OUTDOOR NOTES / PETE THOMAS : 119 M.P.H. Winds Spoil Crowley Scene

Everything was going so well at Crowley Lake.

A new concessionaire had taken over from the financially strapped and geographically distant Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department. Canvas tent-cabins sprang up, and the once run-down grounds had--as promised--begun to take on the appearance of an old-fashioned fish camp.

Even the fishing, after a comparatively slow opening weekend, had picked up considerably.

But on Monday afternoon, the wind began to howl and by evening it was blowing at 119 m.p.h. Windows in the area between Mammoth and Bishop were blown out of their frames, and shingles were torn from roofs.

At Crowley, a wind-whipped dust storm went on for hours. Boats were tossed in every direction. The windows in the new tackle shop overlooking the lake were blown out, and the store filled with dirt. Docks were rearranged.

And the shop’s canvas roof?

“It’s probably in Mammoth now, or Alaska for that matter,” said Dick Gaumer, a spokesman for Sierra Recreation, Inc., the lake’s new concessionaire.

“We’re down about 25 boats--with water in them or just missing,” Gaumer added. “And the rest of them were just moved all over the place.”

There were no reports of injuries, but there were reports of privately owned boats also being damaged by the storm.

Still, Gaumer said, Crowley Lake Fish Camp had emerged from the storm in relatively good shape, adding that cleanup will continue at a pace sufficient to have the lake open for business as usual by the weekend with at least 60 operable boats.

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Producer, actor and fisherman Sheldon Leonard says he has caught more striped marlin than he can count in Mexican waters, but he had never seen a blue marlin caught until a recent trip when his grandson, Douglas Urbach, 28, of Malibu hooked one estimated at 14 feet and 500 pounds.

No one will ever know for sure just how big the fish was because it couldn’t be boated, despite a nine-hour battle.

“(Urbach) brought it to the boat 15 times,” Leonard said, describing the episode off the East Cape of Baja California. “Fifteen times the boatman had the leader in his hand, but what are you going to do with a 500-pound fish? It was too heavy. Couldn’t get it into the boat, and we didn’t want to kill it. So he ‘caught’ that fish 15 times.”

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In another man-vs.-marlin battle, Kevin Fitzgerald landed an 836-pound blue marlin, the largest of the year taken off Baja California. That contest went on for 5 1/2 hours.

Fitzgerald, who lives in Brea, was aboard the Gaviota VII, trolling a Bleeding Mackerel lure when the fish struck not far from Cabo San Lucas harbor.

Several other blue marlin have been hooked in the last week but few were landed, according to reports from the Gaviota fleet.

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Tale of the tape: Last February, a Toluca Lake lawyer caught a yellowfin tuna that was estimated on board--using a formula based on measuring length and girth of the fish--to weigh 354 pounds. But back at the landing the fish weighed 395.5 pounds, an all-tackle world record.

So imagine the excitement of Al Zawalich when the Royal Polaris returned to San Diego on Monday morning. His yellowfin had been estimated at sea at 375 pounds.

Unfortunately for Zawalich, though, the official weight of his fish was only 348.5 pounds.

“The guys were pretty enthusiastic that the fish would weigh at least 370,” said Frank LoPreste, owner of the Royal Polaris. “I think from now on, we’ll not even blow our horn until we see the fish on the scale.”

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The weather was ideal, the fish cooperative and, thanks to the folks at Innovative Music Tours, more than 300 homeless families dined on fillets of fresh seabass and yellowtail.

“They’re eating high on the hog,” said Jim Rodman, a spokesman for the annual “Fish for the Homeless” excursion last Sunday aboard L.A. Harbor Sportfishing’s Pacifica.

More than 220 fillets were donated to the Fred Jordan Mission, Rodman said.

Briefly

BAJA FISHING--Cabo San Lucas: Striped marlin are the predominant catch, followed by dorado and wahoo. Blue marlin are in the area, but few are being caught. Dorado are plentiful. San Jose del Cabo: Wahoo are getting most of attention. Ralph Burnette of Oceanside landed a 62-pounder. East Cape: Striped marlin are abundant, averaging 100-160 pounds. Yellowfin tuna and dorado are picking up. Loreto: Yellowtail fishing remains superb, but the best news is an early showing of dorado. Sailfish action is fair.