Four stars only cause I didn't catch anything but had fun with my cousins while trying.

This place is an ok place to fish. The price isn't bad to fish for 17 hours straight. It's $22. There are only certain areas to fish from shore. I have fished from the Santiago flats and had some luck. During the day you catch trout but then nothing till night time. They have big wipers out there. One night right by the docks I caught a 15lb carp on a 4lb test. He was huge. That's all I caught one day which sucked for being there all day and no bites. I rented a motor boat once thinking I would catch more fish but caught 2. It was fun though. The people are helpful and friendly there and they have an awesome bait shop with a grill in there. They will cook you any burger or sandwich right there. It is so nice to get some good cooked food when you are out there and a cold drink. They have good hot drinks like hot chocolate there too. read more

Irvine Lake - My 15lb carp I caught. - Lakes Near Me - Silverado, California

Cool little lake but why does everything other street nearby need to be named Santiago? Short story short, GPS kept messing up. Finally we were able to make it. The entrance is small but they have fishing and other lake related excursions for one to do. We came here for a running event so were on the other side of the lake. The area was beautiful. I could see coming here for peace and meditation. I would like to return and take part in the other excursions the lake offers read more

I have a friend who had been begging me for months to go fishing with him. Well, I finally caved in and said yes. His response, "Great! Show up at my place at 3 am." Wha?!? Yipes!!! You know the only way a human should be up at 3 am is at an after-party! Well, I attempted to get to sleep early and begrudgingly showed up at 3:15 am and we drove out to Irvine lake. I was surprised to find a long line of cars already waiting to get in when we got there at 4:30 am. So about half an hour before they let the cars in someone came up and opened the gate and we all went in to the nice warm cafe and shop. A word of advice: order their breakfast burrito as soon as you get in there because there will be a line of people ordering them. I ordered a very large and tasty breakfast burrito and paid for our day use permits (5 fish limit) and rented our boat. When they opened the gates and finally let the cars file in we made a beeline for the boat ramp and hopped in to our boat. I have to say I really had a good time. We caught a couple of big trout. You can also fish for bass and catfish. They stock the lake with fish and some of them are quite large and tagged. If you catch those during the right time you get prizes. You don't have to rent a boat if you don't want to. There is good fishing from the shore, especially if you don't mind doing a little bit of hiking. I've been there a couple times now and always have a good time. read more

Howdy! I found out about this lake from searching the net and its a wonderful place. It is about an hour away from me. The fee is only $20 and the people are super friendly and helpful. The boats are alot cheaper if you go with friends. I went with my bud Theron =). He has gotten bit by the fishing bug. I agree with the weekends being a bit nuts. I like going on Mondays so it seems like I have the whole lake to myself. There is even a stocked kids lagoon too for the little ones. I almost always catch fish when I go. I got to learn a lot from the regulars and the people in the tackle shop. I caught a 4.5lb rainbow trout in December, and 5.5 raintbow trout in January besides other lots of other smaller fish. I definitely will go every winter there since thats trout season. Everyone from the regular fishers to the workers there are willing to help you out with tips, advice, etc. Be sure to come by and check it out! If you want to meetup msg me =^^= and we will go catch some fish! read more

What better way to enjoy the memorial day weekend, but fishing on Irvine Lake with my nephew and his fishing buddies. Knowing I would not wake up early (4:30am) to get to the Lake at 6am, I told him to go ahead and come back to the dock in the late morning. To my surprise when I arrived, they were just loading onto the big pontoon boat they rented. When I went into the lake's tackle store to pay my entrance fee, they were having a fishing tournament, a Blind Bogey, which means that you don't have to catch the biggest fish to win. Making a long story short we weighed in some trout but won some raffle prizes. Overall, the weather was great, the fishing a little slow, great friendship, and lot of laughs. The tackle store has a cafe, drinks, chips, bait and any tackle you would need to fish Irvine Lake. read more

