Angler Puts Heart, Soul Into Wild Wahoo Battle

Felix Quintana had but one concern as he chased the fish up and down the rail of the Polaris Supreme.

“I was hoping my heart . . . my bypass would hold up,” the 48-year-old Costa Mesa angler said.

Taking his first long-range trip since undergoing triple-bypass surgery two years ago, Quintana last week had hooked into his first 100-pound wahoo, one of the biggest caught off Baja California.

The ocean in front of him exploded almost immediately after he had cast his wahoo bomb (a lead-headed chrome jig with a bright, plastic skirt) into the water surrounding the fish-rich Uncle Sam Bank, 470 miles south of Point Loma.

Neither the passengers nor the crew had any idea how big the fish was, but when the fight dragged on for more than 40 minutes, they began to get an idea.

“It was not like any other wahoo I had ever caught,” Quintana said. “At times it felt like I was snagged to a giant kelp paddy. But then I would bring him close and he would make these quick little bursts. Let me tell you it was very hot, in the mid- to upper 90s and humid. . . . People were sweating just putting bait on their hooks, let alone fighting a fish for 40 minutes.”

After those 40 minutes, during which the fish nearly broke free after wrapping the line around the propeller, a drenched and huffing Quintana, with some help from the crew, had it beside the boat.

Yet it wasn’t until Mike Hennessy, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound deckhand, stuck it with a gaff and heaved it over the rail that all jaws dropped.

The wahoo, a slender member of the tuna family, was nearly as long as Hennessy was tall. It taped out at 73 inches with a 33-inch girth and tipped the boat’s scale at 108.9 pounds, no world record (a 155-pound 8-ounce specimen caught six years ago off the Bahamas) but twice the size of the wahoo that normally patrol southern Baja’s offshore banks and one of the biggest brought aboard the Polaris Supreme, one of a handful of vessels that also fish the even more productive Revillagigedo Islands, 220 miles south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas.

“It was a pretty unusual catch,” skipper John Sieger said. “We usually get only one or two wahoo over 100 pounds a year.”

What makes Quintana’s catch more impressive is that he has limited movement in his shoulders and arms as a result of surgery and extensive radiation treatment after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1974.

“I don’t have much mobility, but the mobility that I do have is all in the area where I can still cast and still pump [the rod],” he said. “And I am thrilled and grateful to God that I still have the health to do the things I do. Three years ago they said I should have been dead because I had four arteries that were completely clogged.”

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Add Polaris Supreme: Another notable catch during the eight-day trip was that of a 90-pound black seabass by Bill Fitzwater, 75, of Mission Viejo.

In all, after Sieger pulled the vessel into its slip at Fisherman’s Landing last Thursday, two years to the day after Quintana’s surgery, the Polaris Supreme crew unloaded 109 wahoo, 225 yellowfin tuna and more than 200 yellowtail.

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Marlin madness: The Cabo San Lucas tournament season is under way, with the Gold Cup recently concluded, the Bisbee’s Black and Blue scheduled this week and the Pete Lopiccola Memorial charity event the following week.

The Gold Cup was won by North Dakota’s Jim Ingstadt, who aboard the boat Salsa landed a 797.7-pound blue marlin and pocketed $184,780 for his efforts. The winner of the Black and Blue will bolster his bank account by even more.

In the “For Pete’s Sake” charity event Oct. 31-Nov. 2, every competitor can be considered a winner. The tournament, named in honor of Pete Lopiccola, a respected fisherman and skipper from San Diego who died in 1988 after a bout with leukemia, last year raised a record $125,000 for the Pete Lopiccola Leukemia Research Foundation and for disadvantaged residents in and around Cabo San Lucas.

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Hunting: The Department of Fish and Game will conduct a special drawing for 98 bear tags Oct. 31 in Sacramento. The reason for the drawing is an accounting error that caused the DFG to announce last month that the tags were sold out.

They aren’t and those who want in on the hunt can either complete a bear tag application (available at sporting goods stores and DFG offices), or by writing name, address, daytime phone number and hunting license number on a piece of paper and sending it--along with a check for $24.25 for residents, $157.50 for nonresidents--to License and Revenue Branch, Department of Fish and Game, 3211 S St., Sacramento, Calif., 95816. Applications must be received by 5 p.m. Oct. 30. The bear season lasts until either Dec. 29 or until 1,500 bears have been killed. As of last Thursday, the toll was 485.

