NOW HERE’S THE BIG NEWS---------------March is loaded with Big
News, so here it is.
The two 30 pound class trout
stocked into the Lakes have not been caught yet !! AND Eagle Claw has
just placed a $1,000 CASH Bounty for the largest trout caught this
season on a combo of Eagle Claw Hooks, Bait and or Attractant. The
Bounty begins NOW and goes until the end of Trout Season. Each 30
pound trout we put into each Lake had a special tag placed into them
and each had distinguishing markings on them and we have seen no fish
caught, float up dead or weigh close to what these fish weigh. So we
are very confident they are still out there. If they get caught or we
find them dead, we will let you know and probably go and bring down a
couple more 30 pound class trout for a new promotion. We want them
caught as bad as you want to catch them. So good luck and Thank You
Eagle Claw !!
This
week’s stocking will be heavier than normal. Both of our big suppliers
are delivering this week. Both “Tailwalkers” and “SierraBows”
along with HUGE Trout will be stocked this week. “Tailwalkers” from
Nebraska will be delivered on
Wednesday and the “SierraBows” with HUGE Trout from the high
Sierras will be delivered on
Thursday. This is because we are making room in the delivery
schedule for the Brown Trout and Sturgeon being stocked March 18, 19,
20 & 21st. This double supplier stocking will happen again, the week
after the stocking of the German Brown Trout and Sturgeon because we
are obligated by contract to purchase trout every week. So we are
putting in extra trout the week before and the week after the stocking
of the Brown Trout and Sturgeon to meet our weekly purchase
requirements.
Additionally, right now, both
Santa Ana River Lakes and
Corona Lake are more overstocked with trout than they have been all
season, because less anglers have been coming to the Lakes on
the weekends due to all of all of the rain and bad weather we have had
most every weekend over the last month or so. So with this week’s
extra stocking, the Brown Trout and Sturgeon, and the following extra
stocking the week after, If you want to catch trout, there will be NO
better place to do it in than Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake.
On the weekend of March 18, 19, 20 & 21st, were
bringing in those beautifully colored Brown Trout. These babies fight
and are known for their ferocious appetite. The best bet to take
these fighters will probably be on lures, spinners or jigs and don't
forget to use an attractant like the New Fish Oil Spray by Eagle
Claw. Thousands of pounds will be stocked and this will be the only
stocking of Brown’s this year, so don’t miss this big weekend,
starting March 18th.
Next up the same weekend, March 18, 19, 20 &
21st, we are bringing in catchable Sturgeon in sizes of 5 to 25
pounds. This is truly a chance to catch a remarkable fish. These
fish are extremely strong, tough fighters and unbelievably great
eating. Their meat is prized as a delicacy and prepared and sold in
high class Gourmet Restaurants. Because of the cost of these fish,
there will be a limit. Fish of 5 pounds and under, a 2 fish limit,
and fish from 5 to 15 pounds, a one fish limit. Over 15 pounds, is
catch and release. Please visit our web site at:
http://www.fishinglakes.com/tipsarticleslinks.htm, for recipes and
cleaning instructions, because these fish must be cleaned and prepared
properly to ensure a great eating experience. Larger limits will
apply for 24 hour fishing.
Our next 24-hour Family Fishing Special is scheduled for Friday, March
26th and Saturday, March 27th.
And also visit us out at
Bass Pro Shop this
weekend. We are giving away $7.00 discount
coupons at both Shows and we are also sponsoring the Kids Fish Pond
and purchased all of the trout for the kids to catch at Bass Pro Shop.
Bring you young ones catch some great fighting
"Ruby Red" Jess Ranch Trout and find great bargains at both Shows.
Video of the Bass Pro Shops
Spring Fishing Classic HUGE SALE
PLUS - Great Video of Kids Fishing for Trout at the Event
30 POUND CLASS RECORD BREAKING
RAINBOW TROUT STOCKED !!
