Irvine Lake roads re-open, 6-12 rainbow tops catches

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Here’s this week’s Irvine Lake fishing report, written by veteran angler Steve Carson:

Last week’s wet and stormy weather is in the rearview mirror for Irvine Lake anglers, reported general manager Melanie Montoure. ‘All of the lakeside roads are now completely dried out and back open,’ observed Montoure. ‘The forecast for the weekend is for excellent weather, and the fish are biting very well again.’

Montoure added, ‘We lowered the lake level about 6 inches temporarily, but it should be back to completely full in just a few days. Underwater visibility is about 2 feet.’

Trollers dragged gold/black or firetiger-color Rapalas on two to three colors of leadcore line along the west shoreline. Shorebound bait dunkers did best at Boat Dock Cove, while boaters soaked baits at Santiago Flats.

Productive baits included red/chartreuse or white/orange Mice Tails, along with chartreuse or natural-color Gulp! Pinched Crawlers on a 12-inch leader. Bait anglers are advised to use the ‘crawl’ technique, and keep their baits moving slowly to attract fish to the scent trail.

Crappie are still being caught incidentally by trout trollers all over the lake, while those targeting the slabsides found very good numbers of them in 20 feet of water and hitting on white Atomic Tubes.
Excellent numbers of channel catfish were caught near running creeks on cut mackerel. Bass were mostly in pre-spawn mode, but the warming temperatures should bring them surging up on the spawning beds.

Families with children age 12 and younger found good action in the Kids Lagoon on 1- to 3-pound trout, using Mice Tails and Power Bait. Surface temperatures in the main lake dipped to the mid-50s during the weekend cold snap, but is expected to increase rapidly with the warming weather.

Outstanding catches of the week included:

-- Brian May of Orange, 6-12 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the west shore.
-- Gabriel DeLaCruz of Pico Rivera, 4-14 channel catfish on nightcrawlers at the west shore.
-- Kirk Beardsley of Huntington Beach, 6-1 largemouth bass (released) on 10-inch plastic worm at Trout Island.

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