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I enjoyed myself here, but I hated paying so much for an experience that I didn't much care for. Service: It was okay. Got what I needed, but not as helpful. It could be because of the business of the whole morning, but what set me off was buying bait at the shop and asking where I pick up my pontoon rental. The person told me that dock over yonder. I thought, cool, and went over yonder. I get there and the dock person said where's my slip for the pontoon rental. Apparently, where I bought my bait, I had to pick up my slip. This annoyed me. I was there asking about pontoon rentals and wasted time driving out to the docks only to go back to the bait shop to finalize my rental. 1/5 Quality: Pontoon was cool, but I caught 0 fish. I will admit, I'm not a fisherman, but we had 7 people on the pontoon and we went around the lake and found no fish. We did catch one bass, but it's catch and release on the bass so we threw it back in. Considering we all paid $24 to get in, it sucked to not catch anything. 1/5 Timeliness: Driving back and forth to get my pontoon wasted time, but when I got it going, everything was an easy process. 2/5 In essence, I should be rating it 1/5, but I give them the benefit of the doubt because of it being busy, but I cannot get over the fact of paying so much, catching nothing, and driving back and forth for it. I'd probably come here again, and if I do, I'll change my review if it is better. read more

Few of my buddies and I love fishing so we thought we should give this place a try. Med to Advance Lvl Lake for fisherman. Some advice for those who like to try this place. 1) Be ready to get up early in the morning. Like be there by 5-530am. 2) Don't be so stupid about Trout or Catfishing, do some research and know that you are fishing, not catching. 3) Bring stuff to eat, eating inside may cost you more than going inside. Unless you don't mind. 4) To increase your chance of getting a fish match the hatch, use the right sent, and location/location/location. Very common advice but important to follow them. Also if you are bringing kids, may also be a good idea to bring some extra entertainment cause theres not so many smaller fish for them to catch like Bluegill, Bass or even Carp. I didn't get skunked (2 fish 1st trip, 1 fish 2nd)but many of the people that were there did, so good luck. read more

I much prefer Irvine lake to the Santa Ana River Lake (SARL) or Corona. The scenery is much nicer (i'm told it wasn't always this way) and you don't feel so much like you're just fishing in a giant dug-out pond (a'la Corona). Yes it can be a little pricey (they just upped their fees to 22$ general admission), but i think the important thing to do is either go with someone who is experienced or ask for some genuine advice/guidance from the people there. Also - as others have said - avoid the season openers/weekends (trout ~ november, not sure when catfish come about, whenever the weather gets warmer i guess) as the masses of people means fighting for good spots. The added pressure on the fish can also throw the bite off =( read more

I wanted to give my grandson a great first fishing experience. I'd taken my granddaughter to Mt. Baldy Trout Pools and had a great experience there. My grandkids now live in Irvine; so, I researched for closer places. I found two. Irvine Lake was closer but way more expensive (as in exponentially more). However, their website indicated that they'd restocked the lakes with 20,000lbs of fish recently and they had a Kid's Lagoon with strict fishing rules/limits that implied there would be no problems for children to catch a fish. I called them to confirm that the Kid's Lagoon was restocked and there would be no problems for children to catch a fish. When I got there, the guy hemmed-n-hawed and wouldn't commit to saying that my grandchildren would catch any fish at the Kid's Lagoon. He tried to steer me over to the main lake. I drove out to the boonies specifically so that my grandkids would catch a fish in a kid friendly environment, which is what their Kid's Lagoon is advertised to be. We were there all day and caught nothing ... not even a nibble. Totally frustrating! I felt so bad for my grandson who had a marginal experience. I talked to a dad fishing next to us with his son. He said that he'd been there for four hours since early morning and caught nothing. He felt bad for his son. Everyone who passed us on the way out had gotten there way before us and had caught nothing. I paid almost a hundred bucks, including pole rentals and bait, to get in. For that amount of money, I expected the lakes to be well stocked ALL THE TIME, ESPECIALLY THE KID'S LAGOON!! For comparison, there was no entry fee at Mt. Baldy where I had taken my granddaughter. Their pole rental was two bucks and included bait and a bucket to hold the fish we caught. Irvine Lake's pole rental was $15. I had to buy my own bait. On top of that, I had to surrender my driver's license as collateral for the pole rentals!! Given the ease of identity theft, I felt really uneasy doing that. At Mt. Baldy, I had to pay for the fish that my granddaughter caught. Granted the price for the fish was a little on the high side but they cleaned fish and packaged them in ice. We were on our own at Irvine Lake. They didn't even give us a bucket to hold any fish that we might have caught. I probably would have had to buy ice and plastic bags from them at an unreasonable prices. If you're not into fishing and do not have fishing gear, I do not recommend taking your kids or grandkids to this place. The Kid's Lagoon is not suited to first time fishing experiences for families that show up with nothing. I paid way too much for way too little. I do not plan to go back. read more

