THE OUTDOORS : Outdoor Notes / Pete Thomas : Lake Success Fish Kill Was Success and More

The Lake Success fish kill apparently was more successful than anyone had hoped it would be. Park Manager John Pike said Tuesday that about half of the game fish were rescued before the kill, and 268 tons of dead fish were retrieved afterward--98% of them the targeted “trash fish,” mostly carp.

“That’s a conservative estimate,” Pike said. “We didn’t weigh every truck. It might have been close to 300 tons.”

The flood-control reservoir near Porterville was re-opened for water sports this week and may receive its first replant of trout by Thanksgiving.

“We have to wait for the oxygen level to build up enough to support fish,” Pike said. “We’re getting some storms now, and that will help.”

The kill was preceded by the removal of 10,000-11,000 game fish--mostly largemouth bass--by volunteers and Department of Fish and Game personnel using electroshocking methods. Then the lake was treated with a toxic chemical containing 2.5% rotenone, a natural botanical pesticide that dissipates within a few days and generally is non-lethal to humans and wildlife.

The treatment, which Pike said was long overdue, was supported and assisted by sportsmen’s groups.

Pike estimated that the numbers game fish rescued far exceeding DFG hopes that they would be able to get only 10%. The rescued fish were put in a small holding pond and will be returned to the lake when the water level is higher.

“We hope to have a viable fishery again by Dec. 1,” Pike said.

Crews also will be putting structures in the water for habitat and to improve bass spawning areas.

Pike added that a downside of the kill was that the lake also lost forage fish, such as shad, crappie and bluegill. The DFG will attempt to replace certain numbers and species, Pike indicated.

The eighth annual Black and Blue Marlin tournament in Cabo San Lucas, put on by Bisbee’s Tackle in Newport Beach, was won by Ty Montford of La Habra, who caught a 433-pound blue marlin on the last day of competition. Second place, 342 pounds, went to Larry Hamilton of Shafter, Calif., and third, 302 pounds, to Frank Forbes of Newport Beach.

Fishing wasn’t quite as good as expected, since only 36 striped and 55 blue marlin were caught, and only 23 of them exceeded the tournament’s required minimum of 200 pounds. Still, with 113 boats competing during the Nov. 2-5 event, there were moments of excitement.

“We fished solidly for 3 days and caught just 1 blue, about a 150-pounder that we released,” Hamilton recalled as he watched the remaining boats return to the Cabo San Lucas Marlin Club on the final day of competition.

His partner Mike Hawkins concurred. “We were getting pretty discouraged, all right. There weren’t any other boats around and everyone was kind of sleeping. But when the reel started screaming and the captain started yelling . . . all of a sudden there were 20 boats in the area.”

Hamilton was first to stumble to the rod and, after a 40-minute fight had landed the tournament’s second-largest fish.

Add marlin tournaments: For the first time, the International Blue Marlin tournament sponsored by Club Nautico de San Juan in Puerto Rico used a release format.

Because of the event’s success--in its 35th year it is the world’s longest running blue marlin tournament--the release format was hailed by the International Billfish Committee, which says such conservation practices are necessary to help sustain what it believes is a declining fishery.

In 4 days of fishing, there were a record 190 blue marlin caught, including 65 in 1-day competition. A total of 153 marlin, or 80%, were released, the rest either dying before they were able to be set free, or swallowing the hook, therefore making successful release impossible.

Briefly

A piranha scare at Lake Hemet in Riverside County recently turned out to be a pacu--a popular but harmless tropical fish that’s similar in appearance to the deadly South American carnivore. The DFG’s Frank Hoover said: “The only way to tell them apart for sure is to inspect the teeth--but before you do, make sure the fish is very dead.”

Jack Dennis, a Wyoming fly fishing guide whose clientele includes former President Jimmy Carter and actors Harrison Ford and Charleton Heston, will be the guest speaker at the Sierra Pacific Flyfishers’ meeting Thursday night at the Odyssey Restaurant in Mission Hills. . . . The sixth annual Wildlife West Festival, featuring work by more than 40 of America’s finest wildlife artists--will be held Nov. 18-20 at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands.