Good overall trout fishing was still on the menu at Irvine Lake this week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The trout bite was very good this week for both trollers and bait anglers", observed Getty. "As the weather warms up, the fish have gone down to 10 or 15 feet, but the massive amount of cool, clear water the lake has received in the past month have made our trout fishing conditions close to perfect. The fish are biting pretty much all day, and we will keep stocking trout until early May."


Getty added, "We are very excited that our night hours for catfish will start up on Friday, June 6. Just before the opener, we will be stocking thousands of pounds of big broodstock trophy catfish, which will all be over 6 pounds."


Bait dunkers chasing trout did best at Sierra Cove, with PowerBait, nightcrawlers, or combinations of the same being the best choice. Most trout on the stringers were nice 2 to 4-pound rainbows, with a few big steelhead and also some larger rainbows mixed in. Trollers did best along the dam restriction lines and at mid-lake. Best lures were natural-color divers that went down at least slightly, including shad-color Rapala Shad Rap SR04's or black/silver Rapala Ultralight Shad ULS04's. Alternatively, 2 to 3 colors of leadcore line gets non-diving lures down into the strike zone. Slow trolling is still the key, with speeds from 0.9 to 1.7 mph most productive.


Bass fishing is still very good, with numbers of 2 to 4-pound largemouth coming in on a variety of techniques in from 1 to 20 feet of water. Plastics, jigs, and spinnerbaits are all producing very well on the bass. Best locations included Rocky Point, the Red Clay Cliffs, and areas of flooded grass. Catfish action is fair to good at Crawdad Point and Rocky Point. Families with children age 12 and under found very good action on carp and 1 to 3-pound trout using lime twist PowerBait and Berkley Dust. Surface temperature on the main lake is 65-66 degrees, with the lake level continuing to rise several inches per week. Underwater visibility is rated as crystal clear, and the west shore road is currently under water. The first night-time catfish session will take place on Friday, June 6.