Surfer Undeterred by Shark Attack

A surfer was attacked last Saturday by a great white shark while sitting in the sparsely crowded lineup at Dillon Beach, just north of Tomales Bay in Northern California.

Mark Quirt, 22, of Tomales was bitten severely on his left leg, helped out of the water by fellow surfers and airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he is currently listed in stable condition.

Reaction: Surfing anywhere near Tomales Bay this time of year is about as smart as jumping into a pit full of rattlesnakes. Great whites predictably migrate into the region every fall and travel between the Farallon Islands and the mainland feeding on elephant seals.

And if Quirt, silhouetted by the sun as he sat on his board, happened to look like an elephant seal through the eyes of the shark, he is lucky to be alive. Great white attacks on seals are generally swift, violent and decisive.

Reached Monday at Santa Rosa Memorial, Quirt said, “The bite was pretty bad,” that he suffered one severed tendon and took “some 160-170-odd staples” in his left leg.”

“But they said there is nothing permanently damaged,” he said.

Asked to describe the attack, he said there wasn’t much to tell. “I was sitting on my board when the shark, about a 15-footer, came up from below and grabbed me by my left leg and flipped me over,” he said. “I was face to face with him, and all I remember is looking into this big black eye. I only saw one eye, but it looked vicious, mean. . . .”

But the shark apparently prefers seals to surfers; it swam off, and for that Quirt is grateful. Just how grateful remains to be seen.

He said he knew that the area, referred to by locals as the “white triangle,” was notorious for shark sightings, and acknowledged that one was sighted nearby by surfers only a week earlier. Yet he paddled out anyway.

“But I had never seen one and I’d been surfing there for 10 years,” he said. “And yes, I am still going to surf, but it’s going to be a while before I paddle back out at Dillon Beach.”

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Hundreds of scuba divers celebrated the opening of lobster season last week with a midnight plunge into a black ocean, and a bug-eyed hunt-till-dawn, with dive lights, for the biggest “bugs” in the bay.

It’s an annual event, the Monster Lobster Contest, the brainchild of Robbie Meistrel of the family-owned Dive ‘N Surf in Redondo Beach.

In an interview with Easy Reader, a Hermosa Beach weekly, Meistrel said he started the contest in an effort to encourage people who are afraid to dive at night.

He then recalled his most memorable night dive, at a local reef he and his friends had enhanced with toilet bowls to provide added lobster habitat.

“I had two lobsters in my hand when all of a sudden the water got real cloudy and something spun me around, like a sudden change in the current,” he said. “I planned to hit one more toilet bowl, but after the water cleared I saw a seven-foot thresher shark with its head bit off. I realized I’d just had a close encounter with a really big shark, and raced to the surface.”

Some encouragement.

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Add lobsters: Those with a taste for the popular crustaceans, but not for diving in a dark and scary ocean to catch them, can don a mask and snorkel and try their luck in shark-free Seaside Lagoon during this weekend’s Redondo Beach Lobster Festival.

The lagoon will be stocked with lobsters, and Dive ‘N Surf instructors will be on hand to assist. Those with less of a sense of adventure can stay dry and shell out $8.95 for a Maine lobster meal.

Also featured in the Friday-through-Sunday event are a lobster-calling contest (Friday), the state chowder championships (Sunday), crafts booths, games and live entertainment. Cost is $6 for adults, free for children. Details: (310) 543-6187.

SALTWATER FISHING REPORT

At a time when the tuna bite south of the border should be waning, it keeps getting stronger.

Last Friday the San Diego fleet posted its biggest single-day catch of the season--nearly 2,000 tuna caught only 18-24 miles from Point Loma. Jackpots are being won with 60- to 80-pound yellowfin and bigeye. Farther south, off Cabo San Lucas, giant yellowfin continue to impress tourists at the marina scale. It was there the other day that Dennis Hughes of Grass Valley, fishing aboard Gaviota VI, weighed in Volkswagen-sized tuna at 250 and 260 pounds. Baja catch of the week: a 710-pound blue marlin, the largest billfish of the year, by Clyde Scott of Texas aboard Miss Budweiser. Non-Baja catch of the week: a 60-pound albacore by Henry Shipley of Fillmore aboard the Princess out of Virg’s Landing in Morro Bay. Eight trips from Virg’s this past week produced 169 of the longfins.

The Times accepts and publishes the catch count as a public service. Any responsibility for accuracy is that of the landing operator.

SAN SIMEON--11 anglers (1 boat): 4 ling cod, 15 red snapper, 85 red rock cod, 65 assorted rockfish.

MORRO BAY (Virg’s Landing)--18 anglers (1 boat): 27 albacore. (Bob’s Sportfishing)--18 anglers (1 boat): 2 ling cod, 95 rock cod, 175 assorted bass.

AVILA BEACH--21 anglers (1 boat): 81 red rock cod, 141 assorted rock cod, 2 ling cod.

SANTA BARBARA--(Hornet’s Landing)--17 anglers (1 boat): 41 calico bass, 69 sand bass, 2 halibut, 1 bonita, 49 barracuda, 1 ling cod, 2 red snapper, 6 rock fish, 1 sculpin, 2 smooth hound shark, 150 mackerel.

