Laguna Niguel Lake, CA Fishing Report

The lake is closed through Friday, May 3, for maintenance. There continues to be a fair crappie bite and the bass action has been good for anglers fishing plastics. The trout action is pretty much over for the season with only a few fish showing in deep water for bait and fly anglers. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

The bass bite has been the best bet over the past two weeks with the still working the shallows all around the lake. Robo worms and plastic crawdads in purple, green or brown are working best. There is also a pretty good topwater bite early morning and late afternoon. A number of anglers have reported catching and releasing up to 30 fish in one day, and most of the fish are two to four pounds with a few topping six. There also continues to be a pretty good bite on crappie, while the trout action continues to slow. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Trout plants have ended for the season, but a few rainbows continue to show in front of the concession building, around the bubble holes, and on the flats from Three Popes to the creek inlet. Nightcrawlers dipped in ‘Bite On’ garlic scent have been the top producer, but PowerBait and trolled SC Shinners are also getting bit. Fly fisherman are still hammering away on trout with silver and grey bead head nymphs fished in nine to 10-feet of water. Top trout last week was a 6-2 caught by Ken Farwatari of Lomita on a bubble gum worm at the face of the dam via float tube. The bass bite has been the best bet over the past two weeks with the fish stacked up in the shallows all around the lake.

Robo worms and plastic crawdads in purple, green or brown are working best. There is also a pretty good topwater bite early morning and late afternoon. A number of anglers have reported catching and releasing up to 30 fish in one day, and most of the fish are two to four pounds with a few topping six. There also continues to be a pretty good bite on crappie. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Not much change here. There is still a fair to good trout bite with a lot of the fish moving to deeper water due to warming water temperatures. Large schools of trout are holding from the big island to the dam with the bubble holes being the top spots. PowerBait and nightcrawlers are both working well for bait. Fisherman trolling the SC Shinners in pink or silver/black have been scoring limits. Fly fisherman did well up in the flats fishing midges in silver and grey in 10 feet of water. Plant schedule for this week. The largemouth bass are very good with the fish tight to the shorelines and shallow cover and hitting plastics worms and crawdads in purples, greens, and browns. The spawn is on. Fish to six pounds reported over the week. There is also a pretty decent bite on crappie to three pounds for anglers slow-trolling pink SC Shiners from the launch ramp to the boat dock. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Good to excellent trout action with a lot of the fish moving to deeper water due to warming water temperatures. Large schools of trout are holding from the big island to the dam with the bubble holes being the top spots. PowerBait and nightcrawlers are both working well for bait. Fisherman trolling the SC Shinners in pink or silver/black have been scoring limits. Fly fisherman did well last week as the water visability cleared up in the flats after the rain. Bead head midges in silver and grey were working best in 10 feet of water. Big trout of the week was a seven-pounder landed by Dave Thomas, Culver City, on rainbow PowerBait. Oarius Gleason, Long Beach, topped off his five fish limit with a 6-9 rainbow on a Power Mouse. Dennis Johnson, Whittier, weighed in a 6-8 trout, also on Power Mice. Suse Wamasa, Huntington Beach, topped off his five fish limit with a six-pounder on salmon PowerBait. Another six-pounder was landed by Gilbert Tam, Irvine, also on PowerBait. Next place is slated for this week. The largemouth bass are very good with the fish tight to the shorelines and shallow cover and hitting plastics worms and crawdads in purples, greens, and browns. The spawn is on. Fish to six pounds reported over the week. There is also a pretty decent bite on crappie to three pounds for anglers slow-trolling pink SC Shiners from the launch ramp to the boat dock. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

