The California Fishing Show
With Gordon McHenry
Irvine, Santa Ana, Corona
Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. “We had Will Rakowitz and Panos Malkian of the Anglers Marine Pro Staff check in with a 5-bass limit totaling over
30 pounds, with a 9.38 pound kicker”, observed Getty. “The fish were
caught on large 8 to 12-inch plastic worms fished at 20 feet near Rocky
Point and Red Clay Cliffs. Very good numbers were also found by other
angles focusing on bass.”
also been really good.”
with red salmon egg-color Power Bait. Leader lengths should be 12 to 16
inches. Productive locations include the west shore, Trout Island, boat
dock cove and Santiago Flats.
aggressively at flowing creek mouths on chicken liver. Crappie numbers
are increasing for smaller male fish in the shallow treetops of Santiago
Flats for anglers dropping white Atomic Tubes. The larger females should
follow within 2 weeks.
Surface temperature on the main lake is in the low 60’s, and the lake
level is 4 feet from spilling.
south shore- Al Tagami of corona, 8-13 rainbow trout on a mini jig at Woody’s Cove- Panos Malkian of Anaheim, 9.38 largemouth bass [released] on plastics at Rocky Point- Patrick Sebile of Paris, France, 3-1 largemouth bass [released] on a Sebile Lure at the west shore- Phil Hildenbrant of Anaheim, 7-1 channel catfish on chicken liver at the
creek.
Sturgeon stocked at Santa Ana River Lakes and
Corona Lake!! Special how to catch 'em tips below---
IRVINE LAKE TROUT TACTICS
Some 20,000 pounds of trout will be planted in Irvine Lake just before
the upcoming trout season opener on Friday, November 6. The lake will
also be stocked with thousands of pounds of additional trout throughout
the coming winter season. The lake will be closed to the public from
Monday November 2 until Thursday November 5, to stock the trout and
prepare for the season.
The majority of the stocking will consist of rainbow trout in the 1 to 6
pound class from popular Calaveras Trout Farms, along with some
steelhead, brookies and brown trout. A liberal sprinkling of
larger-grade fish from 8 to 12 pounds, and even some real trophy trout
over 20 pounds will be providing major-league thrills. A new lake-record
trout weighing over 22 pounds was caught just last March, and it’s
possible that record could fall again soon.
LINE
The key to catching all species of trout at Irvine Lake is ultra-light
line. For bait anglers, it is important to never use anything heavier
than 4-pound test clear monofilament. If the fish are acting finicky, or
are under heavy pressure during weekend or holiday periods, use 2-pound test line.
Using ultra-light line will mean a few big ones may get away. Set your
drag loose and keep your rod tip high to protect your line. The
dramatically increased number of bites you will get will make up for any
losses.
Casting with small metal lures such as Krocodiles or Kastmasters can be
done with 4-pound test clear monofilament line, but tossing small
plastics like Berkley Atomic Tubes and Power Trout Worms should be done
with 2-pound line. Trollers can use up to 6-pound line when surface
trolling with Rapalas or other lures, and 6-pound leaders work well when
trolling with lead-core line.
BAIT
Bait fishing at Irvine Lake traditionally meant Power Bait, but the
recent introduction of the “next generation” in dough baits, Gulp! Trout
Dough has really shaken things up. Exactly what makes fish prefer one
color over another is hard to say. Many Irvine regulars have a virtual
supermarket selection of bait colors in their tackle box.
Top colors last season in Power Bait were the always-reliable
chartreuse, along with yellow, rainbow and white. In the Gulp! Trout
Dough, best colors last season were chunky cheese, marshmallow cluster
and chunky chartreuse.
Whenever visibility is lessened due to rainy conditions, the "white
lightning" color alone or mixed with a contrasting color has been
deadly. A favorite trick of the lake regulars is to roll the Power Bait
or Gulp! Trout Dough into an elongated worm or grub shape instead of a
simple ball.
Another recent innovation is the "Power Mouse", which consists of a
“head” that is made with a floating Gulp! Salmon Egg, then add a 2-inch
piece of Power Trout Worm or Gulp! Earthworm sticking straight back as
the wriggling "tail" on a #16 treble hook. Favored colors last season
included floating Gulp! Salmon Eggs in white, yellow, chartreuse or
pink, and contrasting tail colors.
There are times when the fish simply want plain, unadorned
nightcrawlers. If the crawlers are very big, cut them in half. Inflating
nightcrawlers with air so that they float up off the bottom catches a
lot more fish.
LEADERS AND HOOKS
As previously mentioned, bait leaders should be very light. Using the
invisible Berkley 100-Percent Fluorocarbon material can give an
additional edge. Under clear-water conditions, bait leaders can be in
the 12 to 18-inch range. If muddy conditions limit underwater
visibility, shorten bait leaders up to no more than 6 or 8 inches in
length.