My father took my 2 children fishing at the kids lagoon after researching different locations and selected Irvine lake based on a phone call where he specifically asked if the lake was stocked and was told that it was recently stocked with 20,000 lbs of fish. After fishing all day, they caught nothing. There were a handful of other families that also were there most of the day and did not catch any fish either. After the pole rental, admission and bait, grandpa was out almost $100! What was suppose to be a great first fishing experience ended up being a frustrating and expensive lesson. Never again! read more

Bleh.. overpriced, understocked.. dirty.. Has tons of potential if they took pride in it.. read more

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This is a private pay lake so no fishing license required. They also do overnight camping on weekends. I have come to this lake a few times now and I can honestly say it is better then the other pay lakes in so cal (Corona, SARL). I have always caught fish at this lake and I have been skunked at Corona many times. First of all the site is much cleaner and pleasant to the eyes. The lake itself is much bigger then the others. There is a proshop that has a cafe inside that serves hot food. They have what are called "proteam" members who are supposed to be fishing experts. They wear distinguishable red jackets and they are supposed to provide free advice for fishermen. Now they do provide good knowledgeable advice, but I find it helpful to speak to boathands as well. Why boathands? Well for one thing they speak to boaters firsthand and obtain info on where fish are biting and on what tackle. They also are up to date on water conditions. You may not catch anything when you come here, but there are ways to improve odds of catching fish. First of all you improve your odds greatly if you are on a boat. You don't come here right after it rains or when wind conditions are rough because the water becomes murky. This is primarily a catfish and trout lake. Winter and spring is trout and summer is catfish. So if you are planning on fishing here, arrive early in the morning, preferably before opening and get in line. The crowd at weekdays is light and on weekends it gets heavy. Get a boat if you can, it is worth it, I promise you. Last and most important, enjoy spending time outdoors with friends/family. read more

This is a nice lake to too bad it costs 22 dollars to fish, Thats STEEP!!.In winter its stocked heavily with a variety of trout and in summertime its stocked with huge catfish.They also got fat florida largemouth bass bitting year round too.You would think for the price you paid to get in that it would be non stop fish on the line but its just as tuff as any free lake.Good Luck! read more

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This is by far my favorite pay lake to fish in socal. The environment is natural and beautiful...the staff is friendly and informative. Fishing is great year round for multiple species. There's plenty of room to fish on the shore, and the boat rental prices are reasonable. The guys in the tackle always have great info and are forthcoming with it, as they want everyone to catch fish. I bring my little nephews down during the summer months, and they have a blast catching catfish and bass. Not to mention the cafe has great food as well. This place is fantastic for the entire family. Thank IRVINE LAKE!!! read more

If you come for fishing, really, save your time. We got nothing but lots of weeds. The rental boat is dirty with spider nets in every corner. most importantly, nooooooo fish. But that could also be my own problem. haha, anyway, since we didn't have fun there. I can only gave a 2 star. By the way, dirty bathroom. You'd better prepare well before you came, you know what I mean. read more

