Irvine Lake Report by Steve Carson 5/3/2015

[vineline]

IRVINE LAKE REPORT

By Steve Carson

5/3/15

IRVINE LAKE SEES BIG BASS, MONSTER BLUEGILL, TROUT MOVING SHALLOW AND DEEP
FIRST CATFISH STOCKING HITS THE WATER
The multi-species action kept raging at Irvine Lake this week, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro-Shop. “Literally everything was biting well this week”, observed Getty. “Bass fishing was just off the hook for the third week in a row, plenty of trout are still biting, both for the traditional shallow presentations, and also for anglers who are skilled at deep water presentations. The catfish were already biting pretty well, and we had our first stocking load of eating-size catfish hit the water this week, which sparked the bite that much more.”
Getty added, “We had the team from Big Bass Dreams here mid-week, and they really did a number on quality-grade largemouth from 5 to 9 pounds, mostly using trout-imitating Rago Swimbaits. The largest bluegill we have seen in several years was also caught by bass angler Kent Smith of Long Beach. The monster ‘gill was very close to the lake record of 2-4, but was safely released back into the lake.”
Trouters found success in the mornings using standard bait-soaking and topline trolling tactics. Once the sun got high, dropping baits down to the 15-25 foot level was best. Berkley MiceTails were particularly hot for trout, although anglers chasing the full potpourri of species often opted for nightcrawlers. Trollers went with shad-imitating lures, including Rapala Ultralight Shad ULS04’s, either flatlined or trolled on 2-4 colors of leadcore line.
Bass anglers found excellent numbers of 2-4 pound largemouth on a variety of offerings. Reaction baits, Senkos, and dropshot-rigged plastics were among the successful choices for the mostly post-spawn fish. A very good bite on 5-9 pound bucketmouths was available for anglers who threw big swimbaits.
Although no huge catfish were checked in, the initial stocked fish of the season going into the lake seem to have gotten the lake’s substantial resident population of whiskerfish riled up. Some nice stringers of eating-size cats were caught by anglers soaking mackerel or nightcrawlers in several different locales. The huge bluegill caught by a bass anglers signaled the start of that species moving up and hitting on mealworms or waxworms in shallow brushy areas.
Families with children age 12 and under found good numbers of 1-3 pound channel catfish in the Kids Lagoon on nightcrawlers. Surface temperature on the main lake is 72-74 degrees, with the underwater visibility rated at about 8 feet. The intake pipe in Sierra Cove is off, and the lake level is receding slowly. The first night-fishing session for catfish will take place on Friday evening, June 5. Thousands of pounds of trophy 6-15 pound channel catfish will be planted just before that session.
Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Ron Nowat of Trabuco Canyon, 6-12 Nebraska Tailwalker on a MiceTail at Boat dock Cove
Lance Cleary of Tustin, 4-4 brown trout on a PowerMouse at Boat Dock Cove
Nick Holguin of Santa Ana, 5-8 rainbow trout at Boat Dock Cove
Mark Netlas of Los Angeles, 9-0 largemouth bass [released] on a Rago swimbait at Crawdad Point
Bill Campbell of Orange, 8-5 largemouth bass [released] on a Wallbanger worm at Rocky Point
7-year old Matthew Veloz of Orange, 4-9 channel catfish on mackerel at the flats
Kent Smith of Long Beach, 2-0 bluegill [released] on a Senko at the flats
Follow Irvine Lake on Facebook, on the web at Irvinelake.net or call 714-649-9111

[esteban1t]

Your website says the lagoon was last stocked on 4/30 , was this the most recent stocking ?