THE OUTDOORS : Outdoor Notes / Rich Roberts : Scheduled 10-Day Fishing Trip Ends Early--Too Many Fish

The 25 anglers aboard the Qualifier 105 out of Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego had their scheduled 10-day trip to Clarion Island cut short for the best of all reasons last week. They caught too many fish.

After only 3 1/2 days of fishing, the boat’s 21-ton hold was full. The catch included the first giant yellowfin of the year.

Altogether, 311 yellowfin were caught, the average weight 130 pounds. Five were more than 200 pounds, the largest a 268-pounder.

“There were lots of fish over 300 pounds,” skipper John Grabowski said. “We had a few of them hooked and nearly landed but they broke off.”

The rest of the count included 140 wahoo, 261 dorado, 41 sargo, 17 grouper and some amberjack.

“We were originally scheduled for a 10-day trip and would have fished Alijos Rocks, but at the last minute decided to give (Clarion) a try,” Grabowski said. “If the fish aren’t there, we go home empty because we used the extra time to get down there.”

There have been a few boats fishing at Clarion this year, but this was the first good catch reported this year.

“It was as good as I’ve seen down there,” Grabowski said.

The boat returned to the area this week, with John Klein skippering, and reported three-quarters of a ton of yellowfin the first night, with three nights remaining.

This hunting horror story was reported by United Press International from Sitka, Alaska:

A 700-pound grizzly bear that killed a hunter and devoured part of the body was felled the next day by the rifles of a search party, state officials said.

The 6-man party from Sitka and Port Alexander found the mature bear with its partly devoured kill Saturday. The animal charged and was shot dead, said Rollin Young, an Alaska Fish and Wildlife Protection officer.

“He was shot with six different rifles,” Young said. “He was killed 15 feet from the group.”

Harley Sievenpiper Jr., 40, of Juneau, was attacked Friday after he split off from two hunting companions on Baranof Island in southeast Alaska. Young said Sievenpiper may have inadvertently attracted the bear by using a deer whistle.

“It’s a small whistle type thing that imitates a fawn in distress,” Young said. “He did have one. Bears have been known to respond to that sound.”

The bear had dragged the body a mile, Young said.

Young said Sievenpiper’s rifle was found, still loaded, with the safety on.

“He wasn’t able to get a shot off,” Young said.

Briefly

The Big Bear Municipal Water District has scheduled a dedication of its rehabilitated dam Monday at 11 a.m. at the northwest corner of the dam on California 18. Completion of $4.58 million in repairs close enough to the Oct. 31 deadline set by the state Division of Dam Safety means that Southern California’s only high mountain Alpine lake won’t have to be drained.

Nguyen Van Niem, 59, of Westminster, was apprehended after a month-long surveillance by the DFG for illegal gill-netting on Upper Newport Bay in Orange County. DFG warden Marty Maytorena said he arrested Nguyen, a licensed commercial fisherman, after discovering 201 fish nets and 2 gill nets stored below a false deck in Nguyen’s 12-foot aluminum skiff. Nguyen faces charges on 12 counts.

The first phase of the Southern California waterfowl hunting season will close at sunset today. Goose hunting will remain open at the DFG’s Imperial Wildlife Area. Some early hunter success indicates the start of the goose migration along the Pacific Flyway, according to IWA Manager Cris Gonzales. Duck and goose hunting will resume in Southern California Dec. 7.

Special appearances: Author and flycasting champion Bernard (Lefty) Kreh at the Sespe Fly Fishers’ meeting Nov. 18 at Ottavio’s Banquet Hall, 340 Mobil Ave. in Camarillo. Dinner, at 6 p.m., is $25. Phone (805) 659-1254. . . . Wyoming’s Jack Dennis, fishing guide to the celebrities, at the Valley Angling Club dinner meeting Nov. 17, at the Odyssey Restaurant, 15600 Midwood Dr., Mission Hills, 6:30 p.m. . . . New Zealand fishing guide Tony Hayes, with slides and a talk, at Marriott’s Fly Fishing Center, Magnolia and Orangethorpe in Fullerton, Nov. 18, 6 p.m. Informal discussions at 1 p.m.