Harbored Feelings : Guide Gardner Has Become an Expert on Fishing Near the Southland’s Many Offshore Structures

It’s not that Mike Gardner is stubborn, it’s simply that he refuses to leave the harbor.

You might come across him one of these days if you find yourself aboard a boat passing through the Los Angeles Harbor basin on your way to the fishing grounds. Gardner will be the big man in the little red and white boat, hugging a jetty or drifting along a concrete wall.

He might wave as you glide on past, but he won’t follow in your wake. Chances are very good, however, that he will do better than you will.

Gardner, 52, is a former bass fishing professional who years ago brought his methods to the harbors of the Southland, offering the only known guide service restricted to such enclosures.

And he usually does quite well. In fact, he claims that 100-fish days are not uncommon.

“He knows those places like the back of his hand,” said Ken Oda, 36, who hires Gardner at least a dozen times a year. “As many times as I’ve gone, if I went out by myself I don’t think I could experience the same result because I don’t know the bottom or the structure as well as he does, and I probably don’t understand the relationship between location and tidal movements, the times of the year, et cetera.”

Gardner has thrown his lures in almost every nook reachable by cast in the local marinas and claims to know “every inch” of every harbor he fishes, which is all of them from Ventura to San Diego.

He will notice a line of floating debris and tell you it’s where a current meets another or indicates a change in temperature. “Usually a very good area to fish,” he will say.

He will bounce his lure off the bottom ever-so-gently and can feel the slightest tug on his line, at which point he will rear back to set the hook. After all, he will say, “fish don’t have hands.”

Gardner will teach his techniques at the Fred Hall Western Fishing Tackle & Boat Show, which begins today and runs through Sunday at the Long Beach Convention Center. Gardner will be at the Shimano Booth or giving seminars at the Bass Bin.

But it costs $225 for a day in the bay to see if Gardner can really outfish the party boats, as he says he can.

“I usually catch between 20 and 50,” Oda says. “ He usually catches 100.”

Gardner does provide one of the most unusual fishing trips available in the Southland.

Fishermen on his boat have reeled in bass while rocking in wakes of tugs pushing barges, caught halibut beneath a bridge as motorists passed overhead, or caught a ray while catching some rays. Gardner once took an 89-pound bat ray out of Newport Harbor, one of his favorite

spots.

But Long Beach Harbor has to be one of the most interesting because, as Gardner says, “It would take weeks to fish it all.”

Yet a day is enough to get a feel for what Gardner does.

The day usually begins in Alamitos Bay, where the fishing begins within minutes of meeting Gardner. Gliding slowly past pleasure craft of considerable cost, his fishermen cast between them and reel in spotted bay bass and sand bass.

On a recent trip Gardner pointed out John Wayne’s old boat, Wild Goose.

Behind it, he said, is “one of my favorite spots . . . in the afternoon.”

He then turned, flipped his small lure between two 30-foot cruisers and reeled in a 14-inch bass. “This place gets better later, too,” he said.

Outside Alamitos Bay are the oil islands. As derricks hidden by trees methodically pump oil from beneath the ocean floor, fishermen methodically pull fish from their shores.

Gardner will float past a seemingly endless series of concrete pilings supporting work yards and docks.

Staring into the eerie shade of the concrete pillars, Gardner says, “Nobody, I mean nobody, fishes in there.”

Flipping a rubber lure in as far as possible, chances are the fishermen will pull out a keeper bass.

Motoring slowly through the deep channels, Gardner stays close to the rocky coast as ferries, tugs and odd-looking craft of all sizes and shapes cruise past a stone’s throw away, the captains on board occasionally looking on while fishermen reel in more fish.

Gardner will then move on, to another section of harbor, where huge tankers fly the flags of the world and cranes tower high overhead.

“When you go with him you’re catching fish,” Oda said. “But it’s probably because he’s putting you on them.”

If you fish long enough with Gardner, you might catch a million fish. But if you get real lucky, you could reel in one worth $1 million.

All you have to do is catch a largemouth bass that weighs more than 22 pounds 4 ounces.

Sound easy?

You have to enter Bassin’ Magazine’s Big Bass World Championship Tournament. Anyone over 18 with a valid fishing license is eligible,

at a cost of $15.

Nobody has caught a bass so large since George Perry set the all-tackle record in Georgia’s Lake Montgomery in 1932.

However, people have come close in recent years, especially at Los Angeles County’s Castaic Lake, which according to the experts will produce the next world record.

And the top choice to cash in on such a fish is Bob Crupi of the Castaic police force.

Crupi, 38, missed becoming a millionaire by three-tenths of a pound last March when he pulled a 22.04-pound largemouth out of Castaic. He caught an 18.58-pound largemouth at Castaic last month and released the fish “so it could be a world-record contender for the 1993 season.”

Crupi, who has caught more than 50 largemouth bass weighing 10 pounds or more, will be teaching his techniques at the Fred Hall Show and appearing

at the A.G. Loomis Tackle Display.

Applications for the tournament will be available at the Zebco booth.

Gardner and Crupi are two of a dozen “experts” who will be sharing their fresh and saltwater fishing techniques at the Fred Hall Show, which since 1945 has become one of the best outdoor recreation shows in the western United States.

The show has grown so over the years that Hall isn’t sure what to do with it; there is barely enough room for all of the exhibits.

The fishing tackle display is the largest in the nation and outdoor enthusiasts can shop for vacations at more than 150 resort, camping and travel booths.

There will be continuous lectures and films. Children can even catch their first fish, without charge, at the popular trout pond.