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Boating: The 28th annual Long Beach Boat Show begins a five-day run today at the Long Beach Convention Center and Downtown Marina. Hours are 1-9 p.m. weekdays 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Cost is $7 for adults, free for children 12 and under.

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Nature: An attempt to capture a primitive-looking hagfish and the baiting of sharks to the boat will be among the highlights of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium’s observation and collection expedition to Santa Catalina Island on Nov. 15-16 aboard the 93-foot First String. The public is invited but reservations are required for the popular program directed by aquarium biologist Larry Fukuhara. Cost is $75. Details: (310) 548-7562.

FRESHWATER FISHING

If you make your way to Bridgeport this week and see two guys scouting for trout atop ladders from the shores of Twin Lakes, don’t laugh. They are out-fishing everybody.

John Beith and Ken Reese, from Northern California, are catching everybody’s attention, not only because of their unorthodox fishing method but because of how well it is working.

Beith last Friday saw, cast to and conquered an 18-pound 10-ounce German brown. (The state record is a 26-8 caught on upper Twin 1987, and the record before that was a 26-5 caught on lower Twin in 1983.) Reese caught an 8-pound 12-ounce brown trout.

“What they are doing is sight fishing,” said Rick Rockel of Ken’s Sporting Goods in town. “They bring ladders with them, climb up the ladders with polarized glasses and actually spot the fish they are trying to catch. And they are dominating the others as far as catching big fish is concerned.”

LAKE PERRIS--Strictly largemouth bass. Plastic worms and night crawlers getting most. Lots of 13-inch fish. Richard Franklin, Moreno Valley, 4-4 bass on undisclosed bait at marina.

CORONA LAKE--Trout stocking scheduled Oct. 31. Night fishing ends after Saturday. As for the bite: mostly catfish on mackerel.

ANAHEIM LAKE--Catfish biting throughout lake. Hybrid striped bass boiling on surface in mornings and afternoons, biting on small jigs. Some white sturgeon taken on shrimp, night crawlers and mackerel.

IRVINE LAKE--Largemouth bass very active, with fish in 4- to 6-0 class biting on deep-running crankbaits and plastic worms. Catfish good. Bon Seng, Anaheim, five catfish, largest 40-0 and 28-0. Mackerel best bet.

LAGUNA NIGUEL LAKE--Catfish bite has slowed, as has the bass bite, which is still rated fair to good. Lots of small bass biting on dark-colored plastics.

SILVERWOOD LAKE--Mostly catfish. Mackerel at dam and spillway getting fish in 15- to 20-inch range. Crappie fair off docks in mornings and afternoons. Red and white jigs topped with Power Bait best bet. Some largemouth bass hitting plastics in shallows.

GREEN VALLEY LAKE--Trout very active. Rudy Lara, Hawaiian Gardens, 8-10 trout, on Roostertail. Bill Hillard, Claremont, 7-11 trout, on Thomas Buoyant. The list goes on.

LAKE CASITAS--Largemouth bass picking up throughout lake. Charles Ruiz, Santa Paula, 10-8 bass and several smaller fish, on crawdads. Albert Comisari, Thousand Oaks, 10-0 and 8-0 bass, on nine-inch plastic worms. David Arrighi, Huntington Beach, 10-2 bass, on large plastic worm. Catfish fair at 15 feet on mackerel.

PYRAMID LAKE--Mostly largemouth bass. Bill Patterson, Bakersfield, five largemouth, largest 6-0, on crankbaits and plastic worms at Lost Mine. Striped bass biting on surface in mornings and evenings, averaging 1-5 pounds. Catfish fair on mackerel in marina area.

LAKE PIRU--Largemouth bass fair at north end. Fish can be seen chasing shad and shad-like lures are getting the bass. Bob Nettleton, Sun Valley, eight bass, largest 4-0, on shad-pattern Rapala. Some catfish. Willie Lewis, Los Angeles, 21-0 and 16-0 catfish, on mackerel at Cow Cove. A few trout caught on Needlefish at dam.

CASTAIC LAKE--Largemouth bass only fair. Those with guides doing best. Jeff Vidrinskas, Woodland Hills, with guide Gary Harrison, five bass from 3-8 pounds, on Haddock spoons in upper lake. Frank Sheltren, Ojai, with guide Jerry Scotton, five bass, largest 5-0, on live shad in upper lake. Jim Gangey and Pat Buckley, Reseda, 12 bass, largest 9-8, on crawdads on lower lake.

