holdover fish and a couple of preliminary plants over the past few weeks have gone in quietly. For anglers fishing the mashmallow-meal worm combo or garlic nightcrawlers, the catfish have been biting pretty well in both the big lake and Catfish Lake.

To get catfish season off to a good start, there will be a pair of plants of Silver King Catfish (Tuesday and Friday). The annual Catfish Grand Opening is set for May 20-22, and there will be a bonus plant of trophy catfish before this big event along with the kickoff of weekly tilapia plants.

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 pay only $20. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. There are 24-hour passes available every Friday and Saturday. These 24-hour passes cost $60 and anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit.