Nice stringer of catfish and quality fish to 10 pounds have been showing in excellent numbers at Santa Ana River Lakes over the past week thanks to twice-weekly plants of Silver King catfish with trophy fish added every Friday.

The big catfish reported this past week was a 10 1/2-pounder that topped off an eight-fish, 23 1/4-pound catch reported by Mike Facer of Placentia and Dan Ngo and Josh Capotrio, both Yorba Linda. The trio were fishing at La Palma corner with the shrimp-marshmallow combo. Mike Lentz, Anaheim, landed an eight-pound cat at the Bubble Hole on mackerel, while Julian Araujo, Glassel Park, caught a 7 3/4-pounder also at the Bubble Hole on shrimp and mackerel.

Top stringers included a 22-fish catch made by Victor Virgin and Vincent Varian, both of Fullerton, that weighed 40 1/2 pounds on mackerel and the marshmallow-meal worm combo at the pump house. Their best cat was a 3 1/2 pounder. Art and Shiela Harvey, Orange, landed 14 cats for 31-pounds, two-ounces with a three-pound, 10-ounce fish tops. They said they were using "alien worms" for bait at Levitz' Corner.

Typical five-fish stringers have weighed from eight to 12 pounds, and the best action has continued to be early and late in the day or during the Friday and Saturday 24-hour fishing. The fish are showing all around The Lakes' complex on a wide variety of baits, with shrimp, mackerel, and either the marshmallow-meal worm, marshmallow-shrimp, or marshmallow-nightcrawler combos all working. Anglers using one of the prepared scents or paste baits also seem to improve their bite ratios. The catfish plants are each week on Tuesday and Friday, with trophy cats added each week now, also on Fridays.

The tilapia are also being stocked each week and some are real quality fish to 2 1/2 pounds and most are one to 1 1/2 pounds. Anglers fishing dough baits or nightcrawlers are also getting a few nice carp. Juan Artega, Santa Ana, landed an eight-pound, two-ounce carp off La Palma Point.