The summertime bite this week at 750-acre Irvine Lake was like a chapter out of the book about 44,000 acre Clear Lake, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The catfish bite is still really excellent, but the big news is the bass", observed Getty. "We have thick floating moss mats in several areas, and the 'frog bite' for bass underneath them has been just fantastic.

It's been just like Clear Lake or the Delta, with the bass even biting in the heat of the day. "Take almost any color of hollow-body plastic frog tied on 65-pound test superbraid line, and cast it directly onto the floating mats, then drag it slowly right over the top. When the bass explodes through the floating weeds to kill the frog, delay your hookset for a count of 3, then put the hammer down. The heavy braid will help you drag the fish right out, no matter how thick the weeds are."

Getty also tipped, "Catfishing has been best from dusk until about 11:00 PM, in 15 feet of water or less. Deep-water trout experts are also still getting easy limits of rainbows." Most catfish on the stringers were in the 2 to 6-pound class, with a nice sprinkling of 7 to 10-pounders keeping everybody on their toes. Productive locations included Santiago Flats, the west shoreline, and Boat Dock Cove. Favored baits were mostly mackerel and shrimp.

Bass anglers continue to score very good numbers of their quarry. Lots of 2 to 4-pound largemouth are biting during the day at 15 to 25 feet on dropshot baits and jigs; while those anglers who know how to fish frogs over heavy floating moss mats can get bit all day and night long. Dusk and night-time bassers are doing well on topwaters. No doubt froggin' is the way to tally better-quality bass from 4 to 6 pounds. A handful of 8-pound class hybrid stripers were also released.

Few anglers fished for crappie with the bass and catfish action on fire. Good numbers of bluegill were in the flooded brush, hitting on Gulp! Crickets. The only party that ventured out after trout managed an easy 10-fish limit totaling over 12 pounds in only 45 minutes, trolling deep with 5 to 7 colors of leadcore line. Families with children age 12 and under did well in the Kids Lagoon on stocker-size channel catfish using shrimp. Surface temperature on the main lake is 76-78 degrees, with underwater visibility rated crystal clear. The lake level is dropping about 6 inches per week.

This coming Saturday night July 7 will feature the "Independence Day Catfish Shootout" derby, which is an official "King of the Cats" qualifier event. On that Saturday July 7, the lake will remain open until 2 AM.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Seth Mostero of the Longfin Tackle, 13-0 channel catfish on a spinnerbait at the west shore
Cory Griffin of San Bernardino, 10-2 channel catfish on shrimp at the flats
Eric Miller of Orange, 8-1 largemouth bass [released] on dropshot at the west shore
Andrew Swaim of Irvine, 8-0 wiper [released] on a Triple Trout at the west shore
Eric and Ryan Hagen of Orange, 10-fish limit of rainbow trout totaling 12-8, on Lucky Craft Pointers at Rocky Point