EASTERN SIERRA--Bishop area: Good fishing from the Owens River up Bishop Creek to the high-elevation lakes, where temperatures are barely reaching 50. Mammoth Lakes area: Most lakes and creeks producing good catches. Crowley Lake and Convict Lake best bets for big fish. Tip: Check road conditions before planning trip to San Joaquin River, Sotcher and Starkweather lakes. June Lake loop: All lakes good, with Grant the best bet. Rush Creek fair on small spinners and nymphs. Bridgeport area: Twin Lakes producing a few big fish but the East Walker River is the major draw, with browns and rainbows in the 4-0 range willing to strike most lures thrown their way. The bite’s hot, but the weather’s not. Sunday night the temperature dropped to zero and daytime temperatures are barely hitting 50.

Saltwater Report

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

SAN SIMEON--(Virg’s Landing)--13 anglers (1 boat): 2 lingcod, 6 red snapper, 28 red rock cod, 161 assorted rockfish.

MORRO BAY (Virg’s Landing)--29 anglers (2 boats): 2 lingcod, 10 red snapper, 30 red rock cod, 260 rock cod.

AVILA BEACH--15 anglers (1 boat): 90 red rock cod, 135 assorted rock cod, 1 lingcod.

SANTA BARBARA (Sea Landing)--4 anglers (1 boat): 22 sand bass, 10 barracuda. (Hornet’s Landing)--18 anglers (1 boat): 63 calico bass, 12 sand bass, 1 bonito, 2 sculpin, 4 barracuda, 12 ocean whitefish, 2 red snapper, 2 sheephead, 20 rockfish, 50 mackerel.

MARINA DEL REY--69 anglers (4 boats): 5 halibut, 59 sand bass, 165 sculpin, 3 sole, 1 cabezon.

REDONDO--38 anglers (2 boats): 6 calico bass, 8 sand bass, 22 whitefish, 5 sculpin, 40 red snapper, 300 mackerel, 66 rockfish.

SAN PEDRO (L.A. Harbor Sportfishing)--16 anglers (1 boat): 27 calico bass, 1 sand bass, 6 rockfish, 1 sculpin, 7 perch. (22nd St. Landing)--25 anglers (1 boat): 9 calico bass, 3 sand bass, 4 sculpin, 18 whitefish, 10 sheephead, 97 rockfish.

LONG BEACH--17 anglers (2 boats): 2 barracuda, 38 calico bass, 20 sand bass, 35 whitefish, 4 sheephead, 11 perch, 5 sculpin, 15 rockfish. (Belmont Pier)--6 anglers (1 boat): 50 perch, 90 rockfish, 10 sheephead.

NEWPORT BEACH (Newport Landing)--9 anglers (1 boats): 10 calico bass, 1 rockfish, 45 bonito, 7 sheephead, 25 blue perch. (Davey’s Locker)--49 anglers (3 boats): 2 yellowtail, 81 bonito, 12 calico bass, 26 sand bass, 12 sculpin, 2 sheephead, 1 cabezon, 152 mackerel.

DANA WHARF--95 anglers (4 boats): 2 yellowfin tuna, 2 skipjack, 7 yellowtail, 137 sculpin, 4 calico bass, 8 sand bass, 75 mackerel, 22 rockfish, 3 sheephead, 2 whitefish.

OCEANSIDE--32 anglers (2 boats): 46 calico bass, 23 sand bass, 5 sculpin, 6 sheephead, 22 rockfish, 90 mackerel.

SAN DIEGO (H&M; Landing, Fisherman’s, Point Loma)--118 anglers (5 boats): 24 yellowtail, 97 yellowfin tuna, 4 dorado, 10 skipjack, 2 bigeye tuna. (Islandia)--25 anglers (2 boats): 2 bonito, 6 sand bass, 13 calico bass, 25 sculpin, 66 rockfish, 172 mackerel.

Trout Plants

SAN BERNARDINO--Big Bear Lake, Green Valley Lake, Lake Hemet. SANTA BARBARA--Lake Cachuma. SAN LUIS OBISPO--Atascadero Lake, Lake Lopez, Santa Margarita Lake. 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 and below Tinnemaha), Pleasant Valley Reservoir, South Lake, Taboose Creek, Tinnemaha Creek, Tuttle Creek. MONO--Convict Creek, Convict Lake, Green Creek, Lee Vining Creek, Lundy Lake, Mammoth Creek, Lake Mary, McGee Creek, 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 and Edison Powerhouse No. 3 to Riverside Park). TULARE--Kern River (Fairview Dam to Lazy River Lodge, Johnsondale Bridge to Fairview Dam).