There continue to be 1,000-pound weekly plants of rainbows up to 10 pounds and the action has been very good, rain or shine. In the stained water after last week’s rain, the best bite was on nightcrawlers or PowerBait with garlic scent. The lure and fly-fishing bite was tough, but with the clearning water conditions that has turned around and now the midge anglers are getting more fish again. Top fish of the week was a 7-10 landed by Wesley Rehberg, Laguna Niguel, on a nightcrawler with garlic scent at three pipes from a boat. Bobby Kindle, Irvine weighed, landed a 7-5 on a pink SC shiner trolled in the three pipes area. Dave Thomas, Culver City, landed a seven-pound trout soaking a Power Mouse off the shoreline in Zone 3. Darvis Gleason, Long Beach, weighed in a 6-5 rainbow that also hit a Power Mouse off the shoreline in zone 2. The bass bite has also broken wide open along all the shorelines of the lake as the fish move tight for the spawn. Robo worms and crawdads in purple, green or brown are working best. There has also been a good topwater bite early morning and late afternoon. Fisherman reported landing up to 42 fish in a single day with most two to four pounds and a few bigger fish. There were also a lot of quality black crappie to two pounds reports. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Weekly stockings of rainbow trout to 10 pounds have kept the action very good. The best bite has on the flats and around the bubble holes. Boats and float tubers are catching more fish than the shoreline anglers as trout have moved into deeper water. Fly fisherman are catch and releasing big numbers of trout using grey and silver bead head midges in eight to 10 feet of water. Boats trolling with SC Shiner crankbaits in orange-gold, silver-blue and black pearl are having great success working the big island to the launch ramp. Bait fisherman are catching trout by soaking inflated nightcrawlers, Mice Tails dipped in garlic, and the new hatchery pellet PowerBait. Big trout of the week was caught by Michael Kue, Santa Ana, and weight nine pounds. Kevin Vaugh, West Covina, landed a seven-pounder. Bass fisherman are reporting 10 to 30 fish days with some pigs. Jason Hughes, San Clement, landed a 10-4 on a plastic crawdad. Sean Brooks, Huntington Beach, reported 22 bass in the two to eight-pound class. There are weekly 2,000-pound plants of Nebraska Tailwalker troute. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

There are weekly 2,000-pound plants of Nebraska Tailwalkers, according to the lake’s website. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

No report. There are weekly 2,000-pound plants of Nebraska Tailwalkers, according to the lake’s website. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Good trout action with a lot of limits reported. There are Nebraska Tailwalkers stocked each week with 2,000 pounds slated for Thursday this week. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Good trout action with a lot of limits reported. There are Nebraska Tailwalkers stocked each week with 2,000 pounds slated for Thursday this week. Todd Anderson, Newport Beach, had the top trout of the week, an eight-pounder caught on a pink SC Shiner fishing from a boat on the flats. Mario Luna, Santa Ana, had a 7-8 on PowerBait from shore, while Jeff Berg, Lakewood, caught a 6-8 rainbow using a black jig off the shoreline. Rainbows at 5-8 were caught by Gabriella Yuschenkoff, Laguna Niguel, and Cory Smith, Mission Viejo, both on PowerBait. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Good to excellent trout action this past week with weekly plants of Nebraska Tailwalkers. Lots of five fish limits and some quality fish are landed each week. Shore anglers have been catching trout from Zone 1 to zone 5 with Zone 1 being the hot spot of the week. PowerBait, inflated nightcrawlers and dead sticking Power Mice have all been producing fish. Boats and float tubers continue to catch good numbers of trout in the deeper water from the big island to the dam, and fly anglers are fishing the flats using bead headed midges in 10 feet of water and hammering the trout. Top fish this past week was a 10-8 caught by Bill Merkel, Lakewood, on a garlic Gulp! worm in deep water by the bubble hole from a boat. Ken Goebel, Lake Forest, weighed in an 8-12 rainbow caught on nightcrawler on the flats. Steve Nelson, Orange, had an eight-pound rainbow trolling a blue and white Rapala off the island, while Clarence Lew, Irvine, had a 6-8 trout on a nightcrawler fished from a boat at Three Pipes. Edward Medina, Costa Mesa, landed a six-pound trout on rainbow PowerBait, while Dave Luraschi, Anaheim, was trolling an orange Mirror Shad at three pipes and landed a 5-10 trout. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

