Anglers at Irvine Lake had to keep their heads low on Thursday and Friday, as intermittent summer storms rolled through, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The catfish bite was a little off on Thursday and Friday nights when the worst of the storms hit", observed Getty. "By Saturday night, things were back to normal and the numbers of catfish were very good again."

Getty added, "Most of the catfish are sitting in 20 feet of water or less, and they really get going as the sun goes down, and keep going until about 11:00 PM." Most catfish at the cleaning tables have been prime "eating size" 2 to 6-pounders, with a few of the larger specimens around. Best catches were reported from Boat Dock Cove, Santiago Flats, and Sierra Cove. Favorite baits were mackerel and shrimp, with many other traditional catfish baits also enticing bites from the whiskerfish.

Bass anglers continued to do very well on 2 to 4-pound largemouth, although the "frog bite" slowed somewhat due to large numbers of anglers tossing the hollow-plastic amphibians. Daytime bassers scored best at the Red Clay Cliffs and Rocky Point using dropshot-rigged plastics and jigs at 20 to 25 feet. Evening-time brings the fish up to where they are hitting well on reaction baits and topwaters along the west shore.

Little effort was put forth toward crappie by anglers intent on chasing catfish and bass, but daytime anglers caught some nice bluegill on Gulp! Crickets near the west shore's brushy areas. Ditto no reports of hybrid striped bass or carp this week.

Families with children age 12 and under found good numbers of 1 to 3-pound catfish in the Kids Lagoon using shrimp and mackerel. Surface temperature on the main lake is 76-79 degrees, with underwater visibility rated gin clear in most areas. Lake level is receding 6 to 8 inches per week. The lake is open until 11 PM on Thursdays, and until Midnight on Fridays and Saturdays to take advantage of the night bite on catfish.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Nick Vega of Garden Grove, 10-2 channel catfish on Bite-On Cajun Mackerel at the flats
Donte Mayes of Compton, 10-2 channel catfish on mackerel at Sierra Cove
Terra Petry of Redondo Beach, 7-2 channel catfish on mackerel at the flats
Claudio Gomez and Claudio Gomez, Jr. of Santa Ana, 10-catfish limit totaling 32-7 on chicken livers at the flats
Whitney Curry of Orange, 4-8 largemouth bass [released], on a Triple Trout at the west shore