By far the most popular bait rig is a 1/8 ounce sliding sinker on the
main line, with either a small snap swivel or Carolina-keeper to keep
the sinker above the hook. Sometimes the ultra-slow sinking speed of a
water-filled “floating sinker” [casting bubble] will tempt finicky trout.
Under normal conditions, a size #16 or #18 treble hook works well with
Power Bait, or when combining different baits together on one hook. With
live nightcrawlers, a #8 or #10 single hook works best.
MINI PLASTICS AND MORE
The past few seasons have seen many anglers forego natural bait
completely, instead using the little 3-inch floating Berkley Power Trout
Worms and Gulp! Earthworms. These tiny fake wigglers are absolutely
deadly when fished in several different ways.
Easiest of the methods is "split-shot style". Simply tie on a #10 to #14
fine wire hook. Then squeeze on a small splitshot sinker about 18 inches
above the line. The secret to this method is again using the lightest
possible monofilament line or fluorocarbon. Using 4-pound will work, but
the real trick is dropping down to 2-pound test line. The best colors
last year were chartreuse or orange peel.
The Gulp! Earthworms or Crawlers have been phenomenal trout producers, and can also be fished just like a real worm under a bobber. Use a regular bobber, and let the bait hang anywhere from 3 to 4 feet under it if the fish are near the surface. A rarely practiced secret trick is to
use a "slip bobber" that allows the worm to be suspended at any depth,
even in deep water.
Another hot rigging method is well-known in the bass fishing world, and
is called as "drop-shotting". With the sinker on the bottom, a hook is
tied between 6 and 36 inches up the line, which allows the floating
Power Trout Worm or Gulp! Minnow to appear "suspended" above the bottom.
The Berkley Atomic Tubes or Berkley Atomic Teasers can be fished alone or under a bobber. One of the hottest tips is to take a 2-inch piece of
Power Trout Worm or Gulp! in a contrasting color, and use it as a
"trailer" on the hook of the Atomic Tube.
The Atomic Teasers come with the trailer already attached. The tiny
tubes should also be fished on the lightest possible line. Last year's
hottest colors were white/orange and chartreuse/orange, but the best
choice changes from day to day.
The new 1-inch Gulp! Micro-Baits were successfully tested at the end of
last trout season, and their potential is just beginning to be discovered.
TROLLING LURES
Many lures work when trolling for trout at Irvine, but overwhelmingly
the most popular is the Countdown [sinking] Rapala. In most cases, the
smaller the better with Rapalas, and the little CD-05, CD-03 and CD-01's
were especially hot last year.
Some anglers have done well on the steelhead with the Rapala Shad Rap
SR-05 or Taildancer TD-05 in blue, or hot chub. The Rapala X-Raps in the
brand-new smaller XR-06 size have been exceptionally good, and got
anglers more of the larger trout last season, particularly in the clown,
hothead and hot pink colors. At times the fish prefer the wildly erratic
action of the J-05 and J-07 Jointed Rapalas. The most popular colors for
Rapalas in general are firetiger, fluorescent orange, chartreuse, and
brown trout.
Optimal trolling speed ranges from about 1.0 to 2.1 mph, with steelhead
and brown trout sometimes going for faster speeds as high as 2.5 to 3.0
mph. A key secret is to avoid trolling in a straight line. A series of
"S" turns alternately speeds up and slows down the lure, and runs the
lure far outside the wake of the boat.
SCENTS AND FLAVORINGS
Many anglers swear by certain scents or flavorings to attract more
strikes. Some home-made formulas like licorice and vanilla are good for masking "human scent" that can turn fish off. First and foremost, all anglers should be sure that their hands are completely free of repulsive scents like gasoline, sunscreen or perfumes.
The brand-new Gulp Alive! Spray was shown to be a phenomenal producer last season. Best scents were the garlic or crawdad flavors, applied to literally everything from trolling lures to live nightcrawlers.
Historically one of the most productive scents has been the liquid
Berkley Trout Dip. Use the green "garlic" flavor on nightcrawlers, the
yellow "corn" flavor on Gulp! Trout Dough and Power Bait, along with the
red "salmon egg" flavor on trolling and casting lures.
LOCATION, LOCATION
Shorebound anglers can do well off the point at Trout Island, all along
the west shoreline and near the docks. Trollers can also investigate the
Santiago Flats, Rocky Point, Sierra Cove and the dam buoy line.
Above all, be flexible, the fish can really move around a lot. If you
don't get any bites within about 45 minutes, and nobody around you is
catching anything, move to another location. The staff at the Irvine
Lake Pro Shop [714-649-9111] is happy to give out information on the
most productive spots.
The Kid’s Lagoon will also be stocked with trout for the opener, and is
reserved for families with children age 12 and under.
HOURS
The lake is open 7 days a week during trout season. Fishing hours will
be 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with the Pro Shop and Snack Bar opening at 5:30 AM for help with rigging and awesome breakfast burritos.
