Jim Matthews
Outdoor Editor

Fish finally arrive, excellent
trout opener at Anaheim Lake

After being delayed a day because of a stalled truck in the Sierra Nevada, The Anaheim Lake trout opener kicked off Friday morning after the first trout plants of the season for 2012. The plants consisted of a huge stocking of Mt. Lassen Trout Farms’ Lightning Trout, scrappy Sierra Bows, and some big hook-jaw male rainbows to nearly 10 pounds.
The season was set to kick off on Thursday last week, but the truck breakdown stalled things by a day as a new truck as dispatched with the fish and arrived on Friday morning.
Almost immediately after the plant, anglers started landing some quality fish and some hefty stringers of trout averaging from one to two pounds.
The big fish was a 6 1/2-pound rainbow landed by David Rochim, Fullertin, while fishing a chartreuse dough bait from a float tube. The top stringer was a 15-fish, three-angler limit that weighed 63 1/2 pounds posted by Josh and Lando Lacy, both Riverside, and Shon Roberts, Yorba Linda. All three were fishing Lip RipperZ spoons from a boat at the spillway, and the catch included Lightnings, Sierra Bows, and hook jaws.
Joe and Irene Mandonca, Little Rock, had 15 rainbows for 41 total pounds on Lip RipperZ worms in white, also at the spillway. John Aslanyan, Studio City, had 15 rainbows for 23 1/2 pounds from his tube fishing pink and red trout plastics at the spillway. John Gosselin, Chris Roseli, and Sean Blanch, Burbank, landed 15 trout for 29 pounds on chartreuse dough bait and Lip RipperZ Ratz.
There were a lot of five-fish limits posted right around eight to 10 pounds, but Kory Allen, Garden Grove, managed five trout for 15 pounds, including a 3 3/4-pounder, fishing yellow and green Lip RipperZ jigs at the spillway. Dave Beaver, Anaheim, topped off his catch with a 4 1/2-pound rainbow on an orange Lip RipperZ, also at the spillway.
The spillway was clearly the hot spot initially, but the fish have since spread all around much of the lake with good catches coming from the north shore and pumphouse shoreline, the bubble hole, and Trout Island. The top baits were the small trout plastics, trout jigs, and floating dough baits in a variety of colors.
Trout season will continue at Anaheim Lake with huge weekly plants through the rest of November, at least. When Santa Ana River Lakes’ maintenance is finished, it will reopen with a huge trout plants and Anaheim will close for the season. But all this isn’t expected to happen until around the first of December.
In addition to the trout, the catfish bite has continued strong on fish averaging about two pounds. The best bite has been for boat anglers fishing the middle part of the lake around the islands in deeper water with cut baits and nightcrawlers.
Private boats, kayaks, and float tubes are allowed at Anaheim Lake, but they will be inspected for traces of water or evidence of quagga mussel contamination before being allowed on the water.
Anaheim Lake will be open seven days a week with fishing allowed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on day passes or from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on an evening pass. Each of these passes is $25. Seniors pay only $23, with a $20 special on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $12. The are 24-hour passes offered each month on the Friday and Saturday nights nearest the full moon during trout season. The 24-hour passes cost $75 and have a 15 fish limit. An angler can bring his wife and up to three kids 17 and under and all can help fill the 15-fish limit on one of these passes, and camping is free at Corona with a 24-hour pass. For Anaheim Lake fishing information, call 714-996-3508 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.

Hot trout bite at Corona Lake
continues to pace SoCal action

The exceptional trout action at Corona Lake has been what all the action in the region is being measured against this past week. The second week of the season at this popular western Riverside County water was as good or even better than the first week.
Limits of rainbows and Lightning Trout from one to six pounds have been common and the average five-fish limit has been running about 10 pounds total.
The big fish of the week was a six-pound Lightning Trout caught by Rich and Judith Kizzee, Downey, on a jig to top off their limit. A 5 1/4 pound Lightning Trout topped off a three-fish 14 1/2-pound catch posted by Ron Vergara, Cypress, on pick worms behind the bait shop. Manny Vo, Riverside, had a five-pound rainbow to top off his seven fish stringer that included catfish and tilapia, besides the rainbows, and 4 1/2 was caught by Jenny Millendek, Walnut, on a nightcrawler.
Anglers are reminded that Corona Lake is closed Tuesday through Thursday this week for a filming project and additional trout planting for this season.
The best action has been on small trout jigs, trout plastics, and floating dough baits with the area behind the bait shop, and the whole west shoreline the best area for landing the trout.
The cooler evenings and dropping water temperatures have also stimulated another of Corona’s denizens – the sturgeon. A near-identical pair of 17 1/2-pound sturgeon were caught this week, one by Deanna Jimenez, Riverside, on a Gulp! worm and another by Joel Comiano, Lake Elsinore, on a jig at the dam. Bob Schempp, Walnut, also landed a 15 3/4-pound sturgeon.
Corona Lake is open seven days a week with fishing allowed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on day passes or from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on an evening pass. Each of these passes is $25. Seniors pay only $23, with a $20 special on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $12. With the shift to trout season, 24-hour passes are only sold the weekend nearest the full moon. That 24-hour fishing will be Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3 this month. The 24-hour passes cost $75 and have a 15 fish limit. An angler can bring his wife and up to three kids 17 and under and all can help fill the 15-fish limit on one of these passes, and camping is free at Corona with a 24-hour pass. For Corona Lake fishing information, call 951-277-4489 or log on atwww.fishinglakes.com.

Santa Ana River Lakes’ reopening
has been pushed back to Dec. 1

The maintenance at Santa Ana River Lakes is taking longer than expected and the reopening of the lakes for trout season is not expected until Dec. 1.
The Kid’s Pond (Huckleberry Pond) remains open, just like it has been all summer, on a Wednesday through Sunday schedule.
Trout season will open this week on Anaheim Lake, which is just a few blocks away from Santa Ana River Lakes.