Anglers chasing catfish and largemouth bass on Irvine Lake found excellent numbers of both this week, but the explosive action in the Kids Lagoon threatened to overshadow it, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The Kids Lagoon was absolutely on fire this week", observed Getty. "We had kids age 12 and under getting 3-fish kids limits all over the place; mostly catfish in the 1 to 3 pound range, but also some good-size carp."

Getty continued, "The main lake was just like the weather; hot, hot, hot. Lots of limits of prime eating-size channel cats from 2 to 6 pounds, with some bigger ones mixed in. Just about every good catfish bait has been getting them, including mackerel, shrimp, bonito, pike mackerel, and with late summer arriving, some anglers are starting to use skipjack.

"The bite starts as a pick around noon, and keeps going all day, with 8 to 10 PM being the best. Fish are being caught from a few feet of water to about 20 feet. Good catches were made at Santiago Flats, Boat Dock Cove, and along the west shoreline."

Bass anglers found the standard late-summer pattern holding strong. Good numbers of 2 to 5-pound largemouth are biting during the day on dropshot baits and jigs presented near 20 to 30 foot deep hard structure. Evening and night-time bites shift to topwaters and 10-inch Texas-rigged Power Worms.

Not much effort was expended in pursuit of crappie, but at least one limit consisting of all 1-pound class slabs was caught targeting suspended schools at mid-lake. A few 8-pound class hybrid striped bass were caught incidentally on mackerel by catfish anglers. Some bluegill were caught on Gulp! Crickets near flooded brush.

Surface temperature on the main lake is running in the low 80's, but underwater visibility is still rated as extremely clear. The lake level is dropping 6 to 10 inches per week.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Marty Sauceda of Costa Mesa, 9-2 channel catfish on mackerel/shrimp at the flats
Phil Hildebrandt of Anaheim, 9-0 channel catfish on mackerel/shrimp at the flats
Matt Sonnemann of Santa Ana, 5-7 largemouth bass [released] on a Brush Hog at Rocky Point
Ron Gay of Corona, 9-2 wiper [released] on mackerel at the flats
David Escobar of Orange, 1-2 crappie on a mini jig at mid-lake
8-year old Veronica Jimenez of Lake Elsinore, 5-0 carp using Bite-On in the Kids Lagoon
Patrick, Kevin, and "Mom" Conod of Irvine, 15-catfish limit totaling 45-8 on mackerel/shrimp at the hump
The Good family of Orange [3 kids age 4 to 7], 9-catfish limit in the Kids Lagoon on mackerel 9-year old Kaylen Lemos of Orange, limit of carp totaling 23-1 on corn boilies at the Kids Lagoon
4-year old Tanner of Irvine, 3-catfish kids limit on mackerel in the Kids Lagoon