The last trout plants of the season have gone in the water, but catfish are now on the menu at Irvine Lake, according to general manager Dave Noyes. "We were fortunately able to acquire 5,000 pounds of broodstock blue catfish for our opening weekend of catfish season, and about half of these fish will weigh right about 20 pounds apiece.

???The other half were put in a special pond a year ago, when they all weighed well over 20 pounds each. Since that time, they have been eating and growing like crazy. Some of them are downright huge!

"On the weekend of June 2 we will have a special ???customer appreciation day', with discounted admission. Then during the week of June 5 we will plant the big blues and another 5,000 pounds of channel cats weighing 2 to 8 pounds each. Starting Friday night June 8 we will stay open until 2:00 AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

"There is a misprint in our ad that says we will start on Saturday, but we will definitely begin staying open late for catfish on Friday night June 8th. This week we also had a trophy bass angler throwing a big trout swimbait, and he had a huge catfish in excess of 75 pounds attack his swimbait right at the boat, but was not able to set the hook properly."

Noyes continued, "World-famous catfish expert Ronson ???Catman' Smothers will give a free catfish seminar at 5:00 PM on Friday night June 8. Nobody knows as much about catching big catfish as Ronson does.

"Catch-and-release will be mandatory on the big blues, and they will feature a distinctive ???double tag' identifying them. Also mandatory this year will be releasing all catfish and sturgeon in excess of 20 pounds. Releasing one of these lunkers will earn the lucky angler a free admission pass to the lake."

Trout anglers skilled at deep-water techniques are doing best, with some impressive stringers of large rainbows still coming in for anglers using downriggers or 4 to 7 colors of leadcore line. Best lure choices are CD03 and CD05 Rapalas in firetiger or brown trout colors, along with Luhr Jensen Needlefish in white/chartreuse.

Bait anglers after trout are either soaking their offerings in deep water, or fishing from shore in the early morning hours. Trout catches are averaging well over 2 pounds, with some better fish as large as 9 pounds being seen.

Catfish anglers are already catching plenty of whiskerfish in the 2 to 10-pound class, mostly on Catmando-flavored mackerel, nightcrawlers or Bowker's, in almost all the shallow areas. Bass fishing is somewhat in the doldrums, but plenty of bluegill are being caught near the docks on mealworms and waxworms. Crappie action is good near submerged vegetation, with only a few anglers chasing the slabs with white mini jigs tipped with mealworms.

The summer dispersal of water has begun, and the lake level will be drawn down approximately one foot per week. The popular west shore road is again open to vehicle traffic. A new pump is being installed in the Kid's Lagoon, and it is anticipated that the Lagoon will re-open for fishing soon. Starting June 12, the lake will be closed on Tuesdays.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Albert Riotta of Lomita, 9.0 pound trout on a Kastmaster at the west shore
Mitz Onizuka of Irvine, 8.6 pound trout on Gulp! at the west shore
Jaime Nazario of Chino Hills, 8.34 pound trout on a Panther Martin at the west shore
Sue Barnes of Huntington Beach, 6.17 pound trout on nightcrawlers at the flats
Chris Edwards of Tustin, 6.0 pound trout on nightcrawlers at the west shore