VENTURA--29 anglers (2 boats): 74 calico bass, 25 sand bass, 44 barracuda, 18 rockfish, 6 sculpin, 2 sheephead, 3 whitefish, 11 blue perch, 8 ling cod. (Harbor Village)--14 anglers (1 boat): 21 albacore.

OXNARD (Cisco’s)--46 angers (3 boats): 175 calico bass, 1 halibut, 15 sand bass, 3 barracuda, 60 rockfish, 15 sculpin, 7 sheephead, 39 white fish.

PORT HUENEME--19 anglers (2 boats): 100 rock cod, 35 calico bass, 3 rock fish, 1 halibut, 2 sand bass, 2 sculpin, 20 white fish.

MARINA DEL REY--63 anglers (4 boats): 1 halibut, 10 barracuda, 6 sculpin, 96 white fish.

REDONDO--52 anglers (3 boats): 23 yellowtail, 65 bonita, 36 calico bass, 28 sand bass, 17 sculpin, 10 sheephead, 2 cabezon, 64 rock fish.

SAN PEDRO (L.A. Harbor Sportfishing)--26 anglers (2 boats): 41 bonita, 29 calico bass, 4 sheephead, 17 salmon grouper, 1 white fish, 32 perch. (22nd St. Landing)--55 anglers (3 boats): 14 yellowtail, 25 calico bass, 177 sculpin, 177 bonita, 57 white fish, 16 sheephead, 73 rock fish, 95 sand dabs.

LONG BEACH--48 anglers (3 boats): 48 anglers, 8 calico bass, 114 whitefish, 21 sheephead, 85 perch, 35 sculpin, 75 rockfish. (Belmont Pier)--12 anglers (1 boat): 3 calico bass, 100 mackerel, 120 perch, 38 rock fish, 18 sheephead, 12 white fish.

SEAL BEACH--11 anglers (1 boat): 207 rock fish, 1 ling cod, 1 cow cod, 25 red snapper, 21 salmon grouper.

NEWPORT BEACH (Newport Landing)--33 anglers (2 boats): 1 yellowtail, 55 bonito, 27 sculpin, 2 calico bass, 2 sand bass, 1 cabezon, 2 perch, 42 mackerel. (Davey’s Locker)--77 anglers (6 boats): 116 yellowfin tuna, 16 skip jack, 18 calico bass, 2 sand bass, 19 sculpin, 1 sheephead, 12 rock fish, 120 mackerel.

DANA WHARF--87 anglers (4 boats): 14 yellowfin tuna, 2 skip jack, 157 calico bass, 11 sand bass, 5 bonita, 1 blue perch, 70 mackerel, 1 halibut, 1 sculpin, 3 sheephead, 10 yellowfin croaker, 6 white fish.

OCEANSIDE--32 anglers (2 boats): 9 yellowfin croaker, 4 sand bass, 29 sculpin, 4 sheephead, 9 rockfish, 10 skipjack, 12 white croaker.

SAN DIEGO (H&M; Landing, Fisherman’s, Point Loma)--272 anglers (13 boats): 795 yellowfin tuna, 34 dorado, 98 yellowtail, 1 big eye tuna, 219 skip jack. (Seaforth)--186 anglers (7 boats): 268 yellowfin tuna, 15 dorado, 26 skip jack, 7 yellowtail, 7 sand bass, 143 rock fish, 53 mackerel, 2 sheephead, 109 sculpin. (Islandia)--35 anglers (2 boats): 7 yellowfin tuna, 23 yellowtail, 3 bonito, 128 sculpin, 30 rockfish, 75 mackerel.

FRESHWATER FISHING REPORT

Bored with bass? Tired of trout? Had your fill of catfish?

If so, there’s a new species in town--or there will be come Friday--that possesses the tenacity of white bass and the voraciousness of striped bass.

Hybrid-striped bass, a cross between the two, will be stocked by the hundreds into little Corona Lake on Friday, transforming it from basically a catfish hole to a catfish hole with a little spice.

“Wipers,” as the hybrid stripers are called, rise to the surface in mornings and afternoons and feed in a frenzy, attacking small jigs and speeding off in all directions, providing an amusing alternative for those fishing with light tackle.

ANAHEIM LAKE--Opens Saturday, heavily stocked with trout, which will probably be sluggish unless the weather cools.

CORONA LAKE--Hybrid-striped bass will be stocked Friday, which will make the lake the only hybrid-striper fishery in the Southland. The wipers, as they are called, are excellent fighters and feed almost exclusively in mornings and afternoons. White mini-jigs best bet. Catfish good at south end.

IRVINE LAKE--Weekly whopper catfish: 33-9 by Mike Bradshaw, Riverside, after 20-minute fight near the hump. Another weighed 33-8 and several limits of smaller fish were landed. Mackerel getting most. Largemouth bass fair off rocky points, biting primarily in mornings and evenings.

