World-class saltwater angler Greg Stotesbury of AFTCO Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Co. added another accolade to his already impressive array of fishing awards: New Lake Record Holder for rainbow trout at Irvine Lake, with a monstrous 22.6 pounder.

Photo by: Steve Carson
Record Catch - World-class saltwater angler Greg Stotesbury of Mission Viejo nailed this new lake record 22.6 pound rainbow trout at Irvine Lake.

The Mission Viejo angler just wanted to take a day off amid the grueling sportsmen’s show season, so he headed down to Irvine Lake for only the second time in the last 10 years.

’My saltwater fishing club, Los Pescadores of Newport Beach, was having a trout tournament at Irvine Lake,” related Stotesbury. “My wife and I anchored up in 19 feet of water off Trout Island. I saw a guy fishing nearby get a fish on something green, so that’s what I put on. Once the bait settled to the bottom, I got bit instantly, and the fish greyhounded over the surface.

“The big fish hit on Turbo Dough Power Bait in the spring green/yellow color, rigged on a #14 gold treble hook and 4-pound test Berkley 100-Percent Fluorocarbon line,” he explained.

“We fought him for about five minutes, and my wife Dara did an expert job of netting it. We had brought a very large net in anticipation of catching a big one,” Stotesbury said. “I’ve caught trout in the 8- to 9-pound class before at Lee’s Ferry. This fish was very powerful, and would bust you off in a heartbeat if your drag wasn’t set properly.”

Irvine Lake’s General Manager Dave Noyes added, “We’ve been dealing with our fish supplier, Tim Goodman at Calaveras Trout Farms, for about 5 years now. When we got started, he promised that within 5 years we would have a new lake record fish. We will have more of these big 20-pounders for the WON Tournament on April 18.”