PART TWO OF A TWO
PART
MUST SEE VIDEO
30 POUND CLASS RECORD BREAKING
RAINBOW TROUT STOCKED !!
Jim Matthews
Outdoor News Service
March 8, 2010
Double plant keeps rainbow trout
bite hot at
Santa Ana River Lakes
A double trout plant this past week – Ruby Reds on Tuesday and Mt. Lassen
Sierra Bows on Thursday – has kept the trout bite very good at Santa Ana
River Lakes this past week in spite or rains and slightly off-color water.
The twice-weekly plants will continue through the rest of trout season.
The
big fish of the week was a 150-pound sturgeon caught and released
by Anthony Kennard, Los Angeles, fishing a nightcrawler off La Palma
Point.
The best trout landed were a quartette of six-pound rainbows. Bruce
Omiya, Villa Park, landed a five and a six-pounder fishing chartreuse
dough bait in Chris’ Pond, while Kevin Smith, Carson, landed his
six-pounder from the same place and on the same bait. Tyler Hafkenscheid,
Cerritos, was fishing an orange trout worm at the Pumphouse for his
six-pounder, and Matt King, Aliso Viejo, was also fishing an orange work
at Three Pipes for his fish.
The week’s top stringer was a 15-fish catch made by the Ortega
family, Anthony Sr., Anthony Jr., and Jacob, all of Anaheim. They were all
fishing rainbow Nitro Bait in Chris’ Pond, and the total weight was 21 1/2
pounds.
With the off-color water, the key to landing a limit of trout has
been to fish a short leader, no more than eight inches long, with floating
bait on a small No. 16 or 18 hook to keep it near the bottom. Also fish
close to the bank. The fish are staying in shallow water and most of the
trout are being caught within 20 feet of shore.
A handful of anglers are targeting the carp in SARL and having very
good success on quality fish. Kory Allen, Garden Grove, was fishing corn
in the Catfish Lake and landed three carp for a total weight of 17 1/4
pounds, including a nine-pounder. Ricky Romero, Santa Ana, landed an 8
1/2-pound carp on a nightcrawler in Chris’ Pond.
A big upcoming event is a special brown trout and sturgeon plant
for a special four-day event March 18-21 -- and rainbows will also be
planted as usual this week. The browns will be up to five pounds and the
sturgeon will be eight to 25 pounds. Anglers can now keep sturgeon 15
pounds or under and experience this incredible gourmet fish on the table.
Santa Ana River Lakes 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 $22. Seniors only pay $20, with a
special $17 pass sold on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish
limit. For kids 4 to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. The 24-hour passes
are sold once a month on Friday and Saturday nights nearest the full moon.
These passes remain just $60. Anglers can bring a spouse and up to three
kids to help fill the 24-hour pass 15-fish limit. For Santa Ana River
Lakes fishing information, call
714-632-7830 or log on at
www.fishinglakes.com. Corona Lake continues to crank
out rainbows, catfish bite starting The rainbow
trout action has continued good in spite of unsettled weather over
the past week with at least 28 limits of rainbow trout and fish to seven
pounds reported, and the catfish bite is also starting to kick into gear.
The big rainbow of the week was a 7 1/2-pound rainbow landed by Ken
Zapazant, Foothill Ranch, fishing chartreuse float bait from shore. Ken
Mikkelsen and Larry Swelgert, Rancho Cucamonga, had four topped topped by
a six-pounder.
While only a handful of anglers are targeting catfish, the catches
have been impressive. There was a 26 1/2-pound catfish caught by Frank
Lemon, Pomona, using mackerel from a boat. Jim and Susan Davis, Lake
Elsinore, were fishing both mackerel and
chicken liver and
landed 10 cats for a total of 26 3/4 pounds with a five-pounder the top
fish.
Boat and float-tube anglers are having the best overall success at
Corona, but shore anglers are also getting their share of trout.
Bright-colored trout plastics, Lip RipperZ or similar trout jigs, and
floating baits have all been getting trout. Adding a scent like
Eagle Claw Gravy in
garlic helps the action.
