Fishing Trophy Catfish At Irvine Lake

[VineAssist]

Its been awhile since I have seen this subject touched on so I am going to start it off with some tips and tricks that Ronson, Bluehunter, Wayne Waimer, Elaine, Phil, and Marty of told me about and pass them on. If they are on the boards I would like for them or any of the West Coast Cat guys to chime in as well.

These are all tips and tricks that have been productive over the years here at Irvine Lake.

Line
If you are after that fish of a lifetime you had better have a fresh quality line on your reel. All to often you here the story of the fish that got away due to line failure. If you are fishing mono change your line every three to four trips. While I am on the subject of Mono at the lightest pound test you should be using when fishing for trophy fish is 15lb test. If you are fishing around structure which is not uncommen here at the Vine you could even go up to 30lb test. Berkley puts out a couple of quality monos that would be great for this type of fishing and they are Berkley Maxx and Berkley Big Game. Some Catfish guys swear by Maxima which is a great line and is very abrasion reistant.

Hooks
This is another subject that you can substitute your favorite brand but make sure your hook is sharp. Most hooks are perfectly good out of the packs now a days (yes I do remeber the days where you would have to sharpen a hook out of the package!). Gamakatsu, VMC, and Owner all put out hooks that are great hooks and can be used for both Salt and Fresh. Now their are two ways to go here and their are different schools of thought as well. To go Circle Hook or a Striaght J hook.

Circle hooks have long been the rage for Giant Tuna and other tough salt water fish. Some Catfish fisherman started using them with success for the giant Blue and Channel Catfish here at the lake. When fishing these big 4/0 to 7/0 circle hooks it is going to take so time getting use to in both baiting the hook and actually hooking and fish that bites. With a circle hook when you get bit you actually let the fish load up on the rod and reel and just lift the rod to set the hook. If you are one of those swing for the fences guys do not use a circle hook..The beauty of a circle hook is that allmost all of your fish will be hooked in the corner of the mouth away which keeps the line away from teeth, gill rackers etc.... and makes the fish easier to release.

Straight J hooks are what a lot of us grew up on and are the most confortable with. J hooks are easy to bait and the best part you can swing like for the fences like you do in your beer league softball games. You may have to content with the teeth and gill rackers on your line but then again they have been around for thousands of years.

The size of your hook will be determined by the size of your bait. A lot of guys swear by 4/0 to 7/0 sized hooks. If I am fishing a whole fillet of Mackeral I would probably be fishing a 7/0. With a head I would probably stick to a 4/0.

Baits and Attractants

Any bait can and will catch a trophy Catfish. In a lot of Park lakes and Community lakes anglers catch quality Catfish on Hot Dogs dont ask me why but it just works. Here at Irvine Lake the most popular baits by far for trophy Catfish are Mackeral, bonita, and skipjack. All three of these fish are very bloody and oily fish and is probably why they are such good bait for Cats. Catfish rely heavily on their whisker to feel (yes they do feel with them) and sense food in the water. If you are after giant Catfish it only makes sense that you would fish giant baits. Allmost all of our regulars will agree that off a Mac and a good sized bonita you will only get three maybe four baits. The first two baits are the actual fillets of the fish and the third bait is the whole head. Some guys use the belly meat but the two previously mentioned baits are it.

When fishing a fillet it is important to let the fish fully eat the bait. A lot of times if you are in an area that has fish on it or in it. Smaller sized fish (stockers) will pick up these giant baits and run with them. Let them! The more they mess with it the more it gets the attention of a Trophy sized fish in the area. When you finally get that bite that feels like it has it soildly in its mouth let it run for a bit before driving the hook home.

If you happen to fishing a head and their are a couple of guys out their that I know do so hopefully they will chime in on this matter. The head has a lot of bone and meat on it so it can be a little bit harder to fish than a fillet but I know a lof of trophy fish are caught on it. When a fish picks up the head once again make sure they eat it solid! If you think they have it give it another five count. To many times I have heard the story of the whole head of a Mac or bonita being crushed by a big Cat and not be hooked. Bluehunter can you please chime in on this subject ...

I got one on now what????
All to often guys will hook these giant fish and either a) swing to early because they are to anxious or b) they put to much pressure on the fish to early c)not enough pressure when it matters and the last one is the most heartbreaking loss the fish at the net! When you finally do hook these fish it is important that everything is in order. Make sure your drags are set before you even think about casting. These fish are big and strong you want to make sure that your drags are set to the breaking strength of your line. When you do hook them dont freak out and try and grind them to the boat like the guys on TV ( I know I am going to hear it on this one). Let the rod and reel do all the work. The last one and this is the one that breaks my heart to hear and see. Guys hook these fish and come equipped with a trout net or no net at all. When you do get these fish boat side they are huge. Look at the pictures on our website. Allmost all of the serious trophy catfish guys come to the lake with the big Salmon style landing nets.

I hope you guys found this piece informative and feel free to add to it if you have any tips are tricks. I would love to see them shared and hopefully pay the bounty on the lake record fish..

[christainmetalhead909]

awesome info thanks!!!

[Steve Carson]

Great stuff Jimmy.
Just to add a couple of points regarding knots.
Learn to tie a couple of knots well, instead of a bunch of knots at a mediocre level.
Practice tying them in front of the TV until you are proficient, before you arrive at the lake.
For most anglers, the best knot to tie on hooks, swivels, etc. is the "Palomar Knot".
If using any of the new-generation braided "superlines", you should use the "Double Palomar".
Probably your best advice of all is the one about the BIG net; more big fish are lost at the boat/shore than any other way.

[bluehunter]

Great write up Jimmy. You pretty much covered the basis. Another added lesson for this is - How to fight the fish once you hooked them. Here are a few things to keep in mind.


Trophy blue season is fast approaching (Late Summer, Fall thru winter) and it is about that time to get ready. Many people may actually hook a giant blue, but only a few will actually land one. There are many different reasons to this:

1. Not the right gear - too light of line,reel, pole, etc.
2. Too small of a hook - bend hook, broken hook, not hooked in mouth deep enough causing a spit hookup.
3. Loosing fish to faulty knots.
4. Bad line, frizzled, not changing line in a while.
5. Not a good drag set on reel.
6. Letting fish run with no resistance from you the angler.
7. Running into anchor line.
8. Getting caught in snags - rocks, trees, etc.
9. Buried hook in bait causing not a good hook set.
10. Crossing lines.
11. Not a big enough net.

There are a few more reasons why people lose big fish, but I pretty much gave the top 11 reasons, and all of the reasons I have experienced before once or twice. I have lost way more big blues than I have caught. The loses was turned into a learning lesson. Soon after I evaluated what went wrong in my head and what could have been done better, I made a mental note to myself to not let that scenario happen again and I played the scenario over again in my head. When those same situations came up again - which it did and will -I was able to react better and do something different or the opposite of what I did before and was able to land that big trophy blue. So when you going after that trophy blue at Irvine, Lower Otay, and San VIcente when it opens back up, follow some of these simple steps when adversity comes at you when you are fighting that fish.

1. Use heavy gear for trophy blues. You will not always be lucky using a barble pole and 8 pound test. Use medium to heavy action rods. A reel with good line capacity. Plus line that is formatted for what you are fishing in gear and in water- open water, rocks, snaggs. The more structure, the heavier the line.

2. Use a big enough hook - 6/0 to 8/0 at least. You want to have enough hook to penetrate that tough mouth of the big blue cat. They will not always swallow the hook, and a small hook during a good fight in a trophies mouth can pop right out flying past your head. It happen to me before.

3. Tie a good strong knot. The polomar knot , trilence, San Diego, or any other tough durable knot you know, tie it. Lots of lost big ones come because of knot strength and is highly avoidable if we take the time to do it right.

4. Change that line often. Especially when fishing snaggs and structure as line can become damaged. Plus the normal wear and tear of the line can result in a lot of memory to the line.

5. Check that drag. You do not want it too tight. Too tight can snap a line, bend a hook, or yank that hook out of the fishes mouth. You want some resistance, but not too tight and definitely not too lose as a loose drag can cause a fish to drop the bait if tension is not constantly applied.

