Both trout and bass anglers found excellent action at Irvine Lake this week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "People chasing trout have been doing really well, and the bass are in several different phases of the spawn right now", observed Getty.

Daniela Gavaldon at the Pro Shop added, "A single tagged trout worth $1,000 will make things very interesting on Saturday. The fish MUST be caught on Saturday to redeem the prize. Our big 'Daiwa March Madness' event this weekend will have ton of trophies and prizes, and all of the roads around the lake are open."

Local guide Hubert Zimara of KFGS Fishing tipped, "We have been seeing a really good troll bite from about 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM along the west shoreline."

Tournament Director of the Sport Chalet event, Jeff Ingram of Pure Fishing related, "We had a great turnout of 219 anglers for our 10th annual Sport Chalet Tournament last Saturday. The weather conditions were challenging, but productive baits included PowerBait Mice Tails, Gulp! 2-inch Fat Floating Trout Worms, and nightcrawlers for bait dunkers. Trollers did well with firetiger-color Berkley Flicker Shad lures."

Ingram continued, "Congratulations to top finisher Brain Carter of Fullerton, whose 10-10 rainbow earned him $1533. Second place went to Andrew Aparicio of Fullerton, who landed a 5-2 rainbow worth $745 on a Berkley Mice Tail. Third place finisher Darrell Leslie of Beaumont took home $525 for his 4-14 rainbow."

Good trout catches by tournament and non-tournament anglers alike were checked in from Trout Island, Boat Dock Cove, the west shoreline, and Santiago Flats. Trollers also found fish at mid-lake and along the dam restriction lines. Productive trolling lures included firetiger-color Rapala Countdown CD03's and CD05's, pink Rapala X-Rap XR04's, and red/chartreuse Rapala Ultralight Shad ULS04's.

Bass anglers found very good numbers of largemouth, mostly in the 2 to 4-pound class. Good lure choices include jerkbaits like Rapala X-Rap XR10's and XR12's, dropshot-rigged plastics, and swimbaits. The fish are staging up for the spawn, and skilled sight-fishing anglers can pick off some much better-grade fish to 10 pounds. Anglers are reminded that all bass species are strictly catch-and-release at Irvine Lake.

Only a handful of catfish anglers were out, but they found decent numbers of 3 to 6-pound whiskerfish on mackerel at Sierra Cove, along with several incidental hybrid striped bass. Some crappie were also boated incidentally by both trout trollers and bass anglers, and an impressive 2-0 bluegill inhaled a nightcrawler intended for trout.

The weather kept activity at the Kids Lagoon to a minimum, but families with children age 12 and under caught a few trout, catfish, and carp. Main lake clarity is still moderately good overall, but some areas are stained or slightly muddy.

This coming Saturday March 24 will feature the "Daiwa March Madness" tournament, which is a Master's Qualifier event with a $20 buy-in. The following Saturday March 31 will be the popular "Berkley Cup" tournament event.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Brian Carter of Fullerton, 10-10 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the flats
Adam Aparicao of Fullerton, 5-2 rainbow trout on a Berkley Mice Tail at the flats
Darrell Leslie of Beaumont, 4-14 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the flats
Steve Hathaway of Los Angeles, 7-8 wiper [released] on mackerel at Sierra Cove
Steve Garcia of Anaheim, 9-6 largemouth bass [released] on dropshot at Crawdad Point
Whitney Curry of Silverado, 1-8 crappie on a Triple Trout at Sierra Cove
Bob Barr of Tustin, 2-0 bluegill on a nightcrawler at the flats
Steve Hathaway of Los Angeles, 6-8 channel catfish on mackerel at Sierra Cove