OUTDOOR NOTES : Tuna Give Anglers Fight to Remember

Looking for the fight of a lifetime?

Try fishing the waters south of San Diego, where large schools of bigeye tuna have joined smaller yellowfin already there to give fishermen all they can handle.

Buzz Brizendine took a group of first-time anglers out for a seminar aboard the Prowler on Sunday. The students learned to fish by catching--or trying to catch--some of the ocean’s strongest swimmers.

Brizendine’s description?

“Chaos.”

“We had people that caught their very first fish ever . . . on that day,” he said. “So here was a guy that’s never even caught a bluegill, and catches a 50- or 60-pound bigeye for his first time.”

His passengers managed to land 66 bigeye averaging about 60 pounds and weighing as much 115.

Those aboard the Spirit of Adventure already knew how to fish. They caught 264 bigeye and 208 yellowfin on the first of a five-day excursion that began Monday. The vessel will remain in the same area as the overnight fleet--75 miles south-southeast of Point Loma--for the rest of its trip.

Ed McEwen of the Pacific Queen described the numbers of fish in the area as “absolute tonnage” and told of one customer fighting a bigeye for 7 1/2 hours on a rented rod and 25-pound-test line.

“When he finally got the fish to the surface it took off,” McEwen said. “It broke the pole, broke the line. What a heartbreaker.”

Meanwhile, fishing for yellowfin tuna just keeps getting better, though the fish are small, averaging between eight and 12 pounds. On Monday, 364 anglers accounted for 1,490 yellowfin.

Said Brizendine: “There’s a lot of fish in the area right now, and conditions are excellent, so there’s no reason for them to leave.”

Are the beliefs and actions of animal rights activists approved by the general public?

No, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Of those surveyed, 22% supported anti-hunting efforts of animal rights advocates; nearly 77% were opposed.

The strategy of entering the field to harass hunters and disrupt a hunt received 91% disapproval, and a ban on medical research involving animals was opposed by 63%.

Almost 60% of those surveyed did approve of one of the activists’ goals: Regulating the treatment of farm animals, which are often too confined.

The poll, taken for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, was based on 1,000 random telephone surveys.

The plight of pups will do wonders for a cause.

Montana is trying to restore its wolf population and offers of food are pouring in from Montanans moved by the plight of six orphaned pups. But officials say the 4 1/2-month-old animals are making do with some help from the government.

The animals, protected by the Endangered Species Act, are part of a federal program to establish 10 breeding pairs of wolves in Montana.

One woman wanted to donate venison steaks from her freezer. Another had some chickens. A man offered to set up a guard station to protect the pups in the Ninemile Valley west of Missoula.

Instead, the pups are living on road-killed animals and surplus venison officials are providing.

The pups’ mother was illegally shot to death last summer. The father fed and protected them until he was hit by a car on a Montana highway two weeks ago.

They will be released back into the wild this winter.

Briefly

TOURNAMENT--Bob Fletcher, president of the Sportfishing Assn. of California, said there are still openings for the San Diego Oceans Foundation/SAC Shoot-Out Oct. 2-3, which will raise money to help pay medical expenses of Bill Nott, who is suffering from a respiratory illness. Nott organized and lobbied for interests of Southern California sportfishing industry for 17 years while he was president of SAC. Three of five boats are full and prospective participants--either four-man teams or those interested in helping to form a team--should call Helgren’s Sportfishing in Oceanside or H & M Landing in San Diego. Cost is $350, which includes food, bunk and Mexican licenses. The person catching the biggest fish wins a 16-day trip on Royal Polaris or Polaris Supreme. Members of the winning team will get a three-day trip aboard the Searcher next summer and those finishing second win a one-day trip aboard the Cherokee Geisha.

BAJA FISHING--Marlin fishing remains slow in Cabo San Lucas, where sailfish, dorado and yellowfin tuna are providing most of the action. The yellowfin are averaging between 20 and 50 pounds, the dorado coming in anywhere from 10 to 60. At the East Cape, blue marlin are showing more regularly. David Alfon, 9, of Los Angeles, caught a 247-pound blue marlin and a 70-pound sailfish. Sailfish, dorado and yellowfin comprise the bulk of the catch.

FREE FISHING--The Department of Fish and Game’s Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve will be the site of a beginners fishing “extravaganza” celebrating California’s free fishing day on Saturday. The basics of fishing, knot tying, hook-baiting and casting will be demonstrated. Saturday is the second of two days the state sets aside to generate interest in the sport by giving people a chance to participate without buying a license.