6. Don't just let that blue run with no resistance. You want that head facing facing towards you, not the head facing away from you. If the heads facing away from you he will find some where to snap you of at or run into.

7. Watch that anchor rope. Make sure your anchor is at an arched wing presentation. If your anchor is straight up and down that can mean trouble and he will wrap you up. keeping rope at an angle will give you more room to manuever around the rope If the fish is destined to run in the direction of the rope and you have a partner with you, have the partner pull in the rope immediately. If you are by yourself tighten up the grip and turn that head away from the rope. A lot of times enough pressure will turn that head.

8. Try to avoid the fish running into snaggs if you can. Keeping pressure on the fish helps eliminate that if the head is facing you.

9. Make sure you have enough of the hook exposed with the barb present when bait fishing. You dont know how many times I reeled in my bait with the hook buried in the bait smashed in. Sometimes big blues will just smash your bait and you want to be able to get a good set if that happenes.

10. Watch out for other lines, bring them in if necessary if you have a partner. Crossed lines can make for trouble. Keep a knife handy if by yourself and cut that extra line if needed.

11. Have a big enough net. I heard many stories of people losing big fish because they had a panfish net or trout net. If you are serious about catfishing you need to be serious about the net that you use as well. Use a big enough net that maybe your child can fit into or maybe even yourself. There are some giants out there. And the giants will require a giant net.Hope this helps and good fishing to you in your trophy hunt.

Brian Bluehunter Cummings.

[lifewith714]

As Tony the tiger would say.. THAT'S GRRRREEATT! information lol

[Hitts0n]

Yeah just ths season ive learned lots of lessons.They are not always in the same spot.The can move 30 feet to the left,or right.The veteran cats are always by structure.I also noticed when its real hot,they are in the cool areas(under branches,shaded areas,holes in the mud).I was using 8 lb test and got broken off 20-30 times this season so far.Now I switched to 15 and 20lb test.A lot of people think lite line is "Cool" cuss of the fight.NO!
You will get 0wned.Yea its easy to land stocked cats,but the veteran cats will man handle you.And you can not use cheap hooks.You will get cheap results.The worst thing is burrying your hooks in bait.Ive farmed soooo many fish this year do to fat pieces of bait and small hooks.I was using "chunks" of bait with # 1 or 2 circle hooks.Not a good combo.But when i fish filets,hook up everytime!! See you guys next weekend and all the tourneys after that!! Oh yeah...shrimp works also.....lol

[karalm]

Thanks Vineassist and Bluehunter for the important points above,
Besides the info above and the fact that most people target the brush or trees for the kitties, how about the depth for the big ones?? Do you generally find them in deeper vs the same depth where the stockers are caught?? I seem to remember that some of the big blues are caught out by the dam in deeper water flylining chunks but....?? Thoughts/suggestions?

[VineAssist]

Karlam,
Good question!

Traditionaly most of the bigger blues are caught from deeper water here at Irvine Lake. They seem to be quite fond of the old "creek channel". The creek channel runs from the flats up the cliffs snakes around rocky point and ends up along the dam.

With that being said the lake is darn near full and a lot of structure is in the water. If I where targeting a Trophy Blue Catfish within the next few weeks I would be trying some of the Dredger humps in the Santiago Flats and main Lake points such as Rocky Point and Crawdad Point. For some reason in July August and early September more of the quality sized fish are taken on Structure. I would be fishing in the 25' t0 40' range right now.
I know a lot of guys are fishing in the trees and brush but you are going to lose a lot of fish if you are not fishing braid on the right gear. Even then I hear the hook up to land ratio is not all that great.

Once mid August early September comes I would start to move out to the creek channels and hard structure spots by the dam. A word of advise please do not crowd others as this will lead to more lost fish in anchor ropes and saw offs! This is when you will be fishing that 40' to 70' range. THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL BE FISHING WHOLE FILLETS!!!!!! BRING THE RIGHT GEAR!!