LAGUNA NIGUEL LAKE--Catfish good at night, slow to fair during day. Largemouth bass biting on plastic worms in most colors, some weighing in at 5-0. Bluegill fair near creek inlet, biting mostly on mealworms.

SILVERWOOD LAKE--Largemouth bass fair. Pete Biscan, Upland, 5-4 bass, on shad from dock. Robert Levandoski, Little Rock, 7-4 bass, on crappie jig from dock. Junior Ramirez, Long Beach, 4-0 bass, on night crawlers from dock. Striped bass slow.

GREEN VALLEY LAKE--Few limits, but an occasional big fish. Floyd Caldwell, Riverside, 5-9 trout, on green Power Bait off point.

LAKE CACHUMA--Largemouth bass fair at east end, biting on night crawlers, plastic worms and spinnerbaits. Red ear perch also active at east end, biting on night crawler pieces. Catfish fair at dam. Mario Ringo, Arcadia, five catfish totaling 58-12, on mackerel at dam.

PYRAMID LAKE--Largemouth and smallmouth bass fair on plastic worms and crankbaits, biting mainly in small coves. Shilo Chefalo, Frazier Park, 5-0, smallmouth on mealworm in marina. Striped bass boiling on surface in mornings, but those being caught are biting on anchovies in deeper water. Some crappie and bluegill taken near docks. Catfish good on stink bait in marina.

LAKE PIRU--Trout fair for trollers at 40 feet. Needlefish and Kastmasters getting most. Some largemouth bass being caught in coves on spinnerbaits and plastic worms. Catfish fair in swim area. Ennis Choice, Pasadena, 16-0 catfish, on mackerel.

CASTAIC LAKE--Largemouth and striped bass active in upper lake. Brendan Bailie, Castaic, 13-0 largemouth, on Power Worm. Steve Krueger, Redondo Beach, 9-8 largemouth, on trout-plug. Burt Barragon, Sylmar, 8-8 largemouth, on night crawlers. Rick Taylor, Ojai, and Bill Jordan, Santa Paula, 12 striped bass between 8-14 pounds, on live shad. Curtis Takahashi, Granada Hills, 12-0 striper, on shad.

LAKE SKINNER--Largemouth bass chasing shad in shallows and biting on lures resembling shad as well as plastic worms. Some striped bass biting at inlet. Catfish good throughout lake.

LAKE PERRIS--Largemouth bass good at east end and island, biting mostly on plastic worms and crankbaits. Bob Lutz, Chino, 6-6 bass, on brown plastic worm at Sail Cove. Other species slow.

EASTERN SIERRA--Bishop: Best fishing at week’s end, which coincides with Thursday-Friday stocking schedule at most lakes. Lenny Taise, Monterey Park, 7-10 rainbow, on worm at South Lake. Joyce Hokania, Torrance, 5-0 rainbow, on night crawler at Lake Sabrina. Mammoth Lakes area: Crowley Lake picking up as weather cools. Lots of limits coming on Rapalas, Kastmasters, Thomas Buoyants and dark-colored Twin Lakes special flies. Quality fishing taking place throughout region. June Lake loop: All four lakes good in mornings and evenings on standard baits and lures. Rush Creek fair for small rainbows and an occasional small brown. Bridgeport area: East Walker River the place to be. Flows are down, the entire river can be waded and brown and rainbow trout from 8-28 inches are biting on a variety of lures and flies. Bridgeport Reservoir good for boaters (East Walker Channel and Buckeye Flats area) and slow for shore fishermen. Twin Lakes not good for limits, but good for an occasional big rainbow. A 6-0 was taken on a fly Monday morning.

FRESHWATER FISHING REPORT

LOS ANGELES--Crystal Lake, Peck Road Park Lake, Piru Creek, Puddingstone Reservoir, San Gabriel River (East and West forks), Santa Fe Reservoir. SAN BERNARDINO--Big Bear Lake, Green Valley Lake, Santa Ana River, Santa Ana River (South Fork). RIVERSIDE--Lake Hemet. SAN DIEGO--Doane Pond. INYO--Baker Creek, Big Pine Creek, Bishop Creek (Lower, Middle, South forks and Intake II), Diaz Lake, Goodale Creek, Independence Creek, Lake Sabrina, North Lake, Lone Pine Creek, Owens River (Laws Bridge downstream to Steward Lane), South Lake, Taboose Creek, Tinnemaha Creek, Tuttle Creek. MONO--Convict Creek, Convict Lake, Green Creek, Lee Vining Creek, Lundy Lake, Mammoth Creek, McGee Creek, Lake Mary, Rush Creek, Saddlebag Lake, Trumble Lake, Virginia Creek, Virginia Lakes. KERN--Kern River (Live Oak picnic area to Democrat Beach, Sandy Flat to Democrat Beach, Edison Powerhouse No. 3 to Riverside Park). TULARE--Kern River (Fairview Dam to Lazy River Lodge, Johnsondale Bridge to Fairview Dam).

CATFISH PLANTS

LOS ANGELES--Belvedere Park Lake, Downey Wilderness Park Lake, John Ford Park Lake, Legg Lake, Lincoln Park Lake.