Irvine lake closed till further notice! March 25, 2023

With all the new water coming into the lake. The West shore road is completely under water and closed to everyone! The East shore did have a road not under water, but at one point the sides are eroding and the whole thing could collapse. So the Orange County park people made the decision to close the lake, until they deem it safe again. Estimates of when it will reopen are 2-6 weeks depending on if we get any more rain.

They did leave a picnic area open in front, so don't be confused if they say the lake is open! (just not to serious fishing!)

Good getting back to normal.

its water last time I checked. And it would fill every few years. Must have kryptonite in it I guess.

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Originally Posted by muskyman

its water last time I checked. And it would fill every few years. Must have kryptonite in it I guess.

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That's too bad about the lake closing when it did! It was kicking out some of the best fishing of the year. The trout were biting, I caught an 8 pound catfish, my buddy caught a couple of Bass and the Crappie were starting to bite. I myself caught an 2 1/2 pounder and couple of buddy's of mine caught a few more too!

How full is the lake? I live in Orange, Santiago Creek was flowing good the last two days, they must be letting water out. It stopped today. Looking forward to hitting it up when it reopens, sucks we can't launch our boats.

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Originally Posted by bassnet

How full is the lake? I live in Orange, Santiago Creek was flowing good the last two days, they must be letting water out. It stopped today. Looking forward to hitting it up when it reopens, sucks we can't launch our boats.

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The lake was up to the old launch ramp in the front. As for not allowing boats in there, their is another thought on that. I have my own boat and rent boats all the time. (so I'm not biased) However, because they don't allow boats in there, it makes the shore fishing that much better! The fish aren't intercepted first by all the boat anglers. I myself from shore in the last 6 months, caught 30 trophy catfish and one Monster catfish over 50 pounds from shore. Plus right before they shut it down, Big Crappie were biting from the shore! Where else can you get they kinda shore fishing around LA or Orange County? The answer is no where! But their is plenty of great boat lakes around! Why not have one Great shore lake for the non boat anglers?

Problem now is the limited shoreline available to fish. With the west shoreline under water, limits the area you can fish from shore.

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Originally Posted by etucker1959

The lake was up to the old launch ramp in the front. As for not allowing boats in there, their is another thought on that. I have my own boat and rent boats all the time. (so I'm not biased) However, because they don't allow boats in there, it makes the shore fishing that much better! The fish aren't intercepted first by all the boat anglers. I myself from shore in the last 6 months, caught 30 trophy catfish and one Monster catfish over 50 pounds from shore. Plus right before they shut it down, Big Crappie were biting from the shore! Where else can you get they kinda shore fishing around LA or Orange County? The answer is no where! But their is plenty of great boat lakes around! Why not have one Great shore lake for the non boat anglers?

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Can't argue with that, I'm always down for a shore mission. It was just a great place to launch close to home, many fun days out there on the boat too, without having to make a full day out of it. Plus being able to fish at night was a huge bonus.

Anybody been out to Irvine? How's it looking?

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Originally Posted by bassnet

Anybody been out to Irvine? How's it looking?

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I've been out there a couple of times lately. It's been all Carp and a few catfish. The Bass guys looks like they have given up on the lake completely! Only the East shore in limited spots is even fishable and nothing available on the West shore.