Beautiful weather and bountiful numbers of trout were the story on Irvine Lake this week, according to Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The troll bite just stays good all day", observed Getty. "Bait anglers are doing best during the AM hours, and the bait leaders need to be a little longer. Around 18 to 20 inches is best due to the extremely clear water conditions." Getty added, "We stocked a bunch of really big trophy rainbows this week. One of them rolled when it hit the water, so we weighed it and it turned out be 21.5 pounds. So far none of them have been landed." Local guide Hubert Zimara of KFGS Service continued, "We are trolling with a 4-rod spread, including two leadcore lines at 4 colors. The two flatlines are from 50 to 100 feet back, and our speed ranges between 2.0 and 2.5 mph. We follow the shoreline contour, and about 70 percent of our fish are coming on the flatlines. A surprising number of crappie are starting to bite for the trout trollers, and we also spotted Nessie [200-plus pound resident sturgeon] sunning herself this week near the west shore! Bait dunkers did well with PowerBait Mice Tails and traditional Power Bait in a variety of colors, along with 2-inch Gulp! Fat Trout Worms rigged wacky-style. Trollers scored using firetiger-color Rapala Countdown CD03's, pink X-Rap XR04's, and also red/chartreuse Rapala Ultralight Shad ULS04's. Productive spots included the west shoreline, Boat Dock Cove, Santiago Flats, and trollers also hit mid-lake very hard. The bass population is starting to stage up, and some very large females up to 10 pounds are being seen occasionally in the shallows. Anglers have only been able to coax a handful of 2 to 3-pound bass to bite using jigs and dropshot-rigged plastics.

Families with children age 12 and under are finding fair action on 1 to 3 pound trout using very short 6-inch leaders and bright-color PowerBait Mice Tails. Surface temperature on the main lake is 56-58 degrees, and underwater visibility is very clear.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Jim Price of Mission Viejo, 8-8 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore
Gino Lamas of Whittier, 6-0 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the flats
Eric Apelian of Orange, 4-12 rainbow trout on an SC Shiner at the flats
Mike Warren of Lancaster, 4-2 rainbow trout on a nightcrawler at the west shore
11-year old Hayley Valentine of Silverado, 3-4 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at the Kids Lagoon
Lucas Salazar of Orange, 3-8 brown trout on a Rapala at the west shore
Eric Ateolian of Orange, 2-0 crappie on an SC Shiner at the flats