Excellent multi-species action was still the name of the game at Irvine Lake this week, but mid-week's torrid bass bite dropped off over the weekend, reported Nick Sepulveda at the Pro Shop. "The wide-open bass fishing backed off over the weekend", reported Sepulveda. "All the wind and weather changes were as bad as anything we saw all winter. The pipe in Sierra Cove will continue to run until the end of the month."

General Manager Dave Noyes gave the word that everybody has been waiting for. "The water level has finally covered the pipe in Sierra Cove. We will finally be able to move the buoy lines so that anglers will be able to fish much closer to the pipe as of Saturday morning this week!"

More big news for trout anglers this week is a schedule stocking of the famous Alpers-strain rainbow trout, in addition to the regular stocking of Calaveras rainbows. Most of the Alpers fish will be in the 2 to 3-pound class. Most of the trout being caught this week were ranging from 1 to 4-pounds, with plenty of 5 to 6-pounders mixed in with the limits. Some 7 to 11-pound trout were also keeping things spicy.

Berkley Pro Team members Mark Claffey and Steve Hecht found excellent action during a short 2-hour afternoon jaunt from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM this week. "We were about half-way across the dam when we picked up 4 fish up to 2.5 pounds in about 30 minutes on Rapalas", said Claffey. "Then just before closing time we went to the buoy line in Sierra Cove and had instant hookups on white mini jigs rigged 7 feet under a 1-inch bobber on 2-pound test line."

Claffey added, "We saw the bald eagle today in perfect flight being harassed by the crow at 2:15 PM above mid-lake, now that was awesome!"

The majority of trout anglers did best with bait this week, with the new Gulp! Trout Dough by far the top producer. Leader lengths of 18-inches were best as ultra-clear water continues to pour into the lake.

Catfish anglers are doing very well on whiskerfish into the double-digit size range on mackerel and nightcrawlers in the shallows near the boat dock. Crappie are also active just about anywhere there is flooded vegetation. Bass anglers still scored decent numbers of 2 to 10-pound fish on jigs and plastics near flooded trees.

In other news, the first week of May will feature a bonus stocking of larger-grade steelhead up to 8 pounds. Slated for just before the catfish season opener will be a stocking of more than 3,000 pounds of broodstock blue catfish averaging 20 pounds apiece. When caught by anglers, releasing these big blue cats will be mandatory. Each will be tagged, so that when caught, the angler will receive a free re-entry pass.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Vince Jenkins of Fullerton, 11.14 pound trout on nightcrawlers near the ramp Guadalupe & Louis Losaza of Pomona, 7.5 and 3.5 pound trout on Power Bait at the west shore

Eric Gutierrez of Costa Mesa, 7.0 pound trout on Power Bait/nightcrawlers at Trout Island Ashley Stark of Fullerton, 7.0 pound trout on Power Bait at the west shore Bud May of Huntington Beach, 6.6 pound trout on a Joe's Favorite spinner near the dam

Media contacts:
Daniela Galvadon at the Irvine Lake Pro Shop [714-649-9111]
Steve Carson at scarson@sunset.net