The next big event at Corona is a double bonus stocking that will
include both brown trout and sturgeon plants for a special four-day event
March 18-21. The browns will be up to five pounds and the sturgeon will be
eight to 25 pounds. Anglers can now keep sturgeon 15 pounds or under and
experience this incredible gourmet fish on the table.
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 $22. Seniors pay only $20, with a special $17 pass
sold on Wednesdays. All of these passes have a five-fish limit. For kids 4
to 13, a three-fish pass is just $9. The 24-hour passes are sold the
Friday and Saturday nearest the full moon each month. They cost just $60,
and anglers can bring a spouse and up to three kids to help fill the
24-hour pass 15-fish limit. For Corona Lake fishing information, call
951-277-4489 or log on at www.fishinglakes.com.
This trout season we will be stocking the
very best quality trout money can buy. What do we mean by
that?
Over the years, our anglers have had the
opportunity to catch many types and sizes of trout at our Lakes,
like the huge record-breaking rainbows our Lakes are famous for. 5
state records have set at our Lakes. In addition, we have stocked
exotic trout like Lighting Trout, Thunder Trout, Tiger Trout, Brook
Trout, Brown Trout, and the recently developed Sierra Rainbows plus
the ever popular Nebraska Tailwalker’s.
We have learned from you, our valued customers
that these special and exotic trout are what you want to catch all
of the time, not just some of the time. It’s simple, when we
stock these special trout, you come fishing and when we stock the
“typical stocker trout,” you don’t. This is why we will no
longer stock the typical hatchery white meat stocker trout every
lake puts into their water. Your demand for quality and exotic
variety has been heard, LOUD AND CLEAR!!
The higher cost of these special trout has been
and obstacle for us in the past and is why most lakes can rarely
afford to stock them. But that has all changed for Santa Ana River
Lakes and Corona Lake. Through years of strategic planning and
investment with our fish suppliers, we have been able hedge our
stocking costs and we can now stock these special trout ALL THE
TIME; and without increasing our admission fees!!
The special trout stocked in our Lakes will be
selected for having the best “wild trout” characteristics.
This means that it will be hard if not impossible for you
distinguish the fish you catch at our Lakes from what you might
catch in the backcountry of Alaska, Canada or the Sierra's.
This means full fins and tails, broad shoulders with proper body
characteristics, rich and vivid body colors, deliciously flavored
pink or ruby red meat, with rock hard bodies full of vigor, fight
and line stripping fun. As the water gets colder, bigger
and bigger trout will be stocked. This season, catching and landing
a 10 to 20+ pound trout at Santa Ana River Lakes or Corona Lake will
be a real challenge, heck, even landing a wild characteristic trout
under 10 pounds will be no easy task. This will be the BEST TROUT
SEASON EVER!!You can rely on the fact that we will not
stock THE TYPICAL WHITE MEAT HATCHERY STOCKER TROUT YOU WILL
FIND AT EVERY OTHER LAKE.
This season we have three primary suppliers of
trout for our Lakes. Jess Ranch, Mt. Lassen Trout and Chaulk
Mound Trout Ranch. These three producers are the very best in
their industry and we are proud and excited to have them as our
strategic partners. A little about each is described below.
Jess Trout Ranch:
Ruby Reds in the bottom of the stocking tank. They are some
beautiful trout.
Beautiful Ruby Red Filet, um um good !!
Jess Ranch has become our newest strategic
partner and together, we will be stocking some of the biggest
toughest and hardest to catch trout ever stocked in Southern
California. Can you imagine trying to catch a 20+ pound hard body
rainbow trout with full fins and tails? This is what is coming and
with each year, they will get bigger and bigger. We have obtained a
large supply of big trout, the same source as the Alpers Trout
caught in the Sierras, and we are growing them in special earthen
ponds with chilly well water running through the ponds. They are on an advanced
growth schedule and we will have them up to 15 or 20 plus pounds for
the exclusive stocking into Corona Lake and Santa Ana River Lakes.
