It’s Not the Fish Creating a Stir at Haiwee Lake

The Owens Valley Warm Water Fishing Assn.’s dispute with the L.A. Department of Water and Power over angling restrictions at Haiwee Reservoir continues.

Officially, the double reservoir along U.S. 395, south of Lone Pine, was closed until this week because of bald eagle roosting. But OVWWFA attorney Patrick Marley pointed out that bald eagles roost at a lot of other lakes that are open year-round, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the official guardian of threatened and endangered species, had no objections.

OVWWFA President Bob Hayner and his buddies kept on fishing, anyway, while the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department left it up to the DWP to enforce its own ban.

“We were trying to get (the DWP) to arrest us, but they wouldn’t,” Hayner said.

The DWP also has banned float tubes, while permitting cattle grazing and inherent “heavy deposits of fecal matter into the upstream drinking water” that serves Los Angeles residents, Marley noted.

The state Department of Health Services has told the DWP to keep the cows out. The Bureau of Land Management, on whose land the cattle graze, said it would build watering troughs. Now all it has to do is train the cows to use them.

Through all this, the DWP maintains its intent to permit “recreation uses” at Haiwee, although apparently at no great speed.

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Trout Unlimited’s lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Game’s trout-planting program entered a negotiating phase Tuesday when five fisheries scientists rounded up by the trout group met with state lawyers at Sacramento.

The consensus, as stated by independent fisheries consultant Ray White, was that “the state should confine its stocking program to places (such as) urban ponds where the stocked fish won’t do any environmental harm and where there will be a high and immediate return on the dollars invested.”

Trout Unlimited seeks to stop planting only in waters that support native and wild trout populations, thus enhancing the quality of fishing and saving the DFG money. But if the state balks at negotiating, Trout Unlimited warns, the suit could shut down all planting.

Briefly

MEXICAN FISHING--Cabo San Lucas: Larry Edwards of Cortez Yacht Charters claims “the best March fishing we have ever reported.” Although last week slowed down slightly, there were 33 striped marlin (17 released) and eight dorado for 34 boat days.

BOATING--The Southern California Marine Assn.’s first Orange County Boat Show will run today through Sunday at Anaheim Stadium. Hours: 1-9 p.m. today and Thursday, 1-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Admission: adults $6, children $3, 12 and younger free. . . . Marina del Rey boat-related businesses will have a “Show, Tell and Sell” bazaar and swap meet of boats and equipment Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. No admission charge. . . . National Oceanic and Space Administration weather broadcasts for any area in the U.S. are available by calling (900) 933-BOAT (2628). Cost: 98 cents a minute.

SHOWTIME--Fred Hall’s Western Fishing Tackle and Boat Show, which was at Long Beach earlier this month, moves to the Del Mar Fairgrounds today through Sunday. Hours: weekdays 3-10 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Admission: $6, 12 and younger free.

FLY FISHING--Greg Voight will talk about Central American angling at the South Bay Fly Fishers’ meeting April 7, 7:30 p.m., at the Westchester Town Hall, 8501 Emerson Ave. Details: (310) 271-2703.

BASS FISHING--Conflicting tournaments are scheduled Saturday, April 3--the 17th annual Charity Team affair at Lake Castaic conducted by the West Valley Bassmasters for Build Rehabilitation Industries, Inc. and Friends of Castaic, and the American Bass Assn. event at Lake Casitas. The latter continues into Sunday. . . . Bob VanSchoyck of Tustin and Scott Pearson of Long Beach won last weekend’s ABA tournament and $1,665 at Castaic with six fish totaling 17.23 pounds. Conrad Bineau of Simi Valley had the biggest fish at 10.22 pounds.

CONSERVATION--The Environmental Defense fund this week sued the Environmental Protection Agency for violating the law by failing to regulate the sale of lead fishing sinkers under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The EPA was petitioned last October to require warning labels in light of evidence that several threatened species, including birds, are dying from lead poisoning after ingesting the fishing weights. The EPA announced only hours after the suit was filed that it will propose a new regulation. . . . Chuck Newmyer of Ridgecrest has received the DFG’s Wild Trout Award for work in the Eastern Sierra.