The week prior to the 4th of July saw a different kind of explosion at Irvine Lake, as marauding schools of largemouth bass ripped into large balls of shad. "The bass fishing is totally wide-open if you can get on one of the shad boils", enthused Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. "It looked like tuna boils out on the ocean. Several bass anglers were releasing 50 or 60 fish in a day, throwing anything that looked like a shad. Most of the bass are in the 2-pound class, but there are some larger ones up to 5 pounds mixed in."

Getty added, "The catfish bite is hit or miss, but gets pretty good late in the evening from 9:30 PM until 11:00 PM."

Daytime bass anglers found torrid action on 2 to 5-pound largemouth in open water by locating balls of shad. Favored lures included jerkbaits, crankbaits, and flukes, virtually anything that replicates a shad. Night-time bassers did well on topwaters, 10-inch plastic worms, and jigs at 10 feet of water.

Catfish chasers found their quarry in 5 to 10 foot depths at Santiago Flats, Woody's Cove and the west shore. Most productive baits were mackerel and shrimp, with the key being absolutely no sinker and leaving the spinning reel's bail open to allow the suspicious whiskerfish to run for several feet without feeling any resistance. The majority of catfish checked in were prime "eating-size" 2 to 5-pounders.

The extreme heat put a damper on what had been decent trout action last week, but those anglers skilled at deep-water techniques were still able to score some nice 3 to 5-pound holdover rainbows. Best method was trolling 4 to 7 colors of leadcore line, trailed by a cop car-color Luhr Jensen Needlefish near the dam.

Not many crappie anglers were out, but some decent slabs were caught under floating lanterns using white Atomic Tubes. Plenty of bluegill and redear were biting small hooks baited with waxworms or mealworms in brushy shallow areas. No hybrid stripers were checked in this week.