Irvine Lake's bigger blue cats stirring, 17.4 pounder tops catches, trout opener slated for October 31

The end of August traditionally means that greater numbers of big blue catfish will be caught, and the fish appear to be running true to form. "Fishing was very good every night this weekend, with lots of limits", observed Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The stocker-size catfish bite is so good, some anglers are even catching limits in the middle of the day. We are also seeing some good-size blue cats starting to bite, and some much larger ones are being hooked. We have also formally set our trout season opener for October 31."

Big catfish expert Ronson "Catmando" Smothers added, "Larger cats are starting to bite, and the bite for pansize fish has gotten much better. I caught an 11-pounder by fishing away from the crowd, but experienced a slower bite than those at the flats. The bigger fish haven't started a heavy move to the deep yet, but there are a few. Once the water tem drops below 80 degrees, the bite will heat up."

Most catfish limits were filled with 2 to 5-pounders on the stringers, with increasing numbers of fish over 7 pounds. Productive catfish baits included Mackerel, Gulp!, shrimp, Catmando and DuMong's. Good catches were made at Santiago Flats, mid-lake, along the west shore and near the dam.

Anglers who specifically targeted crappie found very good numbers of slabsides to 2 pounds by putting out a floating lantern and allowing the food chain to develop. Light line masters Marlon Meade and Bryan Ray of Anaheim found easy limits of crappie at mid-lake using Berkley Atomic Teasers.

Bass specialists found amazingly good numbers of their quarry. Some bassers reported releasing over 30 largemouth for just a few hours' effort during the night-time hours using white or black spinnerbaits, with most fish running under 3 pounds. Daytime bass can be caught on dropshot-rigged plastics at 25 feet at the flats and Rocky Point.

Excellent numbers of bluegill and redear can be caught on mealworms or waxworms near the docks. Anglers are reminded that the Kids Lagoon is now closed for maintenance. Night fishing hours for catfish will continue through October 25.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included;

Donovan Swann of Fontana, 17.4, 13.7, 11.9 and 9.0 pound blue catfish on mackerel at the flats

Stephanie Bellamy of Hawthorne, 14.6 pound channel catfish [released], on mackerel at the flats

Terry "Pontoon" Lairson of Huntington Beach, 13.6 pound blue catfish on mackerel at mid-lake

Ronson "Catmando" Smothers of Los Angeles, 11.4 pound channel catfish on mackerel at mid-lake

Devell Campbell of Hawthorne, 10.7 pound blue catfish on mackerel at mid-lake

Media contacts:
Daniela Gavaldon or Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop [714-649-9111]
Steve Carson at scarson@sunset.net


Lucky angler Donovan Swann of Fontana shows off the two biggest blue catfish from his recent Saturday night session at Irvine Lake. The 17.4 and 13.7 pounders were supplemented by 11.9 and 9.0 pounders that hit on mackerel at Santiago Flats.