OUTDOOR NOTES : Conditions Have Already Reached Their Limit at Crowley Lake
The “fine-tuning” of Crowley Lake will continue, but don’t expect fishing to get much better than it is now.
Judging from opening weekend statistics, the Eastern Sierra reservoir, perhaps the most popular trout fishery in the state, could be at or near its peak.
“We’re off to a boomer of a start, almost too good,” said Curtis Milliron, the Bishop-based biologist with the Department of Fish and Game who initiated the current management plan at Crowley. “We’ll just have to see what happens.”
What happened on opening day Saturday was limits for 86% of the fishermen, who caught an average of 1.83 fish per hour. The average catch, 4.6 fish. Average size, 13.6 inches and 1.2 pounds, or “larger than the last several years,” according to Milliron.
Sunday’s catch rate was almost as good, with fishermen averaging 1.51 fish per hour.
After successive years of poor fishing in 1987, ’88 and ‘89, Milliron and the conservation group CalTrout embarked on a fin-clipping program to monitor--through angler surveys--the fish coming out of the lake.
The DFG annually stocks Crowley with three strains of rainbow trout--Coleman, Kamloop and Eagle Lake--which seem to complement each other well. “The Colemans are a deep-bodied fish (that prefer) the middle of the lake, the portion that the Kamloops don’t,” Milliron said. “The Kamloops tend to stay near shore and are targeted mostly by shore anglers.”
The Eagle Lake-strain rainbows were first introduced to Crowley two years ago and Milliron expects them to provide excellent late-season opportunities for Crowley fishermen.
“They seem to be partitioning that resource very effectively and getting the most out of it,” he said of the mix. “We feel we have three strains that are very compatible and well on the way to producing a fishery that is right at its peak. It may not get much better.”
Trout were hit hard by fishermen over the weekend, with hundreds of thousands going from the water to the stringer, then to the dinner table after swimming the protected waters of the Eastern Sierra for six months.
But the fish weren’t the only ones under scrutiny.
The Department of Fish and Game made 4,121 contacts with fishermen on opening weekend. There were 128 violations “observed,” 71 citations issued and 57 verbal warnings given.
Sixteen citations were for fishing without license in possession; 14 for using illegal bait, gear, or for taking trout from a restricted section of the lower Owens River below Pleasant Valley Reservoir; 13 for taking trout using illegal methods such as more than one rod or by hands or net; nine for taking trout before opening day and six for possessing over limits; three for fishing during closed hours; four for using illegal bait or gear on the upper Owens; three for fishing a closed area and three for possessing undersized fish.
Ray Scott, founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, apologized for using a racial slur that offended the fishing organization’s black members.
Presidents of two black fishing clubs said they were satisfied with Scott’s apology.
“I believe the man is sincerely sorry,” Mike Gordon, president of the Original East Atlanta Bass Anglers, told the Associated Press. The Atlanta group is one of 2,000 local affiliates of the Montgomery-based BASS.
In an interview with the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph, Scott used the slur in a reference to his guest house in suburban, Pintlala. The house resembles an old Southern shanty with wooden walls and a tin roof, but has been used by visiting celebrities, including President Bush.
“It was an unfortunate mistake,” Scott said. “I acted in poor judgment. I am not a racist.”
Briefly
SALTWATER--Some yellowtail are being taken at San Diego’s Coronado Islands and off Catalina, but catches have been incidental. A small run of white seabass took place off Catalina over the weekend. However, most of the attention among the Southland fleet remains focused on bonito, barracuda and calico bass, with the latter making up most of the catch.
Cabo San Lucas: Boats are averaging about five fish a week, according to the Gaviota Fleet. Its count last week: 45 striped marlin (19 released), 37 yellowfin tuna and 24 dorado. Wahoo are scattered and catches are incidental. Daytime temperatures are in the upper 80s with water temperatures in the mid 70s.
San Jose del Cabo: The Gordo Banks and Destiladeras areas have been holding schools of mackerel and the fish that feed upon them, according to Victor Gutierrez of Victor’s Fleet at Palmilla Beach. In a fax sent to Jig Stop Tours in Dana Point, Gutierrez said Vince Sotelo and Arvaldo Martinez, both of East Los Angeles, were fighting marlin aboard their panga when another striper, freshly hooked by a fisherman in a nearby boat, tail-walked about 70 yards and landed in their boat. Neither fishermen was hurt and neither was available for comment.
East Cape: Fishing has slowed, but striped marlin averaging 135 pounds and dorado in the 30-pound range have been keeping things lively, according to reports out of Hotel SPA Buenavista. Yellowfin tuna from 15 to 80 pounds, primarily in the vicinity of Cerralvo Island, have added to the variety. A 350-pound blue marlin was caught by Bradley Binder of Sacramento. Binder was fishing out of Hotel Palmas de Cortez. Daytime temperatures: 90 degrees. Water: 78.
DAY AT THE DOCKS--The annual “celebration” of San Diego’s sportfishing fleet, the largest in the world, will be held Sunday on the waterfront landings at Harbor Drive and Scott Street. Boat rides, casting contests, fishing ponds and a fishing simulator machine are part of the festivities. A fishing tournament, with junior and adult divisions, will be held Saturday to kick off the event. Further information can be obtained by calling Fisherman’s, H&M; and Point Loma Sportfishing landings.
MISCELLANY--Shimano American Corporation will conduct a seminar on shark fishing local waters May 6 at the Balboa Pavilion in Balboa. Topics include rigging, chumming, trolling, handling of sharks, when and where to fish and conservation of the fishery. Proceeds will go to the United Anglers of Southern California. Cost is $10. Details: (714) 951-5003, ext. 248. . . .The San Diego-based Discover Baja Travel Club, offering insurance and travel information on the peninsula, announced its grand opening. The club is similar in scope to Mexico West Travel Club. Both publish monthly newsletters and offer travel benefits and discounts for members.
