The excellent trout bite has continued at Corona Lake over the past week, and in addition to the limit-style fishing that has been going on for two months, there were more double-digit fish mixed in on stringers Christmas weekend after a plant of the big boys last Friday.

Those giant trout from 10 to 20 pounds will be planted again this Friday for the New Year's long weekend. They will go in along with the regular load of one to two-pounders and those teenage-sized trout up to eight or 10 pounds. That just means this hot fishing is likely to continue right on in to 2013, in spite of the Mayan calendar.

The big trout from Corona this past week was a 16 1/2-pound rainbow that was caught by Daniel Moore, Corona, while fishing chartreuse PowerBait from shore right behind the tackle shop on four-pound test. Pete Castro, Riverside, landed a 15 1/4-pounder on the same bait at the dam. A 14 3/4-pound rainbow was posted by Jason Hernandez, Ontario, fishing from a float tube with a trout plastic worm.

Nice stringers of trout were common, especially for boat and float tube anglers who could work the far shoreline channel. Cameron Furrer, Norco, had a five-fish limit that weighed 14 1/2 pounds and included a 10 1/2-pounder fishing B-Line Jigs from his tube. Travis Hansen, Lake Elsinore, had five rainbows that weighed 20 pounds, including a seven-pounder to top off the stringer, and he was fishing a nightcrawler-chartreuse PowerBait combo at the dam.

The trout are showing on a wide variety of floating baits, scent-doused nightcrawlers, small trout jigs and trout plastics. All of the baits and lures have been more effective when fishing on nothing heavier than four-pound test leaders. The new Hatchery Dust, which is rolled onto and into bait balls of dough bait, will be available this week at the Corona Lakes tackle shop (along with some area sporting goods stores by the weekend).

Corona Lake will be back on its seven-days-a-week schedule after being closed Christmas Day. It will be open regular hours on both New Year's Eve Day and New Year's Day. Fishing is 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 is $25. Seniors pay only $23, with a $20 special on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $12. The 24-hour passes are only sold the weekend nearest the full moon. The 24-hour passes cost $75 and have a 15 fish limit. An angler can bring his wife and up to three kids 17 and under and all can help fill the 15-fish limit on one of these passes, and camping is free at Corona with a 24-hour pass.