The big trout just kept on biting for Thanksgiving weekend anglers, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "We saw a lot of beautiful big double-digit trout this past week, and the key was being in the right location", observed Getty. "The fish are chasing the bait around, and trollers are able to cover more ground until they find one of the big schools the trout are holding in."

Getty added, "Our upcoming Bite-On Tournament on Dec. 3 will also include a Toy Drive for the children of fallen marines from Camp Pendleton. Hubert Zimara of KFGS-Fishing tipped, "On our guided trips, we got limits of trout trolling on both topline and leadcore presentations. We went down as much as 5 colors with the leadcore, and did best along the west shoreline and Santiago Flats. Our largest fish was 3-8, and we even caught a couple of very hard-fighting 'holdover' steelhead from last season. The best lures included firetiger or rainbow trout-color Rapala Countdown CD05's.

Irvine Lake Pro Team leader Marlon Meade advised, "The best trolling action is early in the mornings, and again later in the afternoons. Two hot tips for bait anglers are to take a boat over to Trout Island and fish from shore off the island itself, or go about three-quarters of the way down the west shore and anchor up in about 12 to 15 feet of water to work your baits."

Most trout on the stringers are running in the 2-pound class, with a good number of larger fish from 5 to 12 pounds being hooked, but not necessarily landed. An assortment of brown trout and brook trout may add some exotics to the mix. Trollers scored the most and biggest fish this week. Top lure choices included brown trout-color Rapala Countdown CD03's, firetiger X-Rap Shad XRS06's, and clown-color Rapala Ultralight Shad ULS04's. Good catches for trollers included mid-lake, the west shore, and dam restriction lines. Bait dunkers did best at Woody's Cove, Boat Dock Cove, and Trout Island.

Bass anglers found some quality-grade 4 to 7-pound largemouth relatively shallow on swimbaits at the west shore and Trout Island. Deep water techniques like dropshotting at the Red Clay Cliffs and Rocky Point found higher numbers of smaller 1 to 3-pound fish. A handful of hybrid striped bass were caught incidentally while fishing for largemouth.

Families with children age 12 and under found that the water in the Kids Lagoon was a bit murky, but catching multiple species of fish, including trout, carp, catfish, and even bass was possible. Surface temperature in the main lake was 62-64 degrees, with the lake level holding steady at about 8 feet below full pool. Launching for float tubes and kayaks is free for the remainder of trout season.

Anglers interested in learning more about how to catch Irvine Lake's trout should attend Pro Team Leader Marlon Meade's upcoming presentation from 6:30 to 8:00 PM on Thurs. Dec. 8 at Jimmy's Outdoors on Tustin Ave. in Anaheim. Call 714-630-6580 for more information.