The weekend's sweltering triple-digit weather has thankfully passed, but the catfish at Irvine Lake are still on a hot bite, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "They are really whacking them", observed Getty. "The catfish bite starts during daylight hours in the afternoon as a steady pick, and just keeps getting better. We are seeing tons of limits, and are selling lots of second-limit passes, and even third-limit passes. The smaller catfish are in less than 10 feet of water, and some successful anglers are dropping their bait right into the weeds. Some bigger fish are heading deep.

"The thunderstorm and brief rain that rolled through on Saturday afternoon, along with the large crowd on Saturday night made the fish a little touchy during those periods, but it picked right back up from Sunday through Wednesday of this week."

Getty added, "Not surprisingly, Ronson 'Catmando' Smothers took home first place in our 'Midsummer Night's Dream' catfish tournament, with a 9-0 channel cat. So many people were anchored up around him; it looked like a small city out on the lake."

Good catfish catches were reported from Boat Dock Cove, Santiago Flats, and the west shoreline. Productive baits included mackerel, shrimp, Gulp! Catfish Chunks, and a new "secret" baitfish called pike mackerel. Most whiskerfish were prime eating-size 2 to 6 pounders, with a sprinkling of bigger ones mixed in.

Just about every bass fishing technique will produce at different times of the day. Pods of largemouth bass are chasing shad schools in open water. Flukes and dartheads tossed ahead of the fast-moving groups of bass are working well. Otherwise, working the usual structure means going down 20 feet with dropshot-rigged plastics, or flipping deep into brushy cover. Night time hours see the 2 to 4-pound bucketmouths hitting crankbaits and topwaters. No catches of hybrid stripers, crappie, bluegill, redear, sturgeon, or carp were checked in this week, due to the overwhelming amount of effort put forth toward either catfish or largemouth bass.

Families with children age 12 and under found excellent action on 1 to 3-pound catfish on all of the usual baits in the Kids Lagoon, and an unexpectedly whopping 12-4 channel cat also came from the Lagoon. Surface temperature in the main lake is as high as 82 degrees in some places, with underwater visibility still rated very clear. The lake level is dropping 8 to 12 inches per week.

For those anglers planning ahead, Irvine Lake's big 2012-13 Trout Season Opener will be on Friday, November 2, and the special "VIP Day" on Thursday, November 1. Stay tuned for more details!

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Randy Naguiat of Garden Grove, 13-9 blue catfish [released] on mackerel at the flats
7-year old Dominic Ozeta of Riverside, 12-4 channel catfish on mackerel at the Kids Lagoon
Ashley DeLuno of Orange, 8-0 channel catfish on mackerel at the flats
Don Spencer of Anaheim, 3-8 largemouth bass [released] on a darthead at the west shore

Midsummer Night's Dream Catfish Tournament final results:
1. Ronson Smothers of Los Angeles, 9-0 channel catfish [$959]
2. Terry Lairson of Huntington Beach, 8-12 channel catfish [$466]
3. Wayne Evans of Orange, 8-6 channel catfish [$329]
4. Chris Hagopian of Redondo Beach, 6-14 channel catfish [$245]