All I know is That Irvine is one of The best places to fish. You can't just wake up one day expecting to catch a fish if you don't know Jack squat. You have to know what You are doing. No need to blame the lake....there is the occasional slow days but that's everywhere. I've caught hundreds of trout here over the past 10 years. I've been there in the slow days and I've been there in the best days. Matter of luck. Just a heads up, they stock trout late october to may and catfish from June to September. It's only 24$ per fisherman. No parking fees. Now recently they prohibited private boats kayaks and float tubes... That's what sucks. If You really want to catch fish, learn the tips and tricks. I WILL REPEAT, DON'T BLAME THE LAKE IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. read more

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This places charges you for everything $25 for a campground which is somewhat reasonable but then they charge your $24 per person a day a $10 boat slip rental and $5 a dog per day and best of all 4 people per campground on top of a fishing fee per person even if that person is not fishing. Great for people that want to waste money or don't want to drive to angeles national forest. read more

It was our first time there. For the price I paid to go fishing, we should've been guaranteed to catch at least one fish. but nothing. Not sure we'd return. But the it was beautiful. read more

Irvine Lake - Lakes Near Me - Silverado, California

Went here for Labor Day weekend 2012, camped one night. First off the camping was decent for it being "dry" camping....No hookups. We used an RV location for our trailer, and a second one for parking more cars. Every RV site got a bbq grill and a fire pit which was nice. We also had a picnic table on our site which we took full advantage of. Now the reason for the 1 star???? NO FISH CAUGHT, EVEN WITH 8-12 FISHING POLES IN THE WATER AT ANY GIVEN TIME! We used everything from Bite-On catfish bait (mack., shrimp, etc...), stink bait, corn dough, to Night crawlers! Not even one bite around the Santiago Flats (where it was recommended), nor boat dock cove! I have lost faith in this lake, been here several of times and spent countless hours fishing with no bites! IRVINE LAKE GETS FISHED OUT AS QUICK AS THEY GET STOCKED! SURE FISHING IS GOOD A COUPLE OF DAYS AFTER STOCKING, THEN THAT'S IT TIL' THE NEXT STOCKING. DON'T COME UNLESS YOU HAVE A PRO BASS BOAT WITH A FISH FINDER AND ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES TO PULL OFF A SKUNKED LAKE!!! read more

For my first time being here it wasn't too bad of an experience. The lake is very well maintained, and for a city man like myself it's a nice get away from all the traffic and noise. To be honest though there are many other places you could choose from that provide much better scenery and fishing experiences, but as I stated before it's a nice getaway for someone like myself. The price to fish here is too pricey in my opinion, because even though I woke up at 4 in the morning to catch some trout, it took me about 5 hours to catch and release some small Bass and Crawfish. The man at the ticket booth even suggested we go to the flats because that's where all the fish were biting, but even then we had no luck catching our dinner for that night. read more

Great lake that wants you to catch fish!!just ask questions staff will happily show you were the hot spots are and bait to us.stocking every week trout Derby's lots of fun . read more

Best place on earth. Very happy great people and I even get to store my RV there. read more

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Great for sunshine not even fair for fishing!!!! I have been to Lake Irvine Three times and have yet to catch a fish. The water is very low ..the lake is covered with weeds...and the one time I rented a boat it broke down in the water and I had to be towed to the dock. Over all .....I GIVE LAKE IRVINE A FAILING GRADE.....(NOT ONE FISH AFTER 3 SEPARATE TRIPS) read more

We have been here many times over the years. One of the only reasons we keep coming back is it's a great place to get away and enjoy nature without leaving Orange County. From kayaking and fishing to hiking and to horseshoes, they also offer year-round camping. Irvine Lake has a lot of options but the place is a bit run down and the fishing has never been that good for us. read more

