DFG Sets Its Sights on Camp Pendleton

The California Department of Fish and Game is about to take on the U.S. Marine Corps.

The DFG, under mandate from Prop. 132, which California voters approved in 1990, is considering Camp Pendleton for one of four ecological preserves it must establish this year for fisheries management research.

All human activity except the research would be prohibited in the preserves, but Camp Pendleton officials say the area proposed along four miles of beach on the base would interrupt training.

Camp Pendleton is the only Southern California site among six being considered for the four preserves. Rob Collins, a DFG senior marine biologist, says it’s the only one in the region with a sandy beach, and halibut are believed to live offshore.

Col. Clifford Myers, a community planning and liaison officer at Camp Pendleton, said all 17 miles of coastline on the base are used in training troops.

The issue will be discussed during a meeting at 7 tonight at the Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro.

Despite a heavy Sierra snowpack and more expected, authorities are reluctant to declare an end to the state’s drought, but whitewater rafting outfitters are anticipating their best year in a decade.

“This is easily the best water we’ve had in the state since ‘83,” says Nate Rangel, who runs the Adventure Connection out of Coloma on the American River. “The biggest problem we’re going to have is that we have a whole new generation of guys who have never seen high water. Anybody that hasn’t been rafting in California in the last eight years hasn’t seen what we’re going to see over the next few months.”

Although George Bush likes to fish, as many photo opportunities would suggest, his environmental record as President was spotty in the eyes of critics. Will Bill Clinton be better for fishing?

“If the President-elect’s fishery conservation record in Arkansas is viewed as an indicator of national Clinton administration policy, the sportfishing industry may see some immediate positive conservation actions,” says the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Assn.

When Clinton was governor, AFTMA found, Arkansas built five public lakes, acquired two fish hatcheries and expanded public fishing access in 61 areas, among other environmental improvements.

Also, AFTMA adds, in their campaign book, Clinton and Vice President-elect Al Gore present the outline of an environmental plan to enhance recreational opportunities in general. But the AFTMA lobby is withholding further judgment until the merits of Clinton’s conservation-related appointees become clear.

Clinton should be interested in AFTMA’s three-year survey of angler demographics and attitudes, since it involves a large part of his constituency. He would learn that:

--About 62 million, or slightly less than 25% of the U.S. population, fish.

--The average angler is 31, with 37% ages 35 to 64.

--Females account for 37% of all anglers, including 33% of adult anglers.

FRESHWATER FISHING--The Santa Ana River Lakes--three small private lakes north of the junction of the 91 and 55 freeways--will open Friday at 5:30 a.m., after plants of 16,000 pounds of trout and catfish. Licenses not required. Admission: adults $11, children to age 12 $9, under 3 free. . . . Long-range saltwater expert Ralph Mikkelsen of Northridge will conduct a daylong seminar at the Fishermen’s Spot, 14423 Burbank Blvd., Van Nuys, Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. He will concentrate on how to catch big yellowfin tuna. . . . Classes at Bob Marriott’s Flyfishing Education Center in Fullerton this month include beginning fly tying, beginning fly-fishing and rod building. Details: (714) 525-1827.

MEXICAN FISHING--San Jose Del Cabo: Wahoo are the main action, hitting live mackerel in the first hour of daylight. Paul Marler, Vancouver, Canada, caught four wahoo averaging 40 pounds, while Dick Ferguson, Huntington Beach, took a 45-pound wahoo and 117-pound striped marlin. Mel and Anna Stewart, San Diego, had two wahoo, a dorado and a yellowfin. Fly-fisherman Kanduth Berstain, Edmonton, Canada, landed a 34-pound dorado and 33-pound wahoo. San Diego long-range: Capt. Jack Slater’s Red Rooster III, eight days to the Thetis Bank with 30 anglers, took a limit of 450 yellowfin, plus 25 wahoo, 86 yellowtail and 11 grouper. Largest yellowfin was 81.0 by Dawn Duckett, Bell Gardens. Largest wahoo was 66.8 by Alan Perry, Thousand Oaks.

HUNTING--Hunters at Lake Barrett near San Diego last week averaged about two ducks, mostly ruddies and ringnecks, with six limits. Hunters averaged less than a duck apiece at Otay and Sutherland.

BOATING--The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the U.S. Power Squadrons are offering boating safety and skills classes, with a small charge for test materials. Details: (800) 869-SAIL, (800) 336-BOAT and (800) SEA-SKIL. . . . Saddleback College in Mission Viejo is offering on-water classes for novice and experienced sailors starting Jan. 13. Details: (714) 582-4541.