I point I would like to add onto Brian's and I have seen used and personally used is attaching a lobster style float to the end of your anchor lines. If you are all by yourself or have a tough fighting fish you can literally dump all your anchor line and not worry about it being in the way. All you simply have to do after you have landed your fish is return to the bouys and come tight back on your anchors, and you are in that magic spot once again!

[Perris Bluegill Chaser]

Karlam,
Good question!

Traditionaly most of the bigger blues are caught from deeper water here at Irvine Lake. They seem to be quite fond of the old "creek channel". The creek channel runs from the flats up the cliffs snakes around rocky point and ends up along the dam.

With that being said the lake is darn near full and a lot of structure is in the water. If I where targeting a Trophy Blue Catfish within the next few weeks I would be trying some of the Dredger humps in the Santiago Flats and main Lake points such as Rocky Point and Crawdad Point. For some reason in July August and early September more of the quality sized fish are taken on Structure. I would be fishing in the 25' t0 40' range right now.
I know a lot of guys are fishing in the trees and brush but you are going to lose a lot of fish if you are not fishing braid on the right gear. Even then I hear the hook up to land ratio is not all that great.

Once mid August early September comes I would start to move out to the creek channels and hard structure spots by the dam. A word of advise please do not crowd others as this will lead to more lost fish in anchor ropes and saw offs! This is when you will be fishing that 40' to 70' range. THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL BE FISHING WHOLE FILLETS!!!!!! BRING THE RIGHT GEAR!!

I point I would like to add onto Brian's and I have seen used and personally used is attaching a lobster style float to the end of your anchor lines. If you are all by yourself or have a tough fighting fish you can literally dump all your anchor line and not worry about it being in the way. All you simply have to do after you have landed your fish is return to the bouys and come tight back on your anchors, and you are in that magic spot once again!

For stocker catfish should we flyline or use weight?

[VineAssist]

Another very good question Perris Bluegill Chaser!!!

When fishing for just our regular stockers there is a plethora of techniques you can use to target them. 95% of the time you will be fishing your baits flyined.

When you are fishing with cut baits such as Mackeral, Bonita, or Skipjack the weight of the chunck will be more than enough to cast the bait out and get it down to where the fish are. The key to fishing these chunck baits is to fish your reel out of gear. When we say out of gear that means that the bail on the spinning rod is open or your baitcaster is able to let out line freely. By doing so it allows the fish to pick up the bait and run with it giving you ample time to notice the bite and set the hook. I have heard stories of guys that have fallen asleep and woke up to no line on their reels and still caught the fish that had ran around all over with their bait.

When fishing Shrimp it is best to use the whole shrimp that comes in the container. Fishing these baits is just like a chunck bait and they actually cast like a bullet to due their shape. You will want to go with a smaller hook than the Mackeral and other fish chunck baits. Probably a size 1 to 4 baitholder hook would be sufficent.

Nightcrawlers make pretty good Catfish bait and this is where your rigging options can open up. Generally people will use a Carolina rig in which a egg sinker is put on the main line stopped by a swivel and then a leader is attached to the swivel with a hook. It is also possible to flyline a couple of nightcrawlers on a hook as well. This technique works really well near and around running water (creeks ).

The M&M combo is the only set up that, besides drift set ups which I will let one of the other Cat guys touch on) requires a weight due to the bouyancy of the marshmellow. For the M&M set up you will need some Marshmellows (garlic flavord, shrimp flavored, and anise are all very popular) a cup of giant mealworms, a swivel,some egg singkers, and a size 6 baitholder hook. This set up is probably the most finesse out of all the set ups used for Catfish because it requires such a small hook. I like to fish this set up on 6lb line which is considered light in terms of Catfish. It is a blast to catch them on this gear. Basically all you do is set up a Carolina rig with the sz 6 baitholder hook attached to the leader. Some guys like to put the Marshmellow on first and then the mealworms where other will do it in reverse effect the choice is all yours.

Hope these little tidbits help.

[Perris Bluegill Chaser]

Another very good question Perris Bluegill Chaser!!!

When fishing for just our regular stockers there is a plethora of techniques you can use to target them. 95% of the time you will be fishing your baits flyined.

