Irvine Lake Friday 3/23

[Sandman_Tracker]

I'll be going to Irvine Lake on Friday. A few of my buddies can't make it, so I'll be going solo. If anyone wants to go, you're more then welcome to join me. I live in Riverside County (next to LP), so we can either carpool or meet over there. It's my first time at the lake so I'm hoping to get someone who wants to go that is knowledgeable of the lake. If you're a first timer at the Vine like me, that's good too, always better to fish with company.

So, if anyone has any tips on techniques, fishing spots, bait, depth to troll, etc..any info or advice would be greatly appreciated. I'll be doing some trolling for trout and some bass fishing as well.

Thanks,

Paul

[Matt44]

Dang paul id be down to join you if I didn't have to work fridays. Shad, pink, and firetiger work pretty well with the cranks, rapalas flicker shads and mira shads are good bets also the sc shiners!

[Sandman_Tracker]

THx Matt....What about flashers, are they used with the lures there? I know I used those a lot up North when trolling. Also, what about the Kiwkfish lures, how do those do there?

[5150fishn]

Paul, never used flashers at the Vine only in the Sierras but it couldn't hurt to try. I have used the Kwikfish lures with some luck but not recently. Matt pretty much summed up what has been working for me lately but Needlefish and Castmasters should also be in your arsenal for trolling the Vine. Hot spots have been changing lately but try right down the middle of the lake. Most of my fish have been flat lined but it wouldn't hurt to have one trolling with leadcore to cover the spectrum of the water column. Good luck and report back!

[Sandman_Tracker]

Appreciate the info...I have some needlefish, castmaster, kwikfish and also the rapalas. I'll probably try a little of each. I may throw the LC line out with a flasher out of curiousity. I have a couple of down riggers, so I'll experiment with depth and watch the sonar.

If anyone has anything else to add, that would be great..

Thanks again guys...

[BRING IT]

spoons also doing good, slow speed slowwwwwwwwwwww, the other guys info nailed it
Have Fun/ Fish Hard
BRING IT

[Sandman_Tracker]

Yeah, the slower the better is what I found. I have the Trol-A-Matic Trolling Plate on, have no problem going slow.....Hopefully I can hook into a couple.

[pitman]

Hey Sandman PM me...

[Sandman_Tracker]

Friday 3/23:

I took my 2 boys, 18 and 12 and we were on the water just after 6AM, the water temp was 60 degrees and later mid afternoon, reached justover 64..

So, I was told to troll at the surface. Me being who I am, Ihad to see for myself, so I started with 2 on surface, one LC w/flasher and 1on downrigger. We landed one right off the bat on surface w/ CD-5 Firetiger.Nothing early on deeper stuff so wentall surface. We ended up landing 4, with nothing big, biggest being 2.7 and thenwe started bass fishing mid-morning.

Landed 5 bass over on the west shoreline near that big dropon the northwest side, working our way south. Two on shad crankbait, 2 on wacky worm and one onDS shad colored roboworm. Mainly site fishing, water was very clear and couldsee about 15ft. Nothing big, 1-2 lber’s….Went back to Trout fishing usingPowerbait in early afternoon.

Anchored up, tried powerbait for a little while with nosuccess. The boys got antsy, so we picked up the troll again. Landed 4 more,again with no real size, biggest fish of the day was 3.3. Afternoon fish hitdeeper. We had 2 deep and 2 on surface. We landed 3 fishing about 20-25 ft deepand 1 on surface, CD-5 Rainbow. We caught 2 on Firetiger about 23-25 ft depthon downrigger. Caught another on LCw/flasher on bubble gum colored Kwikfish.

Much props and thanks to “Kewly” (I hope I have his name right) and to the staff at IL. They were very helpful and polite…Thank you.Thanks to the guys I talked to and to the guys that posted here with info….all of it was very helpful in making the day fun for the boys.

On a personal note, days like this are precious to me. Itreasure days like this with my boys. My baby boy, and first born, will beleaving in November for the Navy. He has a 6 yr enlistment as a NuclearElectronics Tech. So thank you to all who helped make this a success….

Pics: one pic uploaded, only because I took it from my phone at home. Other pics of the day to follow once uploaded. They were taken on adifferent camera. My 12 yr old had to take a pic to text to his friend…said “I want him to see me beastin’ as I’m double fistin my fish’”…..Me, “oooooookkkkkkk”

Well, that didn't work. Tried to upload from PC, file to big. Had to use Photobucket....now I'm going to bed, I'll deal with pics later.
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh31/psantiago27/2012-03-23_18-48-55_737.jpg

[fishfnatic]

Glad to hear you got into some decent fish with your boys. I am sure the time you spent with them was just as meaningful to them as it was to you.
I wish I was able to help especially one of your boys being a service member. But I don't own a boat and don't know the first thing about trolling.

[phishin phool]

Awesome report, thanks for sharing your trip with us. Sounded like a very special day for sure. And props to those who helped get you and your boys on some fish, its nice to see some positive feedback on here. Best wishes to your son as he serves our great country.

[Sandman_Tracker]

Thank you for the well wishes for my son. As a veteran myself, I am truly proud of him and the journey ahead of him....