MORENO VALLEY MAN BREAKS TROUT RECORD WITH 11-POUNDER CAUGHT AT DIAMOND VALLEY LAKE

One lucky Moreno Valley fisherman had a whale of a catch Saturday morning when he reeled in a record 11.3-pound rainbow trout at Diamond Valley Lake, near Hemet in southwestern Riverside County.

Shawn Luhmann, 25, was fishing from the shoreline, using PowerBait and a size-16 hook on four-pound test line when he landed the fish, about 10:30 a.m. It took him about 17 minutes to haul in the fish, he said.

“I was using a new, high-sensor rod and at first it just looked like a normal sized catch,” he said. “Once we got him in and people saw him, they came running over to take a look; they were calling him ‘Orca.’ ”

While not exactly whale-sized, the trout was about double the average size of trout caught at the lake, and large enough to break the lake’s previous record trout, which weighed 10.8 pounds, according to marina officials.

The Southland’s premier freshwater fishing spot, Diamond Valley Lake also serves as the region’s largest reservoir of untreated drinking water. Built by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and dedicated in March 2000, the lake helps provide the Southland’s 18 million people with a reliable water supply on a daily basis. It also helps provide the region with a six-month emergency supply.

Since opening to fishing and boating in October 2003, the lake has offered trophy-sized fish including smallmouth and largemouth bass, northern and southeastern bluegill, red-ear sunfish, catfish and rainbow trout.

Luhmann, a regular visitor to the lake, said he and his three fishing companions landed 19 other fish Saturday. And while he was looking forward to eating the rest, he had no plans to grill his largest catch. That was being saved for a trophy, he said.