ALL THAT BASS : At Otay Lake, Fishermen Search for Record, and Find It a Reel Fun Place

Way off to the east, Otay Mountain and a cloud cover were blocking the sun from making its first appearance of the morning.

Down in Lower Otay Lake near Harvey’s Arm, the fishermen, like the sun, were having difficulty attaining their goal; fishing along the lake was as quiet as the sunrise.

But shortly after 7, the clouds broke up, and sunshine finally begin to peak past Otay Mountain, sending a golden glow across the water.

And almost like clockwork, there was some action among the fisherman as well. Terry Thomann of San Diego had a bite on the crawfish he was using for bait.

As two friends watched, Thomann patiently battled the fish. After a couple of minutes, Thomann reeled a bass close enough to the boat to have it netted.

“It looks like about a five-pounder,” said Thomann, who as a lake veteran has plenty of experience at estimating the weight of Otay’s bass.

Otay, which is located approximately three miles north of the Mexican border just off Interstate 805, has been productive for Thomann in more ways than one. A lake employee once found a springer spaniel at the lake and gave the dog to Thomann, who named it “Otay.”

Dedicated fishermen are like this; they like to have reminders around the house of their favorite fishing holes.

Otay has long been a favorite fishing hole of Southern Californians. It normally yields more than 100 bass in excess of nine pounds annually, enough to make any bass fisherman eager to fish its waters.

Numerous veteran fishermen such as Thomann make Otay a three-day-a-week habit from mid-January through mid-October. The lake is open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in season, and it offers duck hunting after fishing season ends.

But there’s more to Otay than merely a fishing reputation. It also offers a serene atmosphere for those who want to escape urbanity.

Otay, which is surrounded by rock-strewn slopes, is as country as, well, Blackhawk, Miss.

Near the shores of the lake, dead cottonwood stickups protrude from the surface. There is plenty of shoreline for fishermen without boats, providing flat areas in some places and brush-filled areas in others.

And one of the nicest things about the lake is that no homes are in sight from most shoreline areas.

“The atmosphere here is real relaxing,” said Tom Kennedy, executive director of the Vietnam Veterans of San Diego. “I have kind of a stressful job. One of the reasons I come here is because it’s so peaceful. Whether I catch anything doesn’t really matter. Of course, it’s nice if you do catch something.”

By 5 a.m. on any given fishing day, fishermen will begin lining up their boats on the road to Otay. The lake doesn’t open until about an hour after dawn, but fishermen have their ways of passing time.

Some merely sit in their trucks and read. Others stand around and tell fish stories to each other.

Otay is at its best on opening day, which brings out the regulars as well as the once-a-year enthusiasts. Bill Foster, lake ranger, has witnessed boat owners lined up for blocks to fish on opening day.

“I’ve never turned anyone away,” Foster said. “People have turned around on their own. We have run out of parking and people have had to park on the road.”

“The lines here can get ridiculous,” said Joseph Stonaker, a helicopter mechanic from La Mesa. “It’s the best bass lake in the world. It’s worth the wait.”

On a recent Sunday morning, the wait wasn’t nearly as bad as on opening day. However, the most dedicated fishermen were still there at 5 a.m. waiting to launch their boats.

When the lake opens, boat launchers become extremely busy. One-by-one lake employees escort fishermen onto the water, knowing some will return happy and others will have their proverbial stories about the ones that got away.

Though Otay also has catfish, crappie and bluegill, the bass are the talk of the lake. Numerous fishing publications have regarded Otay as one of America’s best bass fishing lakes.

No wonder fishermen from throughout Southern California enjoy calling Otay their weekend home.

“Every time I come here, I’m happy with what I catch,” said Hank Knizel of Los Angeles, who owns an automobile center. “I catch my limit here every time. I even have a 10-pounder mounted at home that I caught here.”

Al Marks, a Lemon Grove plumber, said his luck hasn’t been so good at Otay. But a little talk from a friend encouraged Marks to give Otay another try.

“My friend puts his boat in the water here and has good luck,” Marks said. “I like San Vicente or El Capitan better. This lake has a better reputation. I guess it’s because of the size of the bass that come out of here.”

Bob Eberty caught the Otay lake-record bass of 18-pounds, 12-ounces in 1981 in Otay Arm on the lake’s northwest corner.

Some Otay regulars, such as Mike Gardner of Chula Vista, think there are bigger bass to be landed.

“One of these days, I figure someone is going to catch a 34 or 35-inch bass here,” he said. “It’ll probably weigh about 21 pounds. I hope I catch it.”

Rob Norgaard, an operating engineer from Spring Valley, has caught his share of Otay’s bass. Norgaard said he has made about 25 trips to Otay and caught his limit of five bass once.

The lake’s reputation, and the prospect of catching that elusive 20-pounder, keeps people such as Norgaard coming back.

“I think there’s some big fish in here,” he said. “Even if you catch smaller fish, they are good game fish. They jump out of the water when you catch them.”

Albeit most Otay fishermen are lake veterans, its reputation also attracts new fishermen. Randy Merrill and Gary Bareis of Lakeside, both veterans of other lakes, made their first excursion to Otay on a recent Sunday.

“They do a lot of bragging about this lake,” Bareis said. “My dad comes here often and does real well. I’ve seen some good bass come out of here.”

Otay opened Jan. 22 this year, and in the first week 1,582 fishermen caught 1,702 bass, which obviously doesn’t count the number of bass thrown back. The lake does not have a size limit.

Jim Brown, manager of the San Diego City Lakes, said it is excellent whenever fishermen average more than one bass.

Attendance has been down somewhat early this season. Otay had 1,000 fishermen on opening day in 1985 and 700 this year. Jaime Cervenka, assistant reservoir keeper, said Otay averages 500 fishermen a day.

A majority of the fishermen try their luck from boats. Bass fishermen often stand in their boats and cast plugs and lures at cottonwood stickups or submerged sagebrush, reputed to be areas where bass hide.

Shore fishermen are not as abundant and are scattered around the lake. Some hike through brush to their fishing holes, others merely park their cars and walk down a small cliff.

According to Cervenka, shore fishermen inadvertently may know the secret of the lake this early in the season.

“The water temperature is up nine degrees from last year,” she said. “The bass are up around the shore rather than staying deep. When it’s cold, they tend to go to deeper water.”

Mike Hubbard, an automobile mechanic from Chula Vista, recalled the time a bass took some fishing line to much deeper water.

“Last season, I was in a boat in the cove with a friend and his cousin,” Hubbard said. “His cousin was using a little pole with a little hook for bluegill. We had to pull the anchor and chase the fish out when he hooked it. I finally had to pull the bass out of the water by its mouth. It was a 10-pound bass.”

As with virtually all fishermen, there were also stories about ones that got away.

“One time, I was using a Zebco reel and got a fish in Harvey’s Arm,” Stonaker said. “The fish pulled the spool right off the reel. I never even saw the fish. It had to be an 18- or 19-pounder. That’s what I get for using a stupid little reel.”

Some Otay visitors simply enjoy the scenery. Meredith Crooks of Inglewood sat outside a motor home reading a book as her husband and a friend fished.

Though Crooks does not fish, she had the ultimate fish story.

“My husband and his friend had a four-pounder and three-pounder,” she said. “My son was showing them off and he lost the fish. We were looking forward to having fish for dinner, but we had to go to the store and buy steaks.”