OUTDOOR NOTES : For East Walker River, Setback, No Comeback

The sad scenario of the East Walker River continues. This was the year the former trophy trout fly fishery was supposed to come back from the silting disaster of September, 1988, when so much water was released from Bridgeport Reservoir that the fishery was destroyed.

The opening of the 1990 Eastern Sierra trout season was promising, but this year, despite restocking with fingerlings and sub-catchables in 1989, catches declined again.

John Deinstadt, the California Department of Fish and Game’s wild trout stream specialist, said: “I told people the East Walker would be a good bet early in the season before the water got low, but it didn’t happen. For the first time, old-timers fishing the opener didn’t see a fish in the stream. It’s a setback for us because we don’t have an answer as to why the fish aren’t there.”

He suspects there is still too much silt. “We need some flushing flows to clean out the stream,” Deinstadt said.

Rick Rockel, the East Walker streamkeeper for CalTrout, a private conservation lobby, is convinced there is too much silt not only for spawning but the reproduction of insects--there’s not enough for fish to eat--and that flushing isn’t the answer.

The Nevada farmers--i.e., the Walker River Irrigation District--who own the water have lost every round in court and were ordered last year to vacuum out the silt, but haven’t complied. Apparently, they’re hung up on who’s going to oversee the operation--an environmental consultant hired by the farmers or the one originally hired by the DFG.

The three miles below the dam at Bridgeport are most affected. Rockel says there is still decent fishing farther down by the state line. But he is most concerned that the silt be removed and new spawning gravel added before the fall spawn starts.

“Before you can have a good fishery, you have to have a good habitat,” he said.

Sportfishing Assn. of California President Bob Fletcher is in Mexico City for yet another set of meetings with fisheries personnel to try to resolve the issue regarding recently imposed catch limits that threaten to strangle San Diego’s $30-million a year sportfishing operation.

Fletcher, on his fourth visit to Mexico since new sportfishing regulations were announced last March, said after 4 1/2 hours of talks on Tuesday that he has “no results to report” but that more meetings are scheduled for today.

The Mexican government has been under pressure from both sides of the border since former secretary Maria de Los Angeles Moreno Uriagas announced changes in the regulations, notably restricting the take of tuna to two per person per day and no more than six per person on trips lasting three days or longer.

Moreno has since been replaced by Guillermo Jiminez Morales, who has given much of his attention to the issue.

“I think that we’re pretty close right now,” Fletcher said, without divulging details of the meeting. “They reiterated that they believe that we can still reach an agreement that will be acceptable to all parties involved.”

Briefly

BAJA FISHING--Best reports are from the East Cape and La Paz areas of the Sea of Cortez. Chuy Valdez of the Hotel SPA Buenavista in the East Cape said the striped marlin bite is “wide open,” adding that the fleet recorded 52 stripers last weekend. The stripers are unusually large, many in the 200-pound range and one weighed 234 pounds. Sailfish, wahoo and large dorado are also in the area. Near La Paz, giant pargo have become extremely active, according to Mario Coppola of Hotel Los Arcos. The brightly-colored and powerful fish, which have been seen “rolling on the surface” off the beach near Cerralvo Island, have been providing anglers with an alternative to the offshore fishing for marlin, wahoo and yellowfin tuna.

TOURNAMENTS--The Sportfishing Assn. of California’s summer derby, sponsored by Western Outdoor News and open to anglers fishing aboard commercial party boats from Santa Barbara to San Diego, begins Saturday and will run through Sept. 28. Species are divided into six categories: Barracuda and bonito; California halibut; kelp and sand bass; white seabass, yellowtail and albacore; bigeye, bluefin and yellowfin tuna; rockfish and lingcod. Fishermen catching the biggest fish each week will win a Shimano TSM reel, a Fenwick Sea Hawk rod or a value bag filled by Berkley. Anglers catching one of the 10 biggest fish in each of the six categories will win fishing trips or tackle. Those with the biggest fish at the end of the contest will have a fish-off for five grand prizes. Entry fee: $2. Details available at most landings. . . .The Los Angeles Rams-Irv Pankey’s celebrity fishing tournament will be Saturday at Irvine Lake, proceeds going to the Orangewood Foundation and its fight against child abuse. Cost $75 for adults, $20 for children includes lunch, raffle and auction. Information: (714) 921-9373.

HUNTING--The Los Angeles chapter of Quail Unlimited will meet tonight, 7:30, at the Izaak Walton League clubhouse, 3701 S. Gaffey St., Building 625, in San Pedro. Speakers will be Western Region Director Dick Haldeman and state habitat coordinator Bob McCracken.

WHITEWATER RAFTING--The fourth annual Whitewater Wednesday Rafting Jubilee is scheduled June 19 at Kernville on the Kern River. Starting at 9 a.m., commercial rafting companies will run one-hour trips for only $15 per person, including lunch at the finish. Minimum age: 8. Details: (619) 376-2629.

MISCELLANY--Florida’s Jim Gray is believed to be the first to catch a Pacific blue marlin on a fly under International Game Fish Assn. rules. If Gray’s catch of a 203-pound 3-ounce blue marlin is approved, it will go into the books as a record in the 16-pound tippet class. . . . Martine Collett, who runs the Wildlife Waystation near San Fernando for injured and displaced wild animals, is among 25 people and groups receiving the 1991 Chevron Conservation Awards. Others in California: Explorer Post 220 of Van Nuys, which installed Braille trailposts along nature trails of the Angeles National Forest; Dr. Charles R. Goldman of UC Davis, a water resources expert who developed strategies to protect Lake Tahoe and Lake Geneva; Jo Smith of Sacramento, co-founder of the Effie Yeaw Nature Center and the American River Natural History Assn., and Iylene Weiss of Venice, who led a grassroots campaign to restore Ballona Creek.