After All Those Sharks, It Was a Bite for Sore Eyes

For George Castro, catching shark after shark was getting to be a drag.

But Castro isn’t complaining today. Having persisted in the shovel-nose shark infested waters off El Segundo, after catching four or five, Castro made one more drop to the bottom with a live sardine, and came away with a halibut the size of a skiff, a 40.6-pound fish that earned him top honors in last weekend’s eighth annual Santa Monica Bay Halibut Derby.

“It hit like a halibut, but as soon as I hooked it I thought it was just another shark,” said Castro, 41, a warehouse manager from Valencia.

After dragging Castro up and down the rail of his boat, the fish surfaced.

“I saw it was a halibut and I couldn’t believe it,” Castro said. “I knew it was the winner.”

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Castro’s halibut was the second largest in tournament history, the largest being a 45.1-pound fish caught in 1989. That one set a world record for 16-pound test line.

Castro’s wasn’t the only big halibut taken last weekend. This year’s derby was one of the best, with almost 1,430 fishermen aboard 400 boats vying for the top prize of a fishing trip to Alaska or the East Cape region of Baja California.

Second place went to Geoffrey Baur of Lakewood with a 32.2-pound catch--his first legal-sized halibut--taken from 90 feet deep just south of the Marina del Rey Breakwater. Third place went to Norman Wike of Santa Monica with a 29.2-pound catch off Santa Monica.

Tournament chairman John Bourget said 109 halibut were weighed in on Saturday and 114 on Sunday.

“Overall, we had 72 halibut 10 pounds or more and 19 over 20 pounds,” he said.

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Last year’s winner, Glenn Smith of Santa Monica, was shut out this year, but Bourget and his crew may have had something to do with that.

“Last year he found out the name of my boat and followed it around because I had told him I knew all the spots,” Bourget said.

At one spot, Smith pulled in a 32.9-pound derby-winning fish.

“This year we had some fun with him,” Bourget said. “We had two boats this year and we’d move one outside and the guys would say (on the radio), ‘We got ‘em,’ and Glenn would come out there and follow so tight, but there would be nothing.”

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The Eastern Sierra general trout season opener on April 30 is shaping up to be a good one, thanks to a variety of factors, chief among them the Department of Fish and Game’s having stocked more trout than it would have liked.

“We have stocked three times as many trout as normal,” said Chris Boone, manager of the DFG’s Hot Creek Hatchery in Mammoth Lakes.

Trout were stocked early to help the financially strapped DFG save money on raising the fish in hatcheries.

Fishermen should also benefit from the light snowpack and the absence of ice on many waters that are normally frozen at this time of year.

Crowley Lake, the most popular reservoir on opening day, has been ice-free for weeks, and the fish are expected to be a little more active than they were last year when the water was so cold the fish refused to fight.

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The Celebrity Sports Invitational, a fishing tournament run by Ted Danson and Robin Leech, was held last weekend at Cabo San Lucas, with proceeds going to Amigos De Los Ninos, a Baja California charity, and the American Oceans Campaign.

The tournament was won by Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong fame, and according to a report from the Pisces Fleet, Marin shouted, “Dave’s Not Here!” upon landing the winning, 150-pound striped marlin. It’s a phrase only Cheech and Chong fans will understand.

Briefly

BAJA FISHING--Marlin fishing remains slow in the Cabo San Lucas area, but a 448-pound blue marlin was landed after a two-hour fight Tuesday by an angler from France at outer Gordo Banks, according to Juan Arce of the Pisces Fleet. Most of the effort is at Gordo, where yellowfin tuna from 20-40 pounds are actively feeding. Arce said the panga skippers are putting customers on roving schools of roosterfish just off the beach from the Solmar Hotel to the lighthouse.

East Cape: Striped marlin are not far off shore, and tuna are scattered, but both species are showing regularly at the scales. Dorado fishing is fair.

Ensenada: Four boats from two fleets combined for 62 small white sea bass on Sunday along the shore near the university and San Miguel. The fish, mixed in with schools of barracuda, were taken on live sardines, according to Dan Hernandez, who was in the area preparing to film a series for his television program.

INSTRUCTION--A few spots remain for Eagle Claw Fishing Schools’ monthly session at San Martin Island, which gets under way Friday at 1 p.m. Last month, anglers aboard the Holiday landed 125 yellowtail in a fast-paced three-hour bite. “These fish are not moving anywhere,” instructor Ron Kovach said. “We think it’s a resident population that only moves deeper. We’ve found them to 130 feet in 58-degree, green water.” Cost for the 2 1/2-day trip is $325. Details: (714) 840-6555. . . . A half-day fly-fishing clinic for women only, offered by the Fly Fishers’ Club of Orange County, will be held April 30 at William R. Mason Regional Park in Irvine. Morning and afternoon sessions are available. Instructor is Janice Jeng. Details: (714) 673-3310.