Holiday weekend anglers should find things very much to their liking at Irvine Lake, reported general manager Dave Noyes. "We will be planting some extra trout this week for the holiday, and will be closed on Thanksgiving Day", observed Noyes. "The total planting this week will be around 8,000 pounds of rainbows, browns, brookies, and steelhead, mostly in the 2 to 6-pound range. The Kids Lagoon will also be planted." Noyes added, "We have installed a foot bridge over to Trout Island, which opens up a lot of new space for shore anglers. The lakeside roads will close when storms come through, and usually require 24 to 48 hours drying time after the rain stops, and we anticipate the roads will be dry on Friday morning after the latest deluge on Tuesday evening. Be sure to call for up to the minute road conditions." In the run-up to the storm's arrival, the low pressure periods provided fantastic trout results on quality-grade 2 to 6-pound trout, with both bait dunkers and trollers hammering the fish. Action during the immediate post-storm period dipped slightly, but came roaring back starting on Monday. Irvine Lake Pro-Team member Steve Hercht reported, "The trollers have been getting easy limits of really nice 2 to 5-pound rainbows for the past few days. If your boat has a fish-finder, go over by the Red Clay Cliffs, and look for schools of baitfish. Every bait school will have trout around it. The best lures have been gold SC Shiners and firetiger Luhr Jensen Needlefish." Trollers continue to score some exceptional stringers of fish, with top trolling offerings including Rapala Countdown CD03's and CD05's in black/silver and firetiger, along with Rapala X-Rap XR04's in pink or clown. Good numbers of troll fish were caught along the west shore, at mid-lake, and Santiago Flats. Best bait results were found at Woody's Cove, near the docks, and at the newly- accessible [by foot bridge] Trout Island. Power Bait, Gulp!, and Power Mouse baits were the most productive. Some 2 to 5-pound catfish are being caught incidentally by trout anglers on nightcrawlers, and some 1-pound class crappie are also being caught by trout trollers using small Rapalas. Bass action is slow. Families with children age 12 and under are doing best on 1 to 3-pound trout by shortening up the leaders to only 6 or 8 inches, and applying a liberal dose of Gulp! Garlic Spray to baits. Legendary angler and Irvine Lake Pro Team Director Marlon Meade will conduct a free seminar on how to fish Irvine Lake, including Gulp! and Power Bait techniques, at 6:30 Pm at Jimmy's Outdoors, 1026 N. Tustin Ave., Anaheim. [714-630-6580].More information at www.IrvineLake.net or 714-649-9111.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
1) Tim Bax of Buena Park, 12-12 and 6-6 rainbow trout on Power Bait at the west shore.
2) Dave Pierson of Garden Grove, 12-10 rainbow trout on a Power Tube at the west shore.
3) Ulysses Berra of Garden Grove, 7-2 rainbow trout on a Rapala at the flats.
4) Kevin Johnson of Cypress, 2-8 brown trout on a Rapala at Woody's Cove.
5) Christian Adahudad of Santa Ana, 4-5 steelhead on a nightcrawler at Woody's Cove
6) Aaron Juarez of Panorama City, 5-5 channel catfish on a nightcrawler at the west shore