10-year old scores 4-species "Grand Slam"
The holiday weekend's massive crowds pushed Irvine Lake's trout population into deep water, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "The fish went deep and backed off on Friday and Saturday of the holiday weekend, even though we had a double stocking, with tons of trout up to 20 pounds stocked on both Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Cruising the lake with electronics, you could see that pretty much everything was deep and holding near the bottom. By Sunday afternoon, and also Monday and Tuesday, the bite was pretty good again if you knew how to fish deep."

Getty added, "Trollers did pretty well using the 'poor man's downrigger', which was a half-ounce egg sinker about 6 feet ahead of the trolling lure. Also pretty amazing was 10-year old Jeremy Guerrero, who was fishing off the bank with nightcrawlers and scored an 'Irvine Lake Grand Slam' by getting 4 different species of fish; rainbow trout, largemouth bass, a very big bluegill, and a monster 20-pound common carp."

Most trout on the stringers were quality-grade rainbows on the 2 to 5-pound range, but a nice mixture of exotics, including brown trout from 2 to 7 pounds, and 2-pound class brook trout added some holiday weekend spice. The week's biggest brown trout at 7.25 pounds was the result of a visual sighting of the fish getting airborne, and angler Preston Brown swinging his spread of Rapalas into the fishes' path for an immediate strike. The brown trout were caught on nightcrawlers, Power Trout Worms, and Atomic Teasers, with the rainbows responding to PowerBait presentations.

Bass anglers found decent numbers of 2 to 4-pound class largemouth holding deep on hard structure at 20-30 feet. Standard deepwater techniques like Carolina and dropshot-rigged plastics, jigs, and spoons were all productive. The same hard structure and depth ranges were holding some channel catfish for anglers soaking mackerel. A handful of small wipers were also caught incidentally by trout anglers.

This coming weekend will see the "Bite-On Bonanza" derby take place on December 1, which will feature lots of raffle prizes and family fun. Families with children age 12 and under found fair action on carp and 1 to 3-pound trout in the Kid's Lagoon on marshmallow/mealworm combos. Surface temperature on the main lake is 59-61 degrees, with underwater visibility rated at 5-6 feet. The lake level is holding steady, with the main launch ramp being used for smaller boats, and larger boats heading over to the launch ramp on Trout Island.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Cynthia Ybarra of Torrance, 8-10 rainbow trout on Power Bait at the flats
Adam Cervantes of Santa Ana, 6-9 rainbow trout on a mini jig at the west shore
Preston Brown of Mission Viejo, 7-4 brown trout on a Rapala at the Red Clay Cliffs
Aaron Martinez of Ontario, 4-4 brown trout on a Shaun's Smokin Jig at Boat Dock Cove
10-year old Jeremy Guerrero of Orange, 4-2 largemouth bass [released] on nightcrawlers at Boat Dock Cove
Chris Hagopian of Redondo Beach, 4-1 channel catfish on mackerel at the Red Clay Cliffs
10-year old Jeremy Guerrero of Orange, 20-8 carp on nightcrawlers at Boat Dock Cove
10-year old Jeremy Guerrero of Orange, 1-5 bluegill on nightcrawlers at Boat Dock Cove