Irvine Lake crappie going wild

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

The crappie population at Irvine Lake was on full display this week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. ‘We have been seeing a lot of crappie limits this week,’ Getty said. ‘During our big crappie tournament, a 10-year-old boy caught the winning limit of fish, which weighed a total of 7 pounds, 8 ounces. Several other limits were filled by slabs that averaged well over a pound apiece.’

Getty tipped, ‘Many different techniques and lures are working. Crappie are being caught by trolling, casting, and drifting. Good lures include Atomic Tubes, Gulp! Grubs, and even Rapalas.’

Trout anglers scored well using two different approaches. Most trouters dropped down three to six colors of leadcore line followed by a firetiger-color CD05 Rapala or a cop car-color Luhr Jensen Needlefish. Bait dunkers soaking Power Bait also found several large schools of trout in the Woody’s Cove area.

The annual Masters tournament was held on Sunday, with excellent action and many heartbreaking losses of big fish. Tim Blackshire of Ontario took top honors with his 5-12 rainbow; garnering a package including the coveted ‘Masters jacket’ and trophy, an unlimited one-year pass to the lake, $1,250 in cash, and more, with a total value of nearly $10,000.

Bass angers are advised that largemouth in the 3-to-7-pound range are actively hunting trout. Working methodically down the bank and concentrating on secondary points with swimbaits such as a Triple Trout will draw some quality bites. No hybrid striped bass were checked in this week. Catfish are beginning to stir into their customary summer pattern and anglers are eagerly anticipating the opening of catfish season, and evening hours, on June 10. The Kids Lagoon is slow, with no more fish plants scheduled until catfish season begins.

The lake level is holding steady, but is expected to drop about a foot over the next three weeks. Surface temperatures in the main lake are in the 68-to-72-degree range.

Outstanding catches of the week included:

-- Dean Risio of Anaheim, 5-14 rainbow trout on a Rapala at mid-lake.
-- Tim Blackshire of Ontario, 5-12 rainbow trout on a Shawn Jig at the west shore.
-- Bruce Watson of Long Beach, 5-8 rainbow trout on a Rapala at Rocky Point.
-- Brian Carter of Ontario, 5-6 rainbow trout on a jig at Woody’s Cove.
-- Joe Uribe Jr. of Anaheim, 7-0 largemouth bass (released) on Reaction Innovations at the west shore.
-- Seth DuBois, 10, of Orange, 1-10 crappie on Gulp! Grubs at the flats.
-- Phil Hildebrant of Anaheim, 3-1 channel catfish on mackerel at the flats.
-- Robert Acosta and David Ramirez of Norco, 10-trout limit totaling 34 pounds on Power Bait at Woody’s Cove.

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