Irvine Lake - Lakes Near Me - Silverado, California

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I think that it is ridiculous how people complain about how they can't catch fish. You gotta know where the fish are, that's why it's called fishing not catching. Also, to have people say that you shouldn't eat fish out of this lake because the water isn't clean? Guys, it's a stinking reservoir. It has to be pretty clean. That's why they don't allow wading. The fact is that I have been there probably over 20 times this entire summer and I have yet to be skunked. The fishing there is great. You just got to know where and how to fish. Big tip, don't use mackeral. Use Bonita. The meat is tougher and smells super fishy. It won't melt in the water like Mackeral. I have probably limited there 10 times so there are fish there and they do stock or else no one would go there to fish. It's an excellent place to fish. read more

~* go fish *~ i'm usually not interested in things like camping, fishing, hiking... but i'm willing to give it a try at least once. for as long as we've been together, my bf has been trying to get me to put down my purse and take off my cute sandals and grab a tackle box, put on some sneakers so that i can go out fishing with him. ask me where to shop, and i can give you plenty of suggestions. ask me where to fish... ummm... huh?! well, if i don't know the answer, i ask around and also do some research online. i found a site that shows where to fish in the los angeles, orange and riverside counties. irvine lake is just up the street from us, so i thought for dad/daddy/father's day weekend we could go explore our new area/neighborhood and check it out. when we arrived, there were already tons of people there for fishing and also for the v-drive regatta & motorsports show that was happening that weekend. we went into the cafe & bait shop to pay our fees and buy some bait and hooks. we drove to the east part of the lake and scanned the area for where we could set up. once we were settled in our spot, my bf set me up with my reel and rod. i was quite excited since it was my first time fishing. i was ready for the experience. well, with the exception of one... i just couldn't get myself to touch the bait and put it on the hook. i couldn't take the not-so-cute little worms squirming in the container and thread their bodies through the hook. eeek! besides that, fishing wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. probably it was because i brought things that would keep me comfortable - my folding camp chair to chill in, parasol to keep me shaded from the sun, backpack full of things (my camera, ds lite, ipod, magazines, snacks, etc.) to keep me occupied as i waited for a tug on my line. irvine lake: * it's privately owned and operated * no fishing licenses are required * they have a main lake and lagoon (lagoon for the anglers 12 yoa and younger) * entrance fee: $20/adult, $17/senior (62+), $9/children (4-12), free/kids under 3, $3/dogs * bait and tackle store * boat rentals available (motor, pontoon, row) * cafe where they have a variety of things to eat (burgers, hot dogs, mexican food, sandwiches, and more) * camping * launch ramps * picnic areas i told my bf that i'd try putting the bait on the hook the next time. surprisingly he asked, "so there will be a next time?!" read more

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My husband and I came here today on a Tuesday with my niece and nephew during their spring break. We thought it would be a great fishing spot for the kids, since they have a kids lake. They say they stock once a week, but it must get out fished on the weekends because we didn't catch one fish at all, nor did we see anyone else catch a fish! Such an expensive {$76.00} disappointment for myself my husband and especially for my poor niece and nephew on their spring break! It was a dirty ugly expensive lake that we will never come back to ever again or recommend to anyone. read more

Got up very early Sunday morning with the hopes of catching some fish. The website said they stock the lake regularly, cool. Spent $58.00 (admission 2 adults plus worms and mackerel). We were told we needed this type of bait to be successful out there. Power Bait would not work well. We were also told, after we paid of course, that although they had recently stocked catfish, they hadn't stocked trout since MAY! 5 hours and a sunburn later, not even one bite! No nibble, Nothing! Nice and pleasant scenery but how some actual fish. It wasn't just us, no one was catching anything. Called it quits by 11am. What a waste of money! read more

Ive been here a handful of times and its more expensive now. This will probably be the last time I fish here. They say they stock it regularly and on their website they make it look like heaven with all the fish. We had 8 people every kind of bait for 9 hours and not even one bite. Even peopel with fish finders didnt get a bite. I only saw one person with a fish the whole day. Its ok if you just want to go and fool around but if you want to actually catch something you'll be dissapointed. Read the other similar reviews. read more

