Where the trout not only bite, they fight

Chris Edwards first flung a baited hook into Irvine Lake 35 years ago.

These days the gray-haired, semi-retired machinist visits the Silverado reservoir at least twice a week during trout season.

He cannot count the number of rainbows that have danced at the end of his line, there have been so many.

But on this gray, still morning Edwards can easily tally the number of brook trout he has caught.

One.

It’s impressive, though, a 5-pounder fooled by a glob of Gulp and landed at 7:15.

“It fought hard too,” the Tustin resident says as he pulls from the water a wire basket also stuffed with four large rainbows. “It ran my line out two or three times.”

And so it goes along the popular west shore of a lake named after the pioneering Irvine family but located 10 miles east of Orange at the base of the Cleveland National Forest.

Another trout-fishing season is underway. Some are catching them while others are not. And the fortunate few are reeling in prized brookies, browns or steelhead.

These “exotics,” says assistant manager Jimmy Getty, help separate Irvine Lake from other privately run Southland fisheries, which, similarly, do not require a fishing license but charge about $20 for admission.

Their concessionaires stock thousands of pounds of trout each week, and some, such as Santa Ana River Lakes and Corona Lake, boast rainbows in excess of 20 pounds.

“But those fish don’t even fight,” Dennis Carlson, an Irvine Lake regular, says of the obese lunkers that inhabit SARL and Corona. “I once netted a 22-pounder my friend caught, and he had it to shore in only 30 seconds.”

Those triploid rainbows -- hatched from eggs manipulated to produce fish with an extra set of chromosomes -- are grown at Mt. Lassen Fish Farms beneath the Northern California peak.

Several lakes stock Mt. Lassen fish, but the largest are reserved for SARL and Corona. And for anglers faithful to those waters, size definitely matters.

Most of Irvine Lake’s trout -- next week’s delivery will include rainbows to about 20 pounds -- are raised at Calaveras Trout Farm on the Merced River near Yosemite National Park.

Getty says 90% of the catch are 1- to 4-pound rainbows, but the exotics and larger rainbows provide at least a chance to hook something unusual.

The lake-record brown is a 12 1/2 -pounder caught on an inflated night crawler from the west shore, which also yielded a 10-pound 10-ounce steelhead. Brook trout have weighed to about 8 pounds.

But size does not matter as much at Irvine Lake, and the prospect of catching exotics, with their brilliant markings, is only part of the allure.

“This is close to the city, but you feel like you’re in the outdoors,” explains Carlson, a Fullerton angler, pointing to where he has seen deer emerge to sip from the lake.

Getty claims to have spotted bobcats and mountain lions.

On this morning, great blue herons stalk the shoreline with enviable patience. A turkey vulture rests on a bank. Songbirds dart about the treetops.

Fishing is slow, but Carlson assures the bite can turn on as if by a switch. “And when it’s on, me and my buddies usually catch more than anyone else,” he adds.

Little does he know that just down the shore sits Edwards and his basket full of trout, clearly having flipped the imaginary switch to “off” the moment he filled his limit.

A seminar will be held at Irvine Lake on Saturday from 8-10 a.m. Marlon Meade and lake staff will demonstrate tactics. Free with $20 paid admission, $10 for those not fishing afterward. Details: (714) 649-9111.

Old man and the marlin

Chuck Feller of Bend, Ore., waited a long time to catch his first marlin -- perhaps longer than anyone.

Feller is 97, but age did not prevent him from traveling to Rancho Leonero Resort in Baja California Sur and landing, unassisted, a feisty striped marlin.

The next day he caught two tuna and lost a battle with a sailfish. Feller accompanied Linda and Frank Storch, his daughter and son-in-law.

More marlin mania

Though anglers aboard the Polaris Supreme are still finding marlin outside of Baja’s Magdalena Bay, Nov. 2 may go down as the best-ever marlin bite aboard a long-range party boat.

Twenty-two anglers caught and released more than 220 marlin. John Hardemion accounted for 24. Chartermaster Larry Brown said that after a while “guys were cursing them because we were trying to catch the wahoo and big dorado.”

(Note: This week the focus shifted to tuna and on Tuesday the Polaris Supreme logged the season’s first 300-pounder.)

Whale of a time

The ACS/LA Gray Whale Census Project, which coincides with the annual whale migration, begins Dec. 1 at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Volunteer spotters are needed, especially weekday mornings. An orientation is scheduled Sunday from 10 to noon. Details: (310) 519-8963.

Yosemite flashback

A photo exhibit entitled “Yosemite in the Sixties: Climbing Life through the Lens of Glen Denny” will remain at the park’s Museum Gallery through Jan. 27.

Denny meant to work in the tradition of Ansel Adams but became fascinated by the climbers and social scene at Camp 4. Featured are 83 images captured from 1961 to 1971.

pete.thomas@latimes.com