When they reach size, and some will get there this season, they will
be stocked (full finned) for you to catch. Good luck!!
Additionally, Jess Ranch will be stocking our
Lakes with Ruby Red Steelhead. These are trout that come from
steelhead stock. For any of you that have caught some of
the steelhead we have stocked over the years, you know how special
these fish are to catch and what delicious table fare they provide.
Ruby Red’s are called that for a reason. First, you will notice the
deep rich and vibrant red gill plate and red body stripe on these
steelhead. Secondly, the meat will be a little richer red or more
salmon colored than pink. Steelhead can be caught using many of the
traditional rainbow trout methods like bait fishing, but are usually
best caught with jigs and spinners. Trolling lures works well also.
One season, we noticed the seagulls were diving on the shad that the
steelhead were chasing up in the middle of the lake at SARL. Several
keen eyed fishermen took boats out and got slammed in a wide open
bite of 6 to 8 pound steelhead that snapped all the 4 pound test
they had on their reels. Some were caught, but fun was had by
all. Expect more of this kind of action from our Ruby Red Steelhead.
Mt. Lassen Trout:
Next is our long time supplier Mt. Lassen
Trout. Mt. Lassen has upped its game in a big way through the
development of what is called the Sierra Rainbow. We received some
of these special trout late in the season last year, and our anglers
loved them. Sierra Bow’s are real
feisty trout that jump and fight like crazy. These are beautiful
full finned line rippers, with pink tasty meat. You would be hard
pressed to distinguish any difference from the quality of trout
caught in the Sierra’s. This trout represents the “Wilder Side” of
Mt. Lassen, wherein these trout are raised in some of the most
remote facilities they operate high in the mountains, and in
the icy cold headwaters of natural springs. Being able to
raise trout in icy headwaters and in earthen streams and ponds
provides exceptional benefits. Fin quality is preserved because of
the earthen ponds and streams but additionally, these beautiful
trout are grown and exposed to all the conditions of wild trout.
This includes a natural diet of bugs, grubs, gnats and other natural
foods, and because the water comes from the ground at the head
water, up-stream bacterial diseases, parasites or other
ailments most trout farmers are plagued with, are not a problem for
Mt. Lassen Trout.
Mt Lassen Trout Farm has been on the very
leading edge in trout biology. Through their research efforts, they
were among the very first to be able to create Triploid Rainbow
Trout. The development of Triploids, a process where in the trout
does not go through the reproductive cycle, makes it possible to
grow rainbows to gigantic weights of 20 to 30 pounds, weights never
before possible. We have again contracted to bring you some of the
biggest trout available from Mt. Lassen and hopefully we can break
another State Record. Five State Records have been broken at our
Lakes, thanks to the huge trout provided by Mt. Lassen.
Following Triploids, Mt. Lassen introduced a
long progression of
new and exciting trout research. Mt. Lassen Trout Farm developed
the Lightning Trout, a beautiful golden colored, pink meat rainbow.
Then came Thunder Trout, one of the hardest fighting trout you will
every catch. Their research also developed the Tiger Trout and
Donaldson Strain pink meat Steelhead Trout. This season, we will
again be stocking many of these very popular and exotic trout
developed by Mt. Lassen Trout including the popular Lightning Trout.
Chaulk Mound Trout Ranch, Nebraska:
Last year we introduced the extremely popular
Nebraska Tailwalkers. You told us that this trout was one of the
best quality trout you have ever caught. In fact, because of your
praise for this beautiful and hard fighting trout, the Tailwalker
has now set the bar for quality that others must strive too
achieve. We know that after catching and eating the exceptional
Tail Walker trout, there is no way you will ever accept the
typical hatchery white meat stocker trout again.
Our history with the Tailwalker is as follows:
We were hearing reports of some of the finest Rainbows available
anywhere in the United States. They refer to them as “Tailwalkers,”
because of their aggressive fighting style. They reported these fish
battle the fishermen by jumping, thrashing and literally walking on
their tails across the surface of the water. But this is just a
portion of the story. The reports said these fish are the closest
thing to a TRULY WILD TROUT. They are described as having full
fins, beautifully formed tail fins, vivid, brightly colored bodies
and deeply colored pink meat, exactly like Steelhead and Salmon.
Additionally, their bodies are rock hard, and firm because of the
way they are exposed to swift running water for several weeks prior to delivery. All of
these reports seemed too good to be true, an exaggeration beyond
belief. So in an effort to confirm these reports the Operators of
Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake took a plane trip to Nebraska,
to check out the home of these “Tailwalkers”, the Chaulk Mound Trout
Ranch. Much our surprise and enthusiasm, we found all the reports
to be true. Chaulk Mound Trout Ranch owner, Ron Bright, gave them a
day long, in depth inspection of all the fish, the facilities and
his innovative methods of rearing these beautiful fish. His
facility is State of the art, from the way he grows his fish to the
unique semi-truck delivery system. Leaving nothing to chance, the
delivery truck has an on board refrigeration system to ensure ice
cold water for optimum fish transportation and a rear trailer
steering mechanism, just like a huge fire engine, to ensure access
to tight space delivery locations. But the most important things
are how he raises and prepares his fish for delivery. He hatches
his own fish, to ensure absolutely disease free trout. He then
feeds the highest quality feed available, rich in high percentages
of protein and ingredients as close as possible to that eaten by
wild trout. This diet, being similar to that of native fish, produces
the pink flesh, the full fins and the beautifully colored bodies.
But his unique innovations don’t stop there. Ron Bright has
pioneered a unique system of developing hard bodied fearsome
fighting trout. He has engineered a secret, proprietary facility to
duplicate the environment that a WILD TROUT is exposed to in a
swiftly flowing mountain stream. As the trout swims against the
raging waters of his artificial environment, for a period of several
weeks, their bodies become rock hard, muscular, mean fighting
machines, ready to take on any fisherman lucky enough to have the
challenge.
Needless to say, this was the most exciting
thing Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake’s Operators had ever
investigated. Now, the problem was getting Chaulk Mound Trout Ranch
to commit to a long term contract to supply their Lakes with these
magnificent Rainbow Trout. It was not easy, Chaulk Mound Trout
Ranch had to make the decision to gear up to supply up to 100,000
pounds of these beautiful “Tailwalkers” and transport them over
1,200 miles to Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake. Before the
contract could be inked, Ron Bright, owner of Chaulk Mound Trout
Ranch, wanted to personally visit Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona
Lake to inspect the facility and the areas from which his delivery
truck would be required to stock the Lakes. After several weeks of
negotiation, it was done. The rest is history and now Chaulk Mound
Trout Ranch brings the “Tailwalker” Rainbow Trout to Santa Ana River
Lakes and Corona Lake every other week through out the entire trout
season.
Exotic Trout Suppliers:
In addition to the full plate above, we have
contracted to also stock German Brown Trout, Brown Bows (a rainbow &
brown cross) and Brook Trout.
So there you have it!! The best quality trout,
the biggest trout, and plenty of the exotics. And the best news, our
admission price is NOT GOING UP. In tougher economic times, the
tough get going. We have tightened our belt, trimmed our costs and
increased our stocking quality all without raising our admission
fees. Additionally, we plan on having many special events and tournaments
this trout season, along with special discounts and free offers for
those subscribed to our “Big News” email list. So if you are not
subscribed or you have buddies not subscribed, it pays to be a
member.
A BIG thanks to Eagle Claw. Eagle Claw
Baits and Fishing Tackle have agreed to Sponsor Santa Ana River
Lakes and Corona Lake on a long term contract. This Sponsorship
makes it possible for us to negotiate and purchase these quality
fish and bring the finest fishing opportunities available any where
in the entire Country.