Excellent numbers of 2 to 8-pound channel catfish were the story at Irvine Lake this week, with a decent number of 10 to 20-pound blue cats mixed in. Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop reported, "We are seeing lots of limits of the eating-size stocker channel cats. Both shore and boat anglers are catching a lot of fish, both stockers and natural fish that have been spawned in the lake."

Top baits were Catmando, Gulp! Catfish Dough, Bowker's and the M&M combo [marshmallow/mealworm]. Productive areas included Santiago Flats, the west shore and the buoy line.

Noted catfish guide Ronson "Catmando" Smothers had a stellar day on Saturday, relating, "The first two hours were slow on Saturday, I started to think it wasn't going to happen. Then, another boat that was close to us picked up a 12-pounder so we decided to stay a little longer.

"Around 9:00 AM the bite started and lasted until we left the spot at 2:00 PM. This was one of our best rips ever. We weighed 13 blues in all, including fish weighing 8, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 18 pounds!

???We could have kept going, but we left them biting. I dropped off my anglers and tried deep for bigger fish, but only managed a few channels to 6 pounds. All the blues were taken in the flats on large mackerel chunks in Catmando Original attractant on 20-pound test line."

Smothers tipped, "The fish are there, you just have to search around until you find their ???day spot'. There should be a Titan caught over 40 pounds in the next few weeks, I hope."

Bass anglers found a return to excellent action on rocky ledges near Santiago Flats in 15 to 25 feet of water, with some anglers releasing up to 25 bass per day. The 2 to 4-pound largemouth were hitting on dropshot baits and shaky head-rigged plastics.

Crappie fishing was slow due to an overabundance of tiny shad, but bluegill and redear fishing was wide-open for anglers using mealworms and waxworms.

Outstanding catches of the week included:
Jeff Brinson of Folsom, 18.7 and 14.4 pound blue catfish on Catmando Baits at the flats
Clayton Luallen of Folsom, 16.9 and 13.9 pound blue catfish on Catmando Baits at the flats
Lela Mac Clay of Los Angeles, 10.10 pound blue catfish on mackerel at the flats
Ben Flores of Corona, 5-catfish limit totaling 25 pounds on mackerel at the west shore
Jose Chavez of Bell, 5-catfish limit totaling 22 pounds on mackerel at the flats