OUTDOOR NOTES : Tragedy at Castaic Shows Fickle Nature

The presumed drownings of a Pasadena man and teen-ager whose rented fishing boat was swamped by a wave at Castaic Lake Sunday is a grim reminder of how dangerous the Los Angeles County reservoir can be.

About a million visitors use the lake--located 50 miles from Los Angeles off Interstate 5--each year, and officials say most aren’t aware of the dangerous northwest winds that sometimes come howling through the mountain passes without warning.

“We get some of the strongest winds in the state every year,” said Mike Hargett, park superintendent at the lake. “On Sunday, we had closed down for additional launching at approximately 12 o’clock. It was just one of those things. . . . When you let ‘em out, you have no way of knowing what the wind is going to do in the afternoon.”

Northwest winds picked up to between 20 and 25 m.p.h. Sunday before the launching facility was closed, with several boats already on the water.

Leo Lenore, 50, and William Bunch, 17, disappeared after a wave washed over the 14-foot aluminum boat from which they were fishing. Their bodies have yet to be found. Two other men in the boat were rescued. Divers will try to locate the bodies only to depths of 100 feet in a lake that reaches 400 feet in some areas. Hargett said it once took 3 1/2 weeks for a body to surface in the reservoir.

Despite dangerous winds, there have been only two confirmed drownings at the lake since 1987--a man who was swimming illegally and a 3-year-old boy, left unattended in a boat, who fell into the water.

But the winds have been destructive. Senior lifeguard Pete Moore said in an interview last March that lifeguards once recorded 70-m.p.h. winds at the lake and 50-m.p.h. gusts are common.

“One time in 1977, we had close to 30 boats in the launch ramp area sunk,” he said. Northwest winds blow directly into the launch ramp, making it difficult for a boat to dock without waves breaking over its transom.

Since the lake--part of the State Water Project--fluctuates 60 to 90 feet every year, construction of a permanent structure to offer more protection in the launch ramp area is not feasible, Hargett said.

Boaters who find themselves on the water during high winds should try to remain in one of the lake’s many protected coves until the wind subsides.

Otherwise, Hargett said: “Don’t run perpendicular to the wind. You need to run into it or away from it, especially in a small boat.”

With trout season winding down in the Eastern Sierra, tackle stores and Department of Fish and Game personnel have heard few complaints about the daily bag limit being reduced from 10 to five statewide this year. The possession limit probably will be altered next year, also from 10 to five.

One explanation for the anglers’ silence may be that they’re happy with the increased size of the planted fish, from an average of one-third of a pound to a half-pound. The DFG apparently came through with its end of the deal.

Briefly

HUNTING--Black bear season, approved by the Sacramento Superior Court last week, opens Saturday and runs through Dec. 30. Only 3,850 applications were received before the ruling, but the DFG will continue to accept them through the hunt and the total may approach the 1988 figure of 12,561--the last year bear hunting was allowed. The hunt will be stopped when the quota of 1,250 bears is reached. Bear tags are $18.50 and must be purchased directly from the DFG. Applications are available at regional offices. . . . The DFG’s waterfowl seminar in duck calling and dog handling at the Imperial Wildlife Area was canceled when the opening of the state’s general duck season was delayed until Oct. 27. The season opens in the Colorado River area Friday and in northeastern California Saturday. . . . Final figures aren’t in yet, but the deer season that ended on Sept. 30 in the Eastern Sierra may have been the best in years. Reports indicated more, larger and healthier deer. The X-12 zone around Bridgeport led the state with a 33% success rate last year and could go higher this year.

BAJA FISHING--Blue marlin are making their typical fall showing in the waters off Cabo San Lucas, complementing a variety of species already in the area. Most of the billfish are in the 250-pound range, but some are much larger. Already this week, three blue marlin have hit the scales weighing more than 400 pounds, according to Darrell Primrose of the Finisterra Tortuga Fleet. One black marlin was brought in at 480 pounds. Striped marlin, which had been reluctant to feed in the 90-degree water in recent weeks, have become active as well, averaging 120 pounds. Dorado fishing remains steady, with one fish taken at 73 pounds, and yellowfin tuna are showing regularly in the 15- to 30-pound range.

LOCAL FISHING--Southern California sportfishing boats continue to report scattered catches of albacore averaging about 20 pounds, taken from an area about 70 miles south of Point Loma. The National Marine Fisheries Service predicts an increase in catches if the sea surface temperature drops from between 70-72 degrees to 64-68 degrees.

FLY-FISHING--Jimmy Nix, winner of the Federation of Fly Fishers’ 1989 Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award, will speak Thursday night at 7:30 at the Pasadena Casting Club’s meeting at 3130 Huntington Drive, and Oct. 18 at the Sierra Pacific Flyfishers’ dinner at the Odyssey Restaurant in Mission Hills. . . . Instruction: Jimmy Nix, fly tying Sunday, 9 a.m., and casting, 1 p.m., at the Pasadena Casting Club. Sierra Pacific Flyfishers, flyrod construction, each Wednesday night, 7:30, for four weeks starting tonight, Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Senior Citizens Center. Charlene Hanson, basic fly tying, each Monday night, and advance fly tying, each Friday night in October at Bob Marriott’s store in Fullerton.