When you are fishing with cut baits such as Mackeral, Bonita, or Skipjack the weight of the chunck will be more than enough to cast the bait out and get it down to where the fish are. The key to fishing these chunck baits is to fish your reel out of gear. When we say out of gear that means that the bail on the spinning rod is open or your baitcaster is able to let out line freely. By doing so it allows the fish to pick up the bait and run with it giving you ample time to notice the bite and set the hook. I have heard stories of guys that have fallen asleep and woke up to no line on their reels and still caught the fish that had ran around all over with their bait.

When fishing Shrimp it is best to use the whole shrimp that comes in the container. Fishing these baits is just like a chunck bait and they actually cast like a bullet to due their shape. You will want to go with a smaller hook than the Mackeral and other fish chunck baits. Probably a size 1 to 4 baitholder hook would be sufficent.

Nightcrawlers make pretty good Catfish bait and this is where your rigging options can open up. Generally people will use a Carolina rig in which a egg sinker is put on the main line stopped by a swivel and then a leader is attached to the swivel with a hook. It is also possible to flyline a couple of nightcrawlers on a hook as well. This technique works really well near and around running water (creeks ).

The M&M combo is the only set up that, besides drift set ups which I will let one of the other Cat guys touch on) requires a weight due to the bouyancy of the marshmellow. For the M&M set up you will need some Marshmellows (garlic flavord, shrimp flavored, and anise are all very popular) a cup of giant mealworms, a swivel,some egg singkers, and a size 6 baitholder hook. This set up is probably the most finesse out of all the set ups used for Catfish because it requires such a small hook. I like to fish this set up on 6lb line which is considered light in terms of Catfish. It is a blast to catch them on this gear. Basically all you do is set up a Carolina rig with the sz 6 baitholder hook attached to the leader. Some guys like to put the Marshmellow on first and then the mealworms where other will do it in reverse effect the choice is all yours.

Hope these little tidbits help.

Thanks it help alot.

[muskyman]

And make sure jimmy is working when you catch your big catfish. This way he can lift the fish and get his hand bit off !

[VineAssist]

Your too funny Dave. My hands where beat up from your 40+lb the night before the big boy, 75lbs. So I had an excuse. I am getting older so lifting those big boys is getting tougher. Think I need you and Brian to come out and get some big boys that way I do not lose my strength.

[Surfer]

What's the best area of the lake to fish when targeting just the regular stockers? And what's the best time of day?

[fish-o-haulic]

This was great info vineassist. I spend quite a bit of my time fishing catfish as well but i still find this info helpful. Ive caught double digit cats out of plenty of lakes but irvine has always been the lake i wanted to go to. I just never have because its almost 3hours away from where i live and the only time im ever down that way is during a time i cant fish it. but still irvine seems to be a catfishers paradise. I spend most of my time targetting cats, cats and striper, and a small portion of my time fishing trout. So id definitely like to go to irvine.

[VineAssist]

What's the best area of the lake to fish when targeting just the regular stockers? And what's the best time of day?

Traditonally the best areas to target the regular size stockers and holdovers has been the many brush piles located in the Santiago Flats, Sierra Cove, Woodys Cove and boat dock cove. Sometimes the fish will be a little bit spread out so it pays to check a few spots. I have seen it at times where a spot looks like the Huntigton Flats with all the boats in a giant circle fish a spot of fish example Opening Weekend 2011 in boat dock cove.

As far as time of day I prefer the night time hours on Thursday, Friday or Saturdays. However I have seen killer day bites here as well

[VineAssist]

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/irvinelake/IrvineLakeRecordBlueCat2.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/irvinelake/This891-pound-11.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/irvinelake/JimmyAdams.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/irvinelake/DaveHiene75.jpg
Hopefully we some more of these big boys this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Psych22]

Great info thanks.

[Reellady46]

I have never seen a catfish that big! WOW!!!

