Corona Lake trout anglers have had a field day over the past week with a great mix of trophy rainbow trout and stringer-filling one to two pounders. Limits have been common during the long New Year's holiday weekend. The biggest trout reported was a 14 3/4-pounder landed by Ben Hinojosa, Orange, while fishing a Lip RipperZ jig from a float tube, while Gilbert Mejia, Riverside, caught a 13 1/2-pounder on a nightcrawler off JD's Point. Craig Well, Wildomar, landed an 11 1/2-pounder fishing rainbow PowerBait at the dam shoreline. Fishing buddies Landon and Josh Lacy, Eddie Rookers, and J.B. and Chad Gierlich, all Riverside, all had five-fish limits fishing B-Line Jigs from float tubes all over the lake. The total weight for the 40 fish was 48 pounds and a six-pounder was the top trout.

This certainly wasn't an atypical catch. In fact, nice stringers of trout like this were common, especially for boat and float tube anglers who could work the far shoreline channel. The rainbows are showing on a wide variety of floating baits rolled in the new Hatchery Dust, scent-doused nightcrawlers, small trout jigs and trout plastics. All of the baits and lures have been more effective when fished on nothing heavier than four-pound test leaders. Hatchery Dust, which is rolled onto and into bait balls of any dough bait, is now available at the Corona Lakes tackle shop, along with most area sporting goods stores.

Heavy weekly plants of rainbows averaging one to two pounds will continue each week, and those plants always have a hefty component of rainbows from five to eight pounds along with super trophies topping 10 pounds and going well up into the teens each week.

Corona Lake is open on a seven-days-a-week schedule. 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.