There have been 2,000-pound plants each of the past two weeks, and another load was slated for this week. The bite has been very good with a lot of limits reported on Power Bait, inflated nightcrawlers and dead sticking Power Mice. Boats and float tubers have been catching trout not only in the flats but in the deep water, too. This is the first time in years the trout have been showing in deep water from the big island to the dam. Fly fisherman continue to stick big numbers of trout still-water nymphing with bead-head midges in 10 feet of water. Top trout this week included an 8-2 landed by Tim Dong, Laguna Beach, to top off his limit caught on rainbow PowerBait at the dam bubble hole. Paul Hansen, Huntington Beach, landed a 7-9 on a Trout King jig off the big island, while Ken Goebel, Lake Forest, had a 7-8 on sherbert PowerBait. Daryl Boyer, Capistrano Beach, used a white and orange Power Mouse to land a 6-8 trout, and Jeff Berg, Lakewood, also had a 6-8 on an orange Trout King jig. Rudy Falcon, Huntington Beach, landed a 6-7, and Brian Shrigley, Long Beach, caught a 6-2 rainbow. Glen Matsushita, Gardena, topped off his five-fish limit with trout at six pounds and 5-8. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

The trout bite has been good after a 2,000-pound plants on Jan. 3 and Tuesday this week. Big trout of the week was caught by Shane Doyle, Huntington Beach, and weighed in at 5-3. Mallory Howe, South Pasadena, landed a five-pounder, and Kathy Nishida, Laguna Niguel, topped off her five-fish limit with a 4-10 rainbow. Shore anglers doing well soaking different colored PowerBaits and inflated night crawlers dipped in garlic scent. Fly fisherman are using tiger midges, blood midges and grey bead heads in 10 feet of water. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Two trout plants Christmas week. The bite has been on PowerBait or nightcrawlers fished 30 to 40 feet from shore where the fish are cruising. The fly anglers were also scoring still-water midging, while trollers were using Kastmasters and Needlefish. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Excellent trout action after a pair of 2,000-pound plants this week. The best bite has been on PowerBait or nightcrawlers fished 30 to 40 feet from shore where the fish are cruising. The fly anglers are also doing very good still-water midging. Trollers are scoring on Kastmasters and Needlefish. Adam Einstoss, Stanton, landed a 5-12 rainbow on rainbow PowerBait dripped in garlic oil from shore. Charlie Wilson, Azusa, had a 5-2 trout on a salmon egg. Gabriel Rivera, 5, Long Beach caught his very first fish -- a 2-8 rainbow on a green Power Worm from a boat. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

No report. A 2,000-pound plant was slated to go in last week. Best action has been on orange or silver SC Shiners or Kastmasters  on slow retrieves. Rainbow PowerBait or nightcrawlers on eight to 18-inch leaders also a good bet. Most fish in one to two-pound class. nformation: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Last week’s scheduled plant was cancelled due to rain and the fish has been spotty since. A 2,000-pound plant was slated for this week. Best action on orange or silver SC Shiners or Kastmasters  on slow retrieves. Rainbow PowerBait or nightcrawlers on eight to 18-inch leaders also a good bet. Most fish in one to two-pound class. Lou Ruiz, Aliso Viejo, landed a 2-8 rainbow on a chartreuse Power Mouse. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

A 2,000-pound trout plant on Tuesday this week has kept the trout action very good over the past week, even in the rain. Light fishing pressure made for easy limits for all. Fly fisherman still- water nymphing with bead headed midges in the flats reported catch and releasing as many as 40 trout per day. Trout continue to chew PowerBait of any color and nightcrawlers dipped in garlic scent. Boat anglers continue to catch limits of trout trolling SC Shinners and silver kastmasters. Big trout of the week was caught by Rob Scott, Long Beach, with a 7-8 that hit a pink Trout King worm off the shoreline. Paul Nautaliss, Newport Beach, weighed in a 6-5 on a green jig. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.

Weekly 2,000-pound plants have kept the trout action very good. This week’s plant was on Tuesday. Trout have spread throughout the lake and are hanging out on the flats and along the shoreline. A good midge bite going off for the fly fisherman using bead head midges. Some lunkers also hitting trolled S.C Shiners and silver Kastmasters. Trout have been averaging two to four pounds with a few trophies weighed in at the scales. Big trout of the week was caught by Jarod Ikeoa, Rancho Santa Margurita, at 12 pounds taken on a white Berkley Atomic Teaser. Adam Shaw, Mision Veijo, weighed in an 8-3 on white PowerBait. There were an additional 18 trout from four to six pounds weighed this past week. Information: 949-362-9227 or www.lagunaniguellake.com.