For more info go to irvinelake.net
3-11-10
Santa Ana River Lakes
Double plant keeps rainbow trout bite hot at Santa Ana River Lakes
A double trout plant this past week – Ruby Reds on Tuesday and Mt. Lassen Sierra Bows on Thursday – has kept the trout bite very good at Santa Ana River Lakes this past week in spite or rains and slightly off-color water. The twice-weekly plants will continue through the rest of trout season.
The big fish of the week was a 150-pound sturgeon caught and released by Anthony Kennard, Los Angeles, fishing a nightcrawler off La Palma Point.
The best trout landed were a quartette of six-pound rainbows. Bruce Omiya, Villa Park, landed a five and a six-pounder fishing chartreuse dough bait in Chris’ Pond, while Kevin Smith, Carson, landed his six-pounder from the same place and on the same bait. Tyler Hafkenscheid, Cerritos, was fishing an orange trout worm at the Pumphouse for his six-pounder, and Matt King, Aliso Viejo, was also fishing an orange work at Three Pipes for his fish.
The week’s top stringer was a 15-fish catch made by the Ortega family, Anthony Sr., Anthony Jr., and Jacob, all of Anaheim. They were all fishing rainbow Nitro Bait in Chris’ Pond, and the total weight was 21 1/2 pounds.
With the off-color water, the key to landing a limit of trout has been to fish a short leader, no more than eight inches long, with floating bait on a small No. 16 or 18 hook to keep it near the bottom. Also fish close to the bank. The fish are staying in shallow water and most of the trout are being caught within 20 feet of shore.
A handful of anglers are targeting the carp in SARL and having very good success on quality fish. Kory Allen, Garden Grove, was fishing corn in the Catfish Lake and landed three carp for a total weight of 17 1/4 pounds, including a nine-pounder. Ricky Romero, Santa Ana, landed an 8 1/2-pound carp on a nightcrawler in Chris’ Pond.
Want a free subscription to Western Outdoor News? Anglers landing a limit of rainbows or a trout over five pounds can get a free one-year subscription to WON if they report their catch at the tackle shop and have photos taken. Existing subscribers can get half off on a one-year renewal.
A big upcoming event is a special brown trout and sturgeon plant for a special four-day event March 18-21 -- and rainbows will also be planted as usual this week. The browns will be up to five pounds and the sturgeon will be eight to 25 pounds. Anglers can now keep sturgeon 15 pounds or under and experience this incredible gourmet fish on the table.
Santa Ana River Lakes is open seven days a week with fishing 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 $22. Seniors only pay $20, with a special $17 pass sold on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. The 24-hour passes are sold once a month on Friday and Saturday nights nearest the full moon. These passes remain just $60. Anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit.
For Santa Ana River Lakes fishing information, call 714-632-7830 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.
3-11-10
Corona Lake
Corona Lake continues to crank out rainbows, catfish bite starting
The rainbow trout action has continued good in spite of unsettled weather over the past week with at least 28 limits of rainbow trout and fish to seven pounds reported, and the catfish bite is also starting to kick into gear.
The big rainbow of the week was a 7 1/2-pound rainbow landed by Ken Zapazant, Foothill Ranch, fishing chartreuse float bait from shore. Ken Mikkelsen and Larry Swelgert, Rancho Cucamonga, had four topped topped by a six-pounder.
While only a handful of anglers are targeting catfish, the catches have been impressive. There was a 26 1/2-pound catfish caught by Frank Lemon, Pomona, using mackerel from a boat. Jim and Susan Davis, Lake Elsinore, were fishing both mackerel and chicken liver and landed 10 cats for a total of 26 3/4 pounds with a five-pounder the top fish.
Boat and float-tube anglers are having the best overall success at Corona, but shore anglers are also getting their share of trout. Bright-colored trout plastics, Lip RipperZ or similar trout jigs, and floating baits have all been getting trout. Adding a scent like Eagle Claw Gravy in garlic helps the action.
Anglers should continue to report all their catches at the tackle shop and have photos taken for Fishing Web Cam. All limits reported and all trout over five pounds are worth a free, one-year subscription to Western Outdoor News. Existing subscribers can get half off on a one-year renewal.
The next big event at Corona is a double bonus stocking that will include both brown trout and sturgeon plants for a special four-day event March 18-21. The browns will be up to five pounds and the sturgeon will be eight to 25 pounds. Anglers can now keep sturgeon 15 pounds or under and experience this incredible gourmet fish on the table.
Corona Lake is open seven days a week with fishing 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 $22. Seniors pay only $20, with a special $17 pass sold on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. The 24-hour passes are sold the Friday and Saturday nearest the full moon each month. They cost just $60, and anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit.
For Corona Lake fishing information, call 951-277-4489 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.
Sturgeon are now stocked in the Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake on regular basis
Hard-fighting, high-jumping, gourmet sturgeon will be planted in Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake on a regular basis beginning Father’s Day weekend. And for the first time, anglers will be allowed – encouraged even – to keep these delicious gamefish.
STURGEON CLEANING AND PREPERATION
NOMENCLATURE AND TIDBITS