HUGE 14-7 RAINBOW AND 10-2 BASS TOP CATCHES
Thousands of pounds of additional trout were planted at Irvine Lake late on Thursday of this week, and the big fish were definitely biting all week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "Just like we do every week, we just had a double-truckload of rainbows put into the lake", observed Getty. "We also had the largest trout and the largest bass so far of 2013 both caught this past week. There were a good number of trophy-grade trout over 7 pounds, along with lots of those very nice 3 to 6-pounders. Our big Float tube and Kayak Tournament is going on this weekend too!" Getty added, "When storms move through the area, the lakeside roads may close, and require up to 24 hours drying time. Call the Pro Shop [714-649-9111] for up to the minute road conditions."

Good catches were reported by bait dunkers from the west shoreline, Trout Island and Boat Dock Cove, while trollers scored at mid-lake, Santiago Flats and near the dam. A favorite bait among the Irvine Lake Pro-Team members is the Gulp! Pinched Crawler in the new 1-inch size, with the chartreuse color getting the nod most often. Rigging is Carolina-style for the floating version, or under a bobber for the sinking version. Pro-Teamers who troll are also enamored with the new pink color in the size 4 Berkley Flickershad. Other productive trolling lures have been the clown-color Flickershad, pink or brown trout-color SC Shiner, and firetiger-color Rapala Countdown CD05's. Only a handful of bass anglers ventured out this week, and although their quarry was generally un-cooperative, a whopper 10-2 bucketmouth was fooled by a jig. A growing number of nice crappie are also being caught incidentally by trout anglers trolling for trout.

Families with children age 12 and under did well on 1 to 3 pound trout in the Kids Lagoon, and the Lagoon received another big stocking this week. Surface temperature on the main lake is 55 degrees, with underwater visibility rated crystal clear. The lake level is holding steady.

Outstanding caches of the week at Irvine Lake included;

Travis Gunther of Long Beach, 14-7 rainbow trout on an SC Shiner at the flats
Dwayne Washington of Long Beach 9-8 rainbow trout on PowerBait at Trout Island
Mike Meredith of Irvine, 8-8 rainbow trout on Flickershad at mid-lake
Larry Pettus of Loreto, Mexico, 7-12 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore
Tim Moreno of Whittier, 7-8 rainbow trout on a Daiwa Peanut at mid-lake
Bob Munson of Lakewood, 10-2 largemouth bass [released] on a jig at the flats
Jason Muller of Orange, 2-1 crappie on a Rapala at mid-lake