New Conditions Put South in Southland
Trout season will be up to speed when the Eastern Sierra opens a month from today, but it will be difficult to shove the bass crowd out of the spotlight. The run of big largemouths continues at several Southland lakes, where anglers are discovering hot spots that until recently were dry coves or mudflats.
Bass pro Don Iovino of Burbank calls it “a whole new environment of fishing that we’re not used to. We’re going to be fishing a lot of flooded bushes and trees--stuff they do in the south all the time. We’re going to have to adapt for fishing heavy cover, cranking with heavy line. That is going to come into play this spring.”
Apparently, the anglers are learning. Largemouths of 10 pounds and up are common. In the WON Bass tournament at Lake Casitas last weekend, there were 91 two-man teams to catch 33 limits and 413 fish--all records for the five-year-old organization.
However, some seem to do it better than others. Jim Olivarez of Anaheim and Frank King of La Habra won the tournament with seven fish totaling 22.68 pounds--their third victory in six tournaments this season.
Equally impressive recently are Steve and Robert Gray of Ventura. A week earlier at Casitas, Steve caught an 18-pound 3-ounce bass that is the largest largemouth taken in the state this year. Then, in last weekend’s tournament, he caught the second-largest fish at 10.05 pounds.
Steve, the father, catches the fish; Robert nets them. Robert is 3.
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The state Fish and Game Commission will decide April 1 whether to stock the Upper Sacramento River. All life in the 45 miles above Shasta Lake was destroyed in July of 1991 when a Southern Pacific tank car derailed and spilled 19,000 gallons of the herbicide/fungicide metam sodium into what was regarded as a blue-ribbon trout stream.
The town of Dunsmuir and Southern Pacific want a five-mile stretch through town to be planted for the sake of tourist business this spring and summer. The California Department of Fish and Game and the private CalTrout organization recommend there be no plants, instead allowing the wild trout that have come in from unaffected tributaries to establish a strong population.
CalTrout has praised the railroad for its cooperation last year in massive cleanup efforts of junk and trash along the river, but ended the agreement when Southern Pacific, which has been paying off Dunsmuir merchants for projected losses, joined the town in asking for trout plants.
Briefly
MEXICAN FISHING--Cabo San Lucas: Action generally slower, but a 431-pound blue marlin, second largest of the season, was taken by Fred Allen of Las Vegas aboard the Gaviota 2 at Jaime Bank. The Gaviota fleet also claimed a 100-pound wahoo, but dorado were off and yellowfin tuna sparse. The Solmar Fleet reported taking 36 striped marlin (releasing 25), with roosterfish starting to hit lures in the surf. San Jose del Cabo: Some striped marlin to 145 pounds taken three-quarters of a mile from shore as water cleared. Wind down, water flat.
GRUNION--The last runs until June start tonight on open Southland beaches at 9:35 p.m., progressing to 10, 10:30 and 11 on successive evenings. Runs last about two hours. State fishing licenses required for those 16 and older. Hands only.
FLY-FISHING--Southern California’s largest show, produced by the Federation of Fly Fishers’ Southwest Council as a fund-raiser, has outgrown its usual hotel site in Westchester and moved to the Long Beach Convention Center April 3-4. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 8-4 Sunday. Registration: $18 per family or $15 per individual for both days, $15 and $12 Sunday only. . . . The Fly Fishers Club of Orange County will feature Lori and Bob Brooks, managers of the Hot Creek Ranch, at its monthly dinner meeting Thursday, 6:30 p.m., at the Revere House, 900 W. 1st St., Tustin. Cost: $15.
HUNTING--The Southland turkey season will open Saturday. The Inland/Orange County Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will have its monthly meeting tonight, 7:30, at the Sizzler, Hamner and Second St., Norco.
CONSERVATION--The Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep and California Department of Fish and Game seek volunteers to help build a big game guzzler near the southwest border of Joshua Tree National Monument this weekend and the weekends of April 3 and April 17. Details: (213) 256-0463. . . . The California Coastal Commission has unanimously approved construction and operation of a white seabass hatchery near Carlsbad, Jim Paulk of United Anglers of California reports. Construction is expected to start within the next few months. . . . The Environmental Defense Fund is spearheading a suit against Ducks Unlimited for building its Canadian national headquarters in Hammock Marsh near Winnipeg, Manitoba, asserting that it will upset the birds. . . . Trout Unlimited and the U.S. Forest Service will hold a public meeting April 7 at the Kernville Elementary School to discuss the group’s proposal to decrease the trout planting of tributaries to the Kern River.
