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OUTDOOR NOTES / PETE THOMAS : Amid the Success, Not Even Albacore Are Exciting Anymore

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Yellowfin tuna have been keeping fishermen so busy south of the border, news of albacore in their midst barely made a splash at the San Diego sportfishing landings.

The first two albacore of the season, a 44-pounder and a 41-pounder, were landed Saturday, both aboard the Pacific Dawn out of Fisherman’s Landing.

In past years, this would have generated excitement. Now, however, fishing couldn’t get much better, with the daily yellowfin counts in the thousands and a waiting list to get on the boats. And albacore, which migrate across the Pacific Ocean, have been so scarce in recent years that many skippers are not optimistic the fishery will rebound or even survive the constant pressure placed upon it by foreign driftnet vessels.

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Said John Shull of the Pacific Dawn: “I don’t want to start a stampede over nothing.”

The thresher shark, a species that has been nearly wiped out by the gill-net fishery, is a rare sight these days. The hammerhead, which typically lives in warmer waters to the south, is even more of a rarity locally.

But in two days last week, Redondo Beach residents Scott McLain and Dom Demarse, fishing off the west end of Santa Catalina Island aboard the Nifty, caught both.

McLain, 43, hooked into the thresher last Wednesday evening, and 1 1/2 hours later he boated the 170-pound shark. The next day, Demarse went into action against a bigger and more powerful hammerhead, which fought stubbornly for more than two hours and straightened out the hook of the gaff before being shot with a rifle, lassoed with a rope and cinched up onto the boat.

The hammerhead tipped the scale at Quality Seafood in Redondo Beach at 210 pounds.

“We were just trying to get any shark,” McLain said, adding that both sharks were cut into steaks.

Add rare catch: Southern California’s Frankie Braddy might have put an end to the mysterious “gator” sightings in Arizona’s Lake Havasu. Braddy last week caught a 26-inch caiman, a relative of the alligator, which is believed to be the same specimen missing from the aquarium of a nearby resident.

“We were fishing for catfish, and I saw this thing in the water,” Braddy told the Arizona Game & Fish Department, which verified his catch. “Well, you know how frogs look with their eyes out of the water, but this was much bigger. I got closer, saw it was an alligator, and it went swoosh through the water and hid under some brush at the shoreline.”

Braddy enticed the caiman with a large shrimp on a hook. “He snapped it up like a frog taking a fly,” Braddy said.

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Mammoth Lakes’ water problems notwithstanding, fishermen and environmentalists want a full Environmental Impact Report before the U.S. Forest Service drills four wells in the Dry Creek area near the Big Springs headwaters of the Owens River.

Tom Heller, district lands officer for the USFS, explained why he thought the service’s Environmental Assessment was sufficient: “We didn’t feel we’d come up with any further information, short of drilling monitoring wells at (various) points. We didn’t feel there was enough impact to justify that kind of hydrological investigation.”

Heller said that of 42 public comments received, eight favored the project. Opponents said the other comments represented “thousands” of people, either as petitions or statements from organizations. But Heller said those still count as only one comment each.

Also, he said, the USFS received no comments from the Sierra Club or the environmental consulting firm, Hazelton Associates, which opponents said were forwarded. A decision whether to proceed is expected “within a couple of weeks,” Heller said.

Briefly

BAJA FISHING--Cabo San Lucas: Blue marlin and sailfish showing daily, the blues averaging 200 to 240 pounds and the sailfish about 60. Wahoo, yellowfin tuna and dorado are fair. East Cape: Dorado plentiful. In one week the Hotel SPA Buenavista fleet reported 265 dolphinfish weighing between 15 and 60 pounds. The same report included 35 tuna, 34 blue marlin and 15 sailfish. La Paz: Dorado very active in bay.

FLY FISHING--Fly tying classes at the East Fork Fly Fishing Store in Irvine will feature Bob Moyer for beginners and intermediates Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (cost: $50, including lunch) and two classes by Alec Jackson of Washington State on steelhead flies Sept. 12 and 13, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. ($50, limit six students). Details: (714) 724-8840.

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TOURNAMENTS--The final Castaic Lake night bass fishing tournament of the year will be Saturday at the Los Angeles County reservoir; dinner at 5 p.m., sign-ups from 5:30 to 7:30, boat inspection and launching at 7:30. Entry fee is $100 per team, with options. A catfish derby will be held in conjunction with the bass event. For details, call Ron Cervenka at (805) 297-2299. . . .The annual night tournament at Puddingstone Reservoir was won by John Bures of La Puente and Mike Holmes of Ontario, whose 15.10 pounds of bass and largest fish of 7.15 pounds were worth $900 and $600, respectively.

CONSERVATION--The Los Angeles Chapter of Quail Unlimited will hold a seminar on upland game, which will include workshops on quail and turkey calling, Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. in Room 625 of the Izaak Walton League Clubhouse in San Pedro. Details: (213) 755-6944.

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