[fish-o-haulic]

hay vineassist Im looking to be going here within the next couple of weeks, well I know the bite pattern could probably change daily but right now does day time look like its producing, Im going to be coming from lancaster and would hate to travel all that way and only get like one fish or none at all. So back to my question has a few spots been producing pretty well consistantly in the morning. I dont have to have a secret hole that only like 2 of you know of that produces well, a general location would be nice to know, I trying to decide whether to chase stripers at castaic or catfish at irvine and will have probably minimum of 3-4 people with me. If nightime bite is producing better though I can still just fish during the day and stick around for evening as i will defenitely be spending no less than all day there if my limit isnt caught early enough. But im not even gonna ask if the fishing is better from boat. Cause if i do get a boat ill be moving spots frequently and will have no need for the shore spots. OH does irvine have boat rentals. Sorry for the long post just asking for free info but if things sound good enough I will be defenitely spending my money at this lake. Again though great report.

[Big Daddy]

hay vineassist Im looking to be going here within the next couple of weeks, well I know the bite pattern could probably change daily but right now does day time look like its producing, Im going to be coming from lancaster and would hate to travel all that way and only get like one fish or none at all. So back to my question has a few spots been producing pretty well consistantly in the morning. I dont have to have a secret hole that only like 2 of you know of that produces well, a general location would be nice to know, I trying to decide whether to chase stripers at castaic or catfish at irvine and will have probably minimum of 3-4 people with me. If nightime bite is producing better though I can still just fish during the day and stick around for evening as i will defenitely be spending no less than all day there if my limit isnt caught early enough. But im not even gonna ask if the fishing is better from boat. Cause if i do get a boat ill be moving spots frequently and will have no need for the shore spots. OH does irvine have boat rentals. Sorry for the long post just asking for free info but if things sound good enough I will be defenitely spending my money at this lake. Again though great report.

fish-o-haulic,

Irvine is a great place to fish and alot of fish in there. Look in the rendevous section next saturday Team 57 will be having a un-official get together/ BBQ/Pot luck and fishing most of the day as well as night fishing for cats with a raffle and a little no cost tourny. There will be a-lot of good cat fishermen there that woill give you all kinds of info you guys should come and join us it will be a-lot of fun and some people will be camping that night.

But yes you can catch them all day but you know fishing.

Big Daddy

[fish-o-haulic]

Thank you for the invite, but weekends right now are a no go. I was really looking for a middle of the week trip since that will be the time most of the people ill be fishing with will be able to go. If i could go on that weekend I would be by myself and since i dont pride myself on my night driving... um well Ill put it this way i dont like driving at night plus im supposed to be at a birthday party the next morning. But i will see if i can make it satuday because being there on the day a bunch of other experienced catfish anglers like myself will be there to learn. An event like that would be like a fishing library.

[Big Daddy]

Thank you for the invite, but weekends right now are a no go. I was really looking for a middle of the week trip since that will be the time most of the people ill be fishing with will be able to go. If i could go on that weekend I would be by myself and since i dont pride myself on my night driving... um well Ill put it this way i dont like driving at night plus im supposed to be at a birthday party the next morning. But i will see if i can make it satuday because being there on the day a bunch of other experienced catfish anglers like myself will be there to learn. An event like that would be like a fishing library.

You can look on Irvines web site to see the hours of operation. On the weekend they stay open longer so you can fish trout real deep, crappie as well as cats and wipers during the day and hunker down for the evening bite until about 11:30 for the cats, all for the same money a pretty good deal over all.

Hope to meet you out there some time

[fish-o-haulic]

If im out there ill be chasing the cats for sure. wipers maybe since there the next best thing to striper LOL. trout probably not gonna bother i only really fish trout about once a year.

[VineAssist]

We do rent boats here at Irvine Lake: The prices are as follows
Motorboats are $55
Pontoon $150
So on Fridays and Saturdays you can have the said boats above from 6am to 11:45pm. Thats a full 17hrs of fishing fun on the boat.

Thursday we do offer a boat special
$35 rental boats
$95 pontoon boats
and a $17 admission charger.
Operating hours for thursdays are as follows 6am-8:45pm.

Thank you

[fish-o-haulic]

how many people can each boat hold.

[Hitts0n]

Some of those huge cats probably wont show this year since the lake isnt open til 2am anymore (hint):ROFL: Jimmy rul3z!