Went on sat for a early Father's Day fish hunt with my son. Rented one of the $55 dollar boats, asked the guy where the go to spots were and then hit the lake by 7am...hour 1 nada...hour 2 nada....ok let's start to fish for cat fish now and leave the the trout alone...made a move to the supposed hot spots hour 3 nada...hour 4 nada...well this sucks, but out withe the sone is always fun. The lake isn't very deep maybe 30 feet at the dam side so you think that you could catch some fish. We asked other anglers , also a lot of goose eggs, we asked the employees all gave different hot spots and all said that it had been slow fishing that week. Hmmm well if you want to catch fish take a 1/2 day boat out of long beach if you want to sit in the sun and soak your lines come here.. read more

Irvine Lake - the lake that wants you to catch Fish That Doesn't Exist! I have rented a boat 3 times over the past 2 and a half years now and the only time anyone ever caught anything was my girlfriend - a small blue gill on the first trip. On my most recent trip, neither myself nor anyone I saw on shore or by boat caught anything the whole day (that includes morning and night fishing). I have spent at least $150 each time for boat and "fishing" passes ($22 per person, no exceptions) and came away skunked, not even a single bite!!! Once we arrived, the staff informed us that we would be sequestered inside the lake and not allowed readmission even if we just wanted to get an outside bite to eat. Instead, he recommended that we eat the garbage that they serve at the lake cafe. Furthermore, the lake does not enforce its own rules and regulations which leads to fisherman hostility on top of an already unpleasant fishing experience. For example, although their sign says no fishing from the boat docks, they allowed a Loser to fish from a boat right in front of the dock, so when I passed by Einstein to dock my boat, he started yelling and screaming that he had two lines running from his boat and even attempted to call me names. Thankfully, my boats's propeller was able to cut Einstein's lines as I passed him, which not only taught him a lesson, but also, might have helped him, since there wasn't any fish to catch anyway. Hey, if the lake doesn't enforce their own rules, then I guess I should, since there is nothing else to do there. One thing I do give Irvine Lake credit for is great marketing...they keep Tricking casual fisherman, like myself, with false stocking Youtube videos and record daily catch pictures on their website. As opposed to publicly stocked lakes, this lake has no fish even though they report stocking a gazillion pounds of fish a few days before!! I believe that they are replaying the same stocking videos over and over again. Don't believe the stocking videos, pictures, the fishing reports. Even though this is a pay to fish lake, there aren't any fish here - this lake is a Crook. read more

After seeing web site pictures of caught fishes, me and my friends expected at least several good-size catfishes in our hands. We came at around 6 AM, rented the pontoon boat and headed toward the spot, referenced by the local staff. What was funny is that we were said to wait at least till noon, because there more chances to catch anything. Although we tried different baits, sailed to various positions of the lake and behave very quite, we haven't caught any before twelve and after twelve. Around 2PM, when we decided to sail back to the shop and get some food there, we asked the store consultants of the luckiest place on lake, where we could at least get one habitant. The answer was: " The best time for fishing is in the morning. You should come early next time. Now it's hot and there are really small chances of catching anything." It was very confusing !!! After trying one more time and fishing till 4PM, somehow we understood that it's either weren't our big day or the fishing process on september is resultless. read more

eeehh NEVER AGAIN IN THIS PLACE! We just came back from there and rest of my day's ruined already. We first went in and all of us had to pay $22 although only one would fish; you don't need to pay for the stupid sticker if you're going there, just go in nobody checks anyways we were just stupidly honest. They rent out part of the area to some marathon and rafting so 1) all the parking spaces weren't for any of the fishermen; we had to park on an one-lane bridge which obviously wasn't even wide enough for two cars to pass through so wtf?! And 2) hello?! Rafting and jogging while silence is gold for fishing? And another family HAD to make the morning worse; their dozens of kids were throwing rocks into the lake... If you're going there DON'T! If you still want to go DON'T PAY! Just drive in they couldn't even provide any service not to mention checking that pointless $22 sticker! read more

