Last week's special stocking of thousands of pounds of trophy grade trout from 6 to 10-pounds plus really spiced up the action. To top it off, thousands of additional pounds were stocked in the lake again this week, including the Kids Lagoon.

Fishing for trout was excellent, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "We saw some phenomenal fishing this weekend", observed Getty. "There are just tons of really nice trout in the 3 to 4-pound class being brought in. The bite went on all day long, and the fish were all over the lake."

Most trout on the stringers were quality-grade 2 to 5-pound rainbows, but a significant number of better-grade 6 to 9-pounders, along with a smattering of 3 to 4-pound brown trout and steelhead kept things very exciting. A few Yosemite Reds were also checked in.

Good catches were reported from the west shoreline, Trout Island, and Boat Dock Cove. Trollers also did well at mid-lake and Santiago Flats. Productive baits included PowerBait, nightcrawlers and Berkley Mice Tails. Some Pro Team members have been rigging up the new 1-inch Gulp! Pinched Crawlers under a slip bobber and finding it very productive. Trollers got fish on the reliable firetiger-color Rapala countdown CD05's, along with red/chartreuse Ultralight Crank ULC03's, and pink tiger-color Shad Rap SR04's.

The previous holiday week saw pursuit of alternate species minimized. No bass anglers ventured out, and no catfish or wipers were reported. Activity in the Kids Lagoon was also mostly nil last week due to lack of effort, but the new stocking load should get action in the Lagoon pumped up. Surface temperature of the main lake is 52 degrees, with underwater visibility rated at 3-5 feet. The lake level is holding steady.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

James Becerra of Ontario, 9-10 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Don Swisher of Orange, 9-8 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore
Josh Poske of Laguna Niguel, 9-7 rainbow trout on a Flicker Shad at mid-lake
Julian Larrasquito of Anaheim, 7-15 rainbow trout on a Mice Tail at the west shore
Jason Mullin of Orange, 7-9 rainbow trout on a Rapala at mid-lake
Adam Maliki of Trabuco, 7-9 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Richard Yang of Ontario, 7-6 rainbow trout on a Shaun's Smokin' Jig at the west shore
Steve Appleby of Orange, 7-5 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore
Kevin Kim of Orange, 7-4 rainbow trout on a nightcrawler at the west shore
Nancy Oppenheim of Toluca Lake, 7-0 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
16-year old Sierra Van Meter of Orange, 6-14 rainbow trout on a nightcrawler from a float tube at the west shore
John Clay of Santa Margarita, 4-11 brown trout on a Flicker Shad at the cliffs