Island Fishing Is Not for Everyone

Hopped aboard the Tracer the other night and woke up at dawn on the other side of Santa Catalina Island.

The ocean was smooth, the air cool and clean. Quite a contrast to the fishermen, who clambered up from below like living dead, wiping sleep from their eyes, making their way to bait tanks brimming with live squid, then reaching in without hesitation, as though this was the way they started every morning.

And what a way to start a morning!

Wearing the same clothes you slept in. Sporting new whiskers on an unwashed face. Still tasting last night’s cigar. Slugging coffee as black as the ink being squirted all over your shirt by the squid you’re trying to stick on your hook.

This is the essence of island fishing, any fisherman will say. Whatever problems you might have, you’ve left them back on the mainland.

“When you think of it, guys are pretty weird to actually like doing this stuff,” said Mike Aaker, an angler from Redondo Beach who would end up bagging a few nice calico bass and a 20-pound yellowtail. “I mean, it’s pretty hard-core. Do you know any women who would go through all this just to catch a few fish?”

There are some but, for the most part, taking the overnight boat across the channel is a guy thing.

And each spring, when the white seabass and yellowtail swing into action beyond the island’s shores, it’s a popular guy thing.

Sharing the backside waters with the Tracer out of Long Beach were seven or eight other party boats and two dozen private vessels.

“Saturday at Catalina,” crewman Richard Utter muttered, gazing out at the crowd.

Not much was happening as he said it. But then, Steve Thompson, the new owner and skipper of the Tracer, had warned his passengers that with this kind of fishing, “You either hit the jackpot, or you get shut out.”

Or you find a middle ground, as his group eventually would, after the morning seabass failed to materialize.

“At least it’s a beautiful day,” Philip Friedman, the charter master, said as the sun rose over the island hilltops.

Someone always says that after giving up on the fishing, and others soon were repeating the most commonly heard phrase on the water besides, perhaps, “Anyone for another beer?”

But about noon, things began to change.

Gulls were swarming over a patch of water to the north, flying erratically and swooping down--a telltale sign. Yellowtail were herding sardines to the surface, corralling them into a tight “meatball” and picking them off one by one.

The boats raced to the scene. Surprisingly, though, the yellowtail didn’t want anything to do with squid tossed their way, nor did they appreciate all the engine noise.

They sank back out of sight, only to surface again a few hundred yards away. This time, though, they decided to keep feeding despite the noise.

Earl McVicar of Torrance was first to hook up, and after a 15-minute fight he had a 12-pound yellowtail in the sack. Howard Fischkes, another Torrance angler, was next to land one of the powerful jacks, his first, after a 20-minute fight he said “felt more like 20 hours.”

The fish sounded again, however, and all eyes were on the birds. Once the bait fish are chased to the surface, the birds are all over the bait fish, and the birds are a dead giveaway for the fishermen, who are all over the school of game fish.

Chasing schools beneath the birds is what makes yellowtail fishing so exciting, everyone says, and the fact that only a few were being caught during each stop didn’t seem to matter. The mere fact that there were yellowtail was enough to keep spirits high.

The problem with this kind of fishing, if there is one, is that it’s a specialized sport, requiring casting skills and polished fish-fighting techniques. And overnight vessels often attract expert fishermen who can be both arrogant and intimidating.

John Dockweiler of Rancho Cucamonga was apprehensive about boarding the Tracer for that very reason, but he was fortunate in that the passengers and crew were friendly and helpful, and because he caught his first yellowtail, an 18-pounder that took him up and down the rail before it was in range of the gaff.

“My biggest fish before this? Probably a largemouth bass,” he said with a smile.

And when the Tracer eventually pulled back into its slip about sunset, everyone was smiling. They’d be taking showers soon.

SHORT CASTS

* Deja View: The lunch crowd at Humphrey’s on the Delta in Antioch, Calif., was treated to a performance by a wayward gray whale that lunged out of the water just beyond the water’s edge. The restaurant, you might have guessed, is named after Humphrey the whale, who made headlines with a similar journey up the delta system in 1985. The Marie Mammal Center of Marin County is monitoring the progress of the current intruder, a juvenile believed to be about 20 feet long.

* Lions and collies and sheep: The Lee Vining hiker who watched in horror earlier this month as a mountain lion killed her unleashed collie, said she heard reports of animal carcasses being found on the makeshift campus of nearby Lee Vining High School (the school burned down last September).

“I haven’t heard about that,” said Sharon Dillon, the school secretary who added that students are being warned to stay off a dirt trail leading into the Eastern Sierra wilderness. “I recall we had a similar scare 15 years ago in June Lake. A mountain lion was seen taking a dog from a person’s porch. A tracker found the den and in it were a bunch of dog collars. They never found the lion, though.”

Mountain lions in the area are responsible for killing Sierra bighorn sheep, whose population is already dangerously low. John Wehausen of the White Mountain Research Station in Bishop hopes to start a captive breeding program to bolster sheep numbers. Another plan includes moving some of the sheep to Paoha Island on Mono Lake, where they would be able to breed unfettered.

* Salmon-fishing update: Don’t break out the barbecue just yet. The season is already a week old and only a few king salmon have been caught. Opening day last Saturday was a circus in the Ventura-Santa Barbara area. And in Morro Bