Plenty of catfish and bass were on tap at Irvine Lake this week, reported General Manager Dave Noyes. "The catfish bite was very consistent this week", observed Noyes. "It's a steady pick most of the day, but really ramps up in the late afternoon and evening."

Noyes added, "The bass fishing has been amazing the past few weeks, and all year long. It's like the Energizer Bunny; it just keeps going and going!"

Good catfish catches were reported from Boat Dock Cove, the west shore, and Santiago Flats. Productive baits included mackerel, bonito, shrimp, Gulp! Catfish Chunks, skipjack, and pike mackerel. Most of the whiskerfish have been 2 to 6-pound stocker-grade channel cats, with a sprinkling of larger fish keeping things very interesting.

Bass anglers found very good numbers of 2 to 5-pound largemouth, with some bigger bucketmouths prowling around. Daytime bassers did best on 10 or 12-inch Texas-rigged Berkley Power worms, swimbaits, or jigs, fished at 20 to 40 feet on hard structure around Rocky Point, Sierra Cove, and the Red Clay Cliffs. A typical bass report came from local guide Hubert Zimara of KFGS Service, "I caught five largemouth ranging from 2 to 6 pounds during the mid-day bite on Friday, using Optimum Swimbaits".

As evening arrives, the bass move up a bit to as shallow as 10 feet, with the big worms still the top producer, but some topwater fish also biting. A handful of hybrid striped bass [sunshine bass or wipers] were caught incidentally to the pursuit of catfish by anglers soaking shrimp or mackerel at the flats. Very few crappie or bluegill were caught. Families with children age 12 and under found very good numbers of carp and1 to 3-pound catfish using the marshmallow/mealworm combo, mackerel, and nightcrawlers.

Anticipation is building for Irvine Lake's 2012-13 public Trout Season Opener, which will take place on Friday, November 2. A special limited-entry "VIP Fishing Day" will also take place on Thursday, November 1. Some 20,000 pounds of trout will be planted just prior to the opener, and late summer water drawdowns indicate that the very popular west shore road may indeed be out of the water by then, giving easy access to that very productive part of the lake.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Barrack Hussian, 10.2 lb channel cat, mackerel, West Shore.
Marty Sauceda, Costa Mesa, 9.5 lb channel cat, mackerel /shrimp combo, Santiago Flats.
Ethan Gonzalez, Anaheim, 15 lb limit channel cats, mackerel, Children's Lagoon.
Don Spencer, Chino Hills, 4.9 lb largemouth bass (released), on a jig, Santiago Flats.
Navarro family, Rancho Cucamonga, channel cat limits, mackerel / shrimp combo, Children's Lagoon.
Daniel Schacht, Torrance, 2 lb channel cat, mackerel, Children's Lagoon.
Ricky Sombounkhane, La Habra, 5lb bass - Bass Trix lures, mid-lake.
Jose Mendoza, Riverside, 9lb Largemouth bass, Roboworm during night fishing, Red Clay Cliffs.