A pair of whopper trout highlight hot rainbow action at Corona Lake

Rainbow trout at 22 and 19 1/2 pounds led this past week's excellent trout bite at Corona Lake, but it seemed like just about every stringer of fish had at least one trout in the eight-pound class.

The 22-pounder was caught by Steve Schmidt of Ontario while fishing a nightcrawler at mid-lake from a boat, while the 19 1/2-pound rainbow was caught by George Alvarez, Brea, on chartreuse Power Bait at the dam.

Top stringers included a five-fish catch by Andrew Glover, Mission Viejo, that weighed in at 18 pounds and included an eight-pound rainbow. Philip Parham, Corona, caught an 8 1/2-pound rainbow to top off his seven-fish, 24-pound stringer, while Brady and Trent Hall, Corona, caught five rainbows that weighed 20 pounds, including one at 8 1/4 pounds. Cory Jugas, Moreno Valley, landed nine trout for 25 1/2 pounds, and his best weighed 8 1/2 pounds, and Eric Eyserece, Murietta, landed three rainbows that went 18 1/2 pounds total, including an 8 3/4-pounder.

Even with the low water level, the best action is still for boat anglers fishing mid-lake spots. Top baits have been floating Nitro Bait or Power Bait with chartreuse and orange the best colors, and some fish are showing on nightcrawlers or Lip RipperZ' jigs.

Corona Lake is planted with trout every Wednesday, and there will be two events to mark on the calendar: First, on Wednesday, Dec. 17, Corona Lake will be stocked with the largest Nebraska Tailwalkers the Chaulk Mound Trout Farm has to offer. This will be followed with a special $20 buy-in trout derby on Sunday, Dec. 21. The entry fee is in addition to the usual lake entrance, but all derby entry money will be awarded to the anglers catching the five biggest trout caught that day. The biggest fish will win half the derby money, the second biggest will get 20 percent, the third biggest 15 percent, the fourth biggest will win 10 percent, and the fifth largest trout will get five percent.

Corona Lake is open seven days a week with fishing allowed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on day passes or from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on an evening pass. Each of these passes are $22. Seniors only pay $20, with a special $17 pass sold on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. The once-monthly 24-hour passes remain just $60 with the next 24-hour fishing set for Dec. 12-13. These passes have a 15-fish limit. For more Corona Lake fishing information, call 951-277-4489 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.

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