I come here a lot and fish. I may not go home with fish every time but I never leave wishing I hadn't gone. Fishing isn't always about catching fish. I thinks its about relaxing and having a great excuse to drink. But don't get me wrong I LOVE to catch fish. The guys at the tackle shop could learn a thing or two about customer service but who cares. I'm there to fish. So I give it a 4 stars...its close, convenient and good place to get away! read more

I really wanted to like this place however the lack of fish was very obvious. When there are 30 poles in the water for 8 hours with nobody getting bites I question the 24 dollar price tag. You are better off fishing a natural lake or charter a boat to do a bit of ocean fishing this place is a bust. read more

The facts stated in the previous post are accurate. There's a $20 entrance fee and you can rent a motor boat ($50) or a pontoon ($140). The boat fits at least 4 and the pontoon can fit 8-10. I've rented both before. It starts getting expensive when you add everything up (e.g. bait, rods, food, hooks, etc.), but I guess that's how it is. This last time we went at night (nice scenery/landscape at night, which is the reason for 2 stars) from 9pm to 2pm. They wouldn't give a discount on the boat rentals even though we would have it for roughly 4 hours only and we got 2 boats for our party. Anyway, we also tried fishing from the shore. We talked to several people and none of them had any luck. One group claimed to have been there for 14 hours and did not catch one fish. That night we might have gotten one bite, but that was it. It's been pretty bleak the last couple of times we've been there. Needless to say, I won't be coming back. For the same price, I can go deep-sea fishing and be guaranteed to catch some fish! read more

I just started coming to Irvine Lake the last couple of months. I either come on a Wednesdays or a Sundays. During the week is better... less people. In was frustrated at first because I am so use to trout lakes, and rivers in the high Sierras. I've figured out the fish there already, but the fish in So. Cal. are different for some reason. They are all of large sizes planted in the lake so the Bass don';t eat them, is what I was told. It's says on their website to use 2 lb. test line or 4. I tried 2 lb., but the line would always snap, and I'd lose the fish. I had figured out for these fish, you have to hook the fish, and let the line out and reel it in over and over to wear out the fish so teh line won';t snap on a 2 lb. test line for sure, because of the sizes of these fish. But, this last time I went, I decided to use the 4 lb. line instead. I figured it would be easier to land the fish and reel it in without snapping it.I liked that much better. I only caught one fish, but I didn't lose any either! The water isn't that clear that you need a 2 lb. test line and I don't believe the trout are that smart. It's still hard for me to pay the $22 for fishing along with the $5 float tube fee, but it's better than Laguna Regional Parks $35 fee along with a $5 parking fee! As many times as the regulars go there, they should at least have a punch card for one day free after going 10 times. It would at least make a little incentive for us fisher people after spending a good chunk of money. I'm sure glad to have a float tube due to the lack of space on the shore. My float tube was only about $200, and so worth it! Irvine lake is a ok place to go if the sierras are still covered in snow, but there is definitely room for improvement. If people come in just to look around for an hour for the first time, they shouldn't stick it in your face that there is a charge of $8 per person. That is ridiculous!! They were abrupt and a little rude the first time we went there. The most you should charge for that is $5, since you are only taking up a parking space. The small restaurant does not have thier hours posted, they should. If they close the lake at 4:00, (which I think is stupid) it should stay open till 3:00. Closing time should be one hour before sunset only. Closing at 4:00 on Sunday in February (or Winter months), is stupid! Make it desirable for the customers people!! Then more will come back! ! read more

We attend Irvine Lake for the concert venues which are outrageous. The music is great and the camping is a blast. You meet great people to enjoy the music with. We attended the 13th Annual Blues Festival for the first time and it was wonderful. read more

If you live in So Cal and want to fish for trout this is one of the best places to go. The only reason they didn't earn a 5 star is unless you rent a boat you are limited to the west shore which can be a problem in the rainy season and have limited access. They stock regularly and have some good size fish. I have had good luck using power bait or if I have rented a boat trolling with lures. As another reviewer pointed out get here early and fight for your spot on the weekends it definitely gets crowded read more