Irvine Lake brown trout and rainbow trout bite rebounds; huge sturgeon hooked and lost

Dropping water temperatures woke up Irvine Lake's trout bite this past weekend, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The trout started to bite much better on Friday, with the action continuing through the weekend. The lake temperature dropped to 64-67 degrees, and is going down about a half-degree per day, which has gotten the trout much more active. The most productive pattern is garlic PowerBait in 5-10 feet of water in the AM, switching to trolled Flickershads or SC Shiners at mid-lake in the PM hours."


Getty added, "We had lake veteran Diana Cortez hook a monster sturgeon out of her float tube using only 4-pound test line. She got taken for a wild 2-hour 'Nantucket Sleigh Ride', and at one point the 7-foot fish was greyhounding like a marlin. It would easily have exceeded the current world record for sturgeon on 4-pound line, but finally broke off. After it was all over, Diana still managed to catch 4 nice trout from her float tube on Saturday afternoon, and went back out on the lake on Sunday to try again."


Bass anglers did well in relatively shallow waters in the back of Santiago Flats using crankbaits and buzzbaits, and also on hard structure at 20 feet near Rocky Point using dropshot-rigged plastics. Most largemouth were ranging 2 to 4-pounds, but some lunker specialists were after bigger game with large swimbaits, but would not admit to much. Some good-size bluegill and redear sunfish went for nightcrawlers intended for trout.


Families with children age 12 and under found moderate numbers of 1 to 3-pound trout in the Kids Lagoon on various reaction baits. Surface temperature on the main lake was 64-67 degrees, with the lake level rising a few inches per week with the intake pipe at Sierra Cove running. Underwater visibility is very clear in the morning, with afternoon breezes adding a little stain to the water.


Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Reggie Walter of Los Angeles, 8-1 brown trout on a Kastmaster at the west shore
Serop Karchikyan of Burbank, 4-14 brown trout on Power Worm at the west shore
Matt Wong of Irvine, 4-11 brown trout on Power Worm from a float tube
Tramel Kerr of Los Angeles, 4-4 brown trout on a mini jig at the west shore
Steve Chiasson of Corona, 5-7 rainbow trout on PowerBait at Trout Island
Scott Bruno of Orange, 5-5 rainbow trout on Mice Tails at the west shore
Anthony Pendergrass of Orange, 5-2 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Daniel Gonzales of Torrance, 5-2 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Jesse Westin of San Diego, 5-1 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Steve Duncan of Elsinore, 5-1 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Mike Rollins of Tustin, 9-7 largemouth bass [released] on a crankbait at Rocky Point
6-year old Gabriella Torres of Norwalk, 5-fish limit of rainbow trout totaling 16-8 on PowerBait at the west shore



Travis Gunther of Orange, 5-fish limit of brown trout totaling 16-8 on Kastmaster at the west shore


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