I am now the self proclaimed King of the catfish with my #50 Blue catfish landed!

Before I get all kinds of hate mail saying, "you ain't crap!" That title belongs to (a list of 10 people depending on who you are) I'm not talking about Irvine lake when it was a pay lake for 90 years. I'm talking about Irvine lake since they reopened it 4 1/2 years ago. (the clock started over then) Where their are no boats allowed, limited shore fishing only, and no night fishing. Plus you have to hike at least a 1/2 mile or more to your spot, toting all your gear with your muscle power only! That's why so many people yearn for the Old Irvine lake, it was a lot easier then! If you think I like Irvine lake now, because I'm some young guy with a limited wallet. Think again! I'm an 63 year old heavy white dude with a decent wallet. (who's not afraid to travel for a day trip) I love Irvine lake because it's Fair to anyone who fishes there. No special treatment here now a day's for anyone! I'll give you one example how you can buy your fish with expensive technology. Live scope, did you ever hear about it???? It's the latest and greatest in fish finding technology and it's not cheap! ($3,000 a pop for it) People who have it and know how to use it correctly, make the best fishermen without it look like pikers! You can't buy your big catfish at Irvine lake now a day's, with your fancy boat and expensive technology. You've got to earn them the old fashion way, by working hard at it! That's why their is hardly anybody else doing it now a day's at Irvine lake besides me and one exception. I fished next to him on Friday (hell of a nice guy and a great fishermen) he holds the official record of the largest cat caught since they reopened at #64 pounds. We got to talking about how many 40-64 pound Blue catfish have been caught by our memory since they reopened. We came up with the following numbers. 2 40 pounders, 5 50 pounders and 1 60 pounder. A pretty exclusive club I would say. (at that time, I was not a member) That was about to change.

One fish doesn't make you a King, but I think 103 Trophy catfish since they reopened it and now a member of the exclusive Monster catfish club does! For those who don't know, "a Trophy catfish is any catfish over 24 inches." Those fish weigh on average 7-13 pounds. (their almost all Channel catfish too) I had 2 goals before they drain Irvine lake dry and kill all those catfish. Catch 100 Trophy catfish (which I did this last Nov) and hopefully along the way catch a Monster catfish. It never happened because I wasn't fishing with Monster catfish bait! I was fishing with a bait that was designed to catch numbers but not necessarily a Monster catfish, unless I got super lucky. (which I did not!) Now that I achieved the 100 Trophy catfish goal, I was now determined to catch a Monster catfish. Did anyone notice that I said just this last week on FNN. That I thought my chances are good, I will catch a Monster catfish this year. That didn't take long did it, because I've changed to Monster catfish bait! I knew all along what a Monster catfish bait is, "I just didn't fish it, because it would cut into my catch rate badly!" It's the same old story, "do you want quantity over quality." I chose quantity before, now I switched!

In some way's this crappy trout season made it easier to fish for Monster catfish. It didn't hurt that the sturgeon club caught a 30 pound catfish the week before as a by catch to what their doing. (so I knew the Monster catfish were active)

On to the catch!

The lake went up another 100 feet since last week. So the structure that was visible last week that I was aiming at was completely under water. I knew about where it was, but it was going to take some trial and air till I found it again. My friend Linus (the great pumpkin believer) came by and talked to me about how crappy the trout fishing was up the line. He fished with me in October at that very same spot for catfish. (I caught 40 catfish that month there and over half of them were Trophy size) He said I was 50 feet too far down. So I took his advice and moved my rod up the line 50 feet. (I got bit there on the big one) I totally came to catch a big one that day. I had my heaviest spinning rod with 30 pound braid and a 30 pound test leader and a 5/0 circle hook. Instead of fishing with a chunk of my Mackerel type bait, I used the head instead! In less then 15 minutes of soak time, he was on like Donkey Kong! I had the drag as tight as it could be and he still pulled drag. I knew he was big as soon as he hit the bait. I stroked him in like a Mad Man, too many bushes around there. Without any major issues, he came right in! Wow their he was and he was a true Monster catfish! I looked for the carts but I didn't see any! I need this thing photographed and documented by the lake, so no one will ever call me the George Santos of the Monster catfish of Irvine lake. No cart in sight, but I already had a plan on what to do if that happened. I was to call my fishing buddy Racer X with a 911 urgency, then for him to call the lake and send somebody down to document the catch. (which happened perfectly) In the mean time, I'm dumping buckets of water on the fish to keep him healthy. After a quick picture, he was safely released and swam away nicely! I haven't even gotten a picture of him yet, but Pat who's a great guy is part of the family who holds the lease on the place. Will be back next Friday from Fly fishing in the Rocky Mountains. I'll see about getting a picture from him.

p.s. If anybody doubts the story is true, call down to Irvine lake to verify the story. Other wise you will just have to take my word on the story.

Signed George Santos