Anglers at Irvine Lake this week were greeted with almost perfect weather, reported Daniela Gavaldon at the Pro Shop. "It's been great; nice an sunny with no wind. All the roads are also open."

Jimmy Getty added, "The brown trout are showing pretty well on nightcrawlers for people who know how to get them, and we had some real nice quality rainbows up to 18 pounds stocked this week. One of the best tricks was to take a boat over to Trout Island, then get out and fish from shore."

Bait anglers scored well with a variety of offerings, including garlic chartreuse PowerBait on a 16-inch leader, or Gulp! Sinking Pinched Crawlers under a bobber. The chartreuse or bubblegum-color Gulp! 2-inch Fat Trout Worms rigged wacky or splitshot-style also worked well.

Trollers did best with firetiger-color Rapala Countdown CD03's or red/chartreuse Rapala Ultralight Shad ULS04's, and firetiger Rapala Ultralight Minnow ULM04's. Tops spots for trolling included Santiago Flats and mid-lake, with bait dunkers staying at Bot Dock Cove, Trout Island and the west shoreline. Bass anglers found very good numbers of mostly 2 to 4-pound largemouth using deep water techniques like dropshotting and jigs at 30 to 35 feet off Rocky Point and the Red Clay Cliffs. Fewer but larger fish were starting their pre-spawn staging in shallower water, and hitting on crankbaits or swimbaits.

Families with children age 12 and under found good action on carp, but just fair action on 1 to 3-pound rainbows in the Kids Lagoon. The key was very short bait leaders and nightcrawlers. Some larger "main lake grade" trout will be stocked in the Lagoon this week.

Main lake surface temperature was 53-54 degrees, with some minor shoreline discoloration. Lake level is holding steady.