The cool weather seemed to really set the trout bite on fire this week at Irvine Lake, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "We have really been seeing a lot of limits", observed Getty. "The bite is going on pretty much all day, at depths of 5 to 25 feet. The mornings have been chilly, and there's even been some frost here and there; be sure to dress warmly and in layers." Getty added, "Our trout stocking will include thousands of pounds of trophy rainbows in the 5 to 16-pound class, just in time for the holiday weekend. The Martin Luther King Weekend Trout Tournament will take place this coming Saturday and Sunday, January 19 and 20, and is also a Master's Qualifier event. The event is sponsored by Bite-On, with additional prizes donated by Sport Chalet. We will also have a separate 'Blind Bogey' on Saturday only."

Local guide Hubert Zimara of KFGS Guide Service tipped, "We had full limits both weekend days while topline trolling, using shad, bubblegum, and firetiger colors. Our best fish of the week were a 4.5 pound Yosemite Red and a 6-pound steelhead."

Most trout on the stringers were rainbows in the 2 to 4-pound class, with a smattering of brown trout, Yosemite Reds, and steelhead. Good trout catches were reported from the west shore, Trout Island, Boat Dock Cove, Santiago Flats, and mid-lake. Productive baits included Berkley Mice Tails, nightcrawlers, and PowerBait. Trollers did best with firetiger-color Rapala Countdown CD07's, and pink tiger-color Shad Rap SR04's. Bass anglers found decent numbers of 2 to 5-pound largemouth on the usual hard structure at 20 to 30 feet, with some fish also surprisingly moving up to the shallows in as little as 6 feet of water. The shallow fish were hitting on chatterbaits, while the deeper fish preferred jigs and dropshot-rigged plastics. No hybrid stripers or catfish were checked in this week.

Families with children age 12 and under did well on 1 to 3-pound trout in the Kids Lagoon using PowerBait. Surface temperature on the main lake is 50-52 degrees, with underwater visibility rated at 5-6 feet. The lake level is holding steady.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:

Vickey Sanchez of Orange, 5-3 rainbow trout on a Cordell crankbait at the west shore
Paul Tutajian of Irvine, 5-1 largemouth bass [released] on plastics at the cliffs