Irvine Lake trout action strong on rainbows and browns to 8-5; catfish to 20 pounds stirring Trout, bass, and catfish were all active this week at Irvine Lake, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The trout bite has been very strong all day long, with lots of beautiful-grade fish in the 3 and 4-pound class", observed Getty. "We are still seeing the best brown trout bite that the lake has ever seen. The brown trout are keying in on schools of baitfish, so trollers and lure casters are doing best. Casting metal like Kastmasters and Thomas Buoyants is what most people are doing to target brown trout. The rainbows are biting best on garlic PowerBait, and nightcrawlers work on both species."


Getty added, "No particular time of day is best, the fish bite all day long. Best spot for shore fishing is the west shore, and trollers are doing best at mid-lake." Bass anglers did well on 2 to 4-pound largemouth on jigs and dropshot baits at Rocky Point and the Red Clay Cliffs. Interestingly the largest bass recorded for the week was an 8-pounder caught incidentally by a trout troller at mid-lake. Rumors of larger bucketmouths starting to go after large swimbaits are hard to pin down.


Anglers targeting the whiskerfish along "catfish alley" near Rocky Point found surprising action on some big individual cats to as much as 20 pounds. Mackerel soaked at 15-20 feet did the trick. Some smaller catfish and large bluegill also ate nightcrawlers intended for trout.


Families with children age 12 and under made some good catches of 1 to 3-pound trout in the Kids Lagoon using lime twist PowerBait rolled in Berkley Trout Dust. The brown trout in the lagoon are smaller than those in the main lake, so small 1/12 ounce Kastmasters are a good choice for them. Surface temperature on the mail lake is 61 degrees and dropping, with the lake level rising 6 inches per week from inflow, separate from any rise due to local rain.


Saturday December 6 will feature a Toy Drive Raffle, with a new toy valued at $10 or more getting you into a raffle with prizes including a flatscreen TV and an X-Box. The following weekend of December 13-14 will see the Holiday Trout Derby.


Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included;
Jacob Mojarro of Orange, 6-14 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at the west shore
Don Chriswell of Newport, 6-10 rainbow trout on a Rapala at mid-lake
Vince Virgen of Orange, 5-2 rainbow trout on PowerBait at the west shore
Gabriel Torres of Santa Ana, 8-5 brown trout on a Cultiva Minnow at mid-lake
Rickey Rangel of Orange, 4-6 brown trout on nightcrawlers at the west shore
Rick Caulon of Irvine, 4-0 brown trout on a mini jig at the west shore
Kelly Castaneda of Duarte, 8-1 largemouth bass [released] on a Rapala at mid-lake
Terry Lairson of Huntington Beach, 20-2 channel catfish on mackerel at Rocky Point


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