Texas Fish Report
Irvine Lake Sportfishing Report
by Steve Carson
6-4-2008
Irvine Lake catfish opener is this Friday, "Catamando" schedules seminars Friday and Saturday
This coming Friday night June 6 marks the beginning of another season of late-night Friday and Saturday catfish sessions at Irvine Lake. Anglers may fish until 2:00 AM in search of Irvine Lake's substantial population of whiskerfish.
Thousands of pounds of channel cats will be stocked to augment the resident fish, and of course plenty of huge blue cats to 89 pounds or more are also lurking in the depths. A $1,000 bounty will be paid to any angler breaking the lake record of 89.6 pounds for blue catfish on opening weekend.
Legendary catfishing expert Ronson "Catmando" Smothers will give a seminar on Friday and Saturday evening at 5:00 PM.
Another Irvine Lake summer tradition has already kicked off, and that is "No Limit" trout fishing. "Trout fishing is decent for those who know how to fish deep", reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "Deep trollers did best using 3 or 4 colors of leadcore line with either a Rapala or Needlefish lure. Drifting with chartreuse and pink Power Mouse or nightcrawler combinations also yielded trout in the vicinity of the dam and along the west shore."
The catfish are also already biting well for daytime anglers, with channels in the 2 to 6 pound range hitting on mackerel, shrimp, Gulp!, DuMong's and a variety of other offerings. Best areas for cats are Santiago Flats, Woody's Cove and near the docks.
Bass anglers continue to do well using various worming and topwater presentations. Most of the largemouth are in the 1 to 3 pound class, but a few larger fish up to 6 pounds were released midweek.
Some crappie are showing up for anglers trolling small crankbaits for trout. Bluegill are biting well on waxworms and mealworms near the docks.
The Kids lagoon has been slow for families with children age 12 and under, but another catfish stocking is schedule for this week. The lake level is slowly decreasing, with clear water conditions allowing visibility of 8 feet or more.
Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Fred "Pop" Ambiguous of Costa Mesa, 6-10 catfish on mackerel at the red clay cliffs
Chris Halamandaris of Huntington Beach, 4-10 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at the flats
This coming Friday night June 6 marks the beginning of another season of late-night Friday and Saturday catfish sessions at Irvine Lake. Anglers may fish until 2:00 AM in search of Irvine Lake's substantial population of whiskerfish.
Thousands of pounds of channel cats will be stocked to augment the resident fish, and of course plenty of huge blue cats to 89 pounds or more are also lurking in the depths. A $1,000 bounty will be paid to any angler breaking the lake record of 89.6 pounds for blue catfish on opening weekend.
Legendary catfishing expert Ronson "Catmando" Smothers will give a seminar on Friday and Saturday evening at 5:00 PM.
Another Irvine Lake summer tradition has already kicked off, and that is "No Limit" trout fishing. "Trout fishing is decent for those who know how to fish deep", reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "Deep trollers did best using 3 or 4 colors of leadcore line with either a Rapala or Needlefish lure. Drifting with chartreuse and pink Power Mouse or nightcrawler combinations also yielded trout in the vicinity of the dam and along the west shore."
The catfish are also already biting well for daytime anglers, with channels in the 2 to 6 pound range hitting on mackerel, shrimp, Gulp!, DuMong's and a variety of other offerings. Best areas for cats are Santiago Flats, Woody's Cove and near the docks.
Bass anglers continue to do well using various worming and topwater presentations. Most of the largemouth are in the 1 to 3 pound class, but a few larger fish up to 6 pounds were released midweek.
Some crappie are showing up for anglers trolling small crankbaits for trout. Bluegill are biting well on waxworms and mealworms near the docks.
The Kids lagoon has been slow for families with children age 12 and under, but another catfish stocking is schedule for this week. The lake level is slowly decreasing, with clear water conditions allowing visibility of 8 feet or more.
Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Fred "Pop" Ambiguous of Costa Mesa, 6-10 catfish on mackerel at the red clay cliffs
Chris Halamandaris of Huntington Beach, 4-10 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at the flats
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