You don't need an $50,00 Bass boat to catch some nice fish!
I normally wouldn't write a fish report if it would cause a stampede to the lake! Irvine lake is big enough to accommodate a big crowd and the fish aren't just biting in 1 tiny little spot. With all that being said, as trout season is winding down quickly (you could still catch a few) the warm water species are starting to bite. That includes Bass, Catfish, Bluegill and Crappies. Yes Crappies from shore in the heart of Orange County! Let me give an overall picture first and then specifically what our trio of fishermen caught on Sunday 3/21/ 2021. Their is still a few trout still being caught on the West shoreline and if anyone would want to try for them. (I'll give you the hot rig) It's 2-4 pound test with a Carolina rig and cast as far as you can. Use a number 12 Mosquito hook and a natural colored Power Worm wacky rigged and dip it in "Bite On Garlic." (that should catch you a trout if you want to try) The Bluegills are just starting to bite on any worms fished under a bobber or with a weight on the bottom. The Catfish like Mackerel or Shrimp and can be caught anywhere right now. Notable catch's this weekend. A Bass fishermen on Friday throwing a swim bait caught an 61 pound catfish! I also heard from a reliable source, another 50 pounder was caught in the Battan Death March spot! A few other's where caught here and there. Bass fishermen who are any good are catching them every where. That's a run down of the place in general and now I'll give you my fish reports.
I did the most half you know what trip there on Friday the 19th. I was still recovery from my lake Cachuma trip the day before. I didn't get there till 9:30 am and left at 2:00 pm. I was really more curious to see if the bite rebounded from last week. (it was pretty slow last week compared to how it was fishing before the cold front moved in) So I only caught a couple of Crappies and did a whole lot of observing! The fishing was pretty darn good on Friday and I was making an evil plan for Sunday. Irvine lake is home to the absolutely best shore fishermen in Orange and LA County's. These are the guy's who don't own a $50,000 Bass boat but catch as many fish as the guy's who do! (well almost) Lol One of the guy's I was watching was fishing for the bank fish. (Crappies) He would throwing his jig just a few feet off the bank and make only a 25 foot cast. He got on a roll in 1 spot and caught 12 Crappies in 10 minutes! (WOW!) I want that spot for Sunday! So now I've got my spot picked out and now I need to get my companions organized for the big attack! I invited Trixi, Richard Roundtree and Jackie Chan for this trip. I did a pretty mean thing in leaving Trixi at my house for running late. When they open that gate at 7:00 am, it's a sprint to your spot. If you want a specific spot, you've got to be there at the opening bell. (I also wanted this spot for another reason) Their is other fish there besides Crappies!
On to the fishing 3/21/2021
They opened the gate 5 minutes early and we were off and running. The spot I want is a little under the Radar but their is a guy hot on my heels. Fortunately he takes the spot just to my left and all is well! Jackie Chan is a true 5 minutes behind me and Richard Roundtree goes off to an another previously good spot. Things usually start off slow and get better as the day gets warmer. So I started to fish for Catfish first and Jackie fished for the Crappies. I get bit pretty quick and I missed it. (wrong hook) Jackie then gets a Crappie and then I switch over to Crappie fishing. The Crappies weren't where I thought they would be, but to our right instead. I never saw anybody catch them to the right of us in the last 3 weeks, but they were there and biting! I won't bore you with blow by blow details on the Crappies, but I caught 10 and missed 15 for sure. Richard's spot was dead and I invited him over to fish with us and he caught 5 Crappies. One Crappie he caught was "HUGE" over 2 pounds and I brow beat him to throw it back. (he was the only one of us to keep any fish that day) Now Jackie's fish count was the most impressive. He kept rotating things around as I just concentrated on the Crappies. Jackie ended up with only 4 Crappies, but 1 over a pound Redear Sunfish, 1 2 pound LMB and 1 10 pound Catfish! So overall for the 3 of us we caught, 19 Crappies, 1 LMB, 1 huge Redear Sunfish and 1 10 pound Catfish. That would have been a real good day on any $50,000 Bass boat in some far away location, but we caught them all from shore at Irvine Lake!
