The catfish bite remains very good at Santa Ana River Lakes. The lake will continue to be receive weekly catfish plants, but it will now receive the plants on Thursday of each week. Anglers fishing from boats have been having the most success. Top baits this week are the M&M (marshmallow and mealworm) combo or nightcrawlers with garlic or gravy. The best spots have been La Palma Point, the Bubble Hole, the sandy beach, and Chris' Pond.

Top catfish this week was a 9-8 caught by Jimmy Suchy, Anaheim, on the M&M (marshmallow-meal worm) combo fishing from boat. His 9-8 catch topped a seven fish stringer totaling 35-0. Scott Zimnicky, Garden Grove, had two nice days of fishing this past week. On his first day of fishing, he caught a limit of catfish totaling 26-0 with fish to 4-8 on nightcrawlers. He then returned to catch another limit of catfish totaling 26-8, again with his top fish at 4-8, and this time he fished the M&M combo. Vance Embry, Long Beach, caught a 6-8 catfish on mackerel. Michael Godinho, Rancho Cucamonga, caught a stringer of cats totaling 29-8 with fish to 6-4 , all caught on the M&M combo at Bubble Hole. Yvonne Pina, San Clemente, caught a 5-0 catfish on the M&M combo fishing near the pumphouse.

Anglers also have an opportunity to win a $250 prize package each week with the World Wide Web Cam event. Anglers simply need to bring their stringer of fish to the tackle shop, get their picture taken, and for each fish on their stringer they will receive a raffle ticket. Each week a winner will be drawn and the winner will be announced on http://www.fishingwebcam.com/. The event will last through July 29. As a bonus, anglers get a $7 discount coupon each time they weigh in their catch.

No sturgeon were landed this week, but anglers are reminded that if they hook and land one of these bruisers, they are catch-and-release only -- but there is a reward for the catch. The $200-value prize package includes two free gate passes ($40 value), a free pontoon boat rental ($85 value), and a top-quality Eagle Claw fishing combo that includes a graphite catfish rod, multi-ball bearing spinning reel, and spool of Lazer line ($75 value).

Santa Ana River Lakes is open seven days a week with fishing allowed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on day passes or from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on an evening pass. Each of these $20 passes has a five-fish limit. The lake's 24-hour passes are available every week on Friday and Saturday nights. These passes have a 15-fish limit and cost $45. For Santa Ana River Lakes fishing information, call (714) 632-7830 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.