For the third week in a row, legendary big catfish expert Ronson "Catman" Smothers caught the largest blue cat of the week, but there were plenty of other big whiskerfish in the 10 to 17-pound class to go around. "He [Ronson] just always seems to find the big ones", quipped general manager Dave Noyes. "Lots of nice 10 to 16-pound fish are being caught on Friday and Saturday nights, and the crappie fishing is also excellent at night."
Crappie anglers have been doing very well, and another Irvine Lake legend, Marlon Meade observed "It's [crappie fishing] been wide open, but everyone's been fishing for catfish. The new Berkley Atomic Teasers have really been working great."
Daytime channel catfish action has been going at a limit pace for 2 to 8-pounders using fresh mackerel or shrimp at Rocky Point in 5 to 15 feet of water. The bigger blue catfish are biting back in Santiago flats on Catmando and DuMong's dunked in Bowker's.
Crappie anglers are putting out a floating lantern and waiting for a food chain to develop, starting with the insect attracted to the light. It may take some time, but once the crappie find you, the bite is very good on slabs to nearly 2 pounds on Berkley Atomic Teasers.
During the day, a hot bite can be found on bluegill and redear using mealworms and waxworms. Some 2 to 3-pound largemouth bass are also being fooled by dropshot baits along the red clay cliffs.
The Kid's Lagoon continues to kick out good catches of catfish on the garlic marshmallow/mealworm combo for families with children age 12 and under.
Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included:
Ronson "Catman" Smothers of Los Angeles, 18.7 pound catfish on Catmando Bait at the flats
Tammy Cairns of Santa Ana, 18.6 pound catfish on mackerel at the flats
Deondrey Brewer of Los Angeles, 15.0 pound catfish on mackerel at the flats
James Brewer of Los Angeles, 13.1 pound catfish on mackerel at the flats
Raul Gomez of Costa Mesa, 5.8 pound carp on a Storm lure at the flats
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Phenomenal action on big blue catfish highlighted a good week at Irvine Lake, reported Jimmy get at the Pro Shop. "The bite on big blue cats was basically insane on Friday Night", exclaimed Getty. "Some really heavy stringers were brought in, some people were limiting out in less than 45 minutes." Not surprisingly, the biggest 5-fish limit of the season was brought in by Ronson "Catman" Smothers of Los Angeles. Smothers related, "I went out on Friday afternoon at 4:00 PM,......
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Nice-grade catfish and lots of crappie were the story this week at Irvine Lake, and to nobody's surprise, legendary big catfish expert Ronson "Catman" Smothers nailed the biggest whiskerfish of the week. Night-time is still the best time to get the opportunity to catch the larger blue cats, and plenty of 10 to 16 pounders were filling stringers for anglers using mackerel and just about any flavor of Catmando or DuMong's catfish attractants in the back end of Santiago Flats. Daytime......
