OUTDOOR NOTES : Sometimes, Little Guys Can Catch the Big Ones

There are those who take all the right steps to maximize their chances of catching the really big fish, using high-tech boats and tackle specifically designed for the task.

Then there are others who take the simple approach and are happy with what they get.

Mike Leese is one of the latter, and the Saugus resident couldn’t have been more delighted with his catch Sunday of a 20-pound 3-ounce brown trout at Grant Lake on the Eastern Sierra’s June Loop.

Leese won’t qualify for the brownbaggers club--entry to which requires two fish at 10 pounds or better--but he can take pride that he doubled their weight requirements with a single fish, one--get this, brownbaggers--he caught from shore on four-pound test line, using processed cheese for bait.

“Oh my God, another bizarre case,” exclaimed Bridgeport’s Rick Rockel, a California Trout representative. “It’s funny, every time we tell people that big brown trout are generally not caught on salmon eggs or cheese baits, then--bam! Something happens like that.”

Leese, 32, who has been fishing the Eastern Sierra with his father almost every year since he was 9, said he had no trouble catching his limit before Sunday and was satisfied with the one-pound trout he was bringing in.

“That’s why I took the light rod up there,” he said. “Maybe if I can get a 3 1/2-pounder, you know--that’s exciting. But this is phenomenal.”

His 33 1/4-inch brown trout, taken after a 30-minute fight that included a sea gull flying into his line, is shy of the state-record 26-pound 8-ounce brown pulled from Bridgeport’s upper Twin Lake in 1987, but it’s the biggest to come from the June Loop in 17 years, when a 21-pound 12-ounce fish was caught in nearby Gull Lake.

“People fish in boats and use fish finders and charts specifically fishing for big fish,” said Elayne Logue, who for the past 17 years has run Ernie’s Bait & Tackle on the June Loop. “And they’ve charted them and seen them on their fish finders, (fish) even bigger than this one.”

Then someone like Mike Leese comes along and catches one.

Costa Rica, labeled by many as the sailfish capital of the world, lived up to its billing earlier this month during the 13th annual International Sailfish tournament, when 120 anglers from 13 countries caught and released 1,691 of the billfish in four days--an average of 3.52 per day per angler.

The total more than doubled the tournament’s previous record. Ray Lussa of San Diego won with 33, and Bob Hampton of Anaheim placed fourth with 30.

There were 45 three-man teams fishing out of the Flamingo Beach Marina on the west coast. All used 20-pound test line. In addition to the catches, about 1,200 fish reportedly broke off.

The sailfish averaged an estimated 100 pounds, and Hampton lost one he said was closer to 175. Most of the fish were caught 2 1/2 hours south of the marina, near Guanamar. Hampton fished from his own charter boat, War Eagle, with Stan Duncan of Anaheim as skipper.

Briefly

BAJA FISHING--Marlin fishing is rated fair off Cabo San Lucas, where hotel boats are reporting an average of about one marlin per person per day. The action is better at the East Cape, where Ron Tekes and his party caught 12 marlin to go with some wahoo, tuna, dorado and roosterfish. Tekes said the marlin were caught in the blue water in front of Hotel Punta Colorada. Farther north, in the La Paz area, dorado and wahoo make up the bulk of the offshore catches, while roosterfish and large pargo are active in the shallows. George Uzzo of Torrance, fishing out of Las Arenas Hotel south of La Paz, took a 45-pound dorado. His parter, Ernie Zumer, caught a 35-pound wahoo. . . . San Diego boats on medium-range trips off the Baja Coast are returning with sacks full of rockfish and a few yellowtail.

Instruction: Eagle Claw Saltwater Fishing School, June 5 for 2 1/2 days aboard the Berkley Big Game out of San Diego, in search of ling cod, calico bass and yellowtail. Space limited to 23 anglers. Cost is $350, which includes food, bunk and Mexican license. Information: (714) 840-6555.

HONORED--Bill Jennings of Stockton, who has led the fight to save the Mokelumne River and its historic runs of king salmon and steelhead from industrial destruction, has been honored as Outdoors Californian of the Year by the Outdoors Writers Assn. of California. Jennings, 47, received the award at the association’s annual meeting at South Lake Tahoe. By 1989, the Mokelumne’s salmon run had dwindled to 200 fish--less than one-half of 1% of its historic levels, a decline attributed to pollution and reduced flows caused by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Since ‘87, after state agencies were unsuccessful or unwilling to challenge East Bay MUD, Jennings, not a lawyer, has worked virtually full time to prepare legal documents to bring the company to court. Through Jennings’ efforts, criminal charges have been filed against East Bay MUD. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency have joined the fight.

MISCELLANY--The International Game Fish Assn. is accepting world-record applications for fly rod catches made on 20-pound tippets in fresh and saltwater categories. Other tippet classes accepted for record consideration are two- through 16-pound. The IGFA announced that it approved 393 world-record catches in 1990, of which 77 were in the all-tackle category--the heaviest catch of a species. . . . Tom Miller, whose Baja books detail the peninsula’s offshoots, its towns and hotels, and his wife, Carol Hoffman, completed a similar book after eight months of travel research along Mexico’s west coast. The 432-page book, geared to the English-speaking traveler on the Mexican highways and pinpointing beaches, camping areas, restaurants, hotels and gas stations from the Arizona border to the Guatemala border, is available for $24.95 plus tax through Baja Trail Publications, P.O. Box 6088, Huntington Beach 92615. Phone: (714) 969-2252. . . . Travel USA is the theme of the annual Western RV Show & Sale May 29-June 2 at the Long Beach Convention Center, featuring campers, trailers and motorhomes and accessories.