Catfish chasers at Irvine Lake continued to rack up good stringers of 2 to 10-pound channel catfish, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "It's been really good for the stocker channel cats", noted Getty. "The larger blue cats are moving to deeper water, mostly around 12 to 20 feet near the dam and in the flats. The biggest catfish of the season was caught during the middle of the day, a really nice 27.2-pounder by Erick Mondragon of Corona."

"I was fishing near the dam with chicken liver", reported Mondragon. "The fish fought for 20 minutes on 10 pound test line. It ran for quite a while and tried to spool me. We had to chase it with the boat. It's my biggest catfish ever; luckily I carry a huge net."

Good catfish action was found along the west shore as well as near the dam and Santiago Flats. Top baits included the new Gulp! Catfish Dough, Catmando, DuMong's, plain mackerel and shrimp.

Crappie action slowed somewhat, probably due to the fish being over-fed. Noted crappie expert Marlon Meade observed, "There has been an unbelievable shad bloom in the lake. There are just too many shad around the crappie lights."

Bass anglers found decent numbers of 2 to 3-pound largemouth on jigs and dropshot baits at Rocky Point. The bluegill bite is wide open on plump and feisty ???gills to nearly a pound on mealworms and waxworms.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Erick Mondragon of Corona, 27.2 pound catfish on chicken liver by the dam
Brian "Bluehunter"Cummings of Inglewood, 14.10 pound catfish on mackerel in the flats
Jacob Araujo of Redondo Beach, 14.0 pound catfish on DuMong's at the flats
Ronson "Catmando"Smothers of Los Angeles, 13.8 pound catfish on Catmando at the flats
Terry Lairson of Huntington Beach, 13.6 pound catfish on mackerel at the flats
Nico Tagaloa of Orange, 13.0 pound catfish on DuMong's in the Lagoon
Joe Andres of San Clemente, 11.08 pound catfish on mackerel at the flats