Catfish to over eight pounds were the highlight of anglers' stringers posted at Anaheim Lake over the past week. While the average fish are in the two-pound class, and limits have been common, quite a few bigger fish are showing from deep water.

Jimmy Suchy, pictured above from Anaheim, had two of the bigger catfish this week at 8 1/2 and 6 1/2 pounds fishing the marshmallow-meal worm (M&M) combo. Pedro Villa, Anaheim, had a 4 1/2-pounder to top off his five-fish, 14 1/2-pound stringer, also caught on the M&M combo. Donovan Miller, Fullerton, landed 10 catfish up to four-pound on shrimp. Victor Estrada and Justo Rios, both Santa Ana, had a 10-fish, 20-pound stringer at the pump house on the M&M combo.

The tilapia are also pretty good, but few anglers are targeting the tasty panfish. Josh Clark, Duarte, had tilapia to 1 1/2 pounds while also getting a pair of catfish to 4 1/2 pounds. He was fishing shrimp, but the tilapia are generally best on half a nightcrawler. The best catfish action remains in deep water where the fish retreat during daylight hours to avoid coromorants. The marshmallow-meal worm combo has been one of the top baits this past week, but shrimp, mackerel and nightcrawlers are also good bets, and adding a prepared scent like Love Sauce, Bite On, or Gravy to the baits is improving the strike ratio.

The bubble hole and the hump directly between Catfish Island and Honker Island remain the top spots, but most points along the whole west side of the lake and the deep water off Trout Island are also good bets. Shore fishermen capable of making long casts to deeper water are having just as good success as boat anglers during the day, and the shore night action is very good as the fish move up tight to the banks.

The weekend Catfish Derbies continue to be held each Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Entry fee is $5 for any of the five permit time frames -- from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, from 5 to 11 p.m. Saturday evening, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, and from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday evening. (There are no derbies for the mid-day special at noon or the 24-hour fishing pass holders.) All of the derbies feature a 100 percent payout of the whole pot to the angler catching the biggest catfish. If 10 anglers enter at $5 each, the biggest catfish caught among those 10 anglers wins that angler the whole $50 pot.

Anaheim Lake continues to receive twice-weekly plants of catfish and tilapia on Tuesday and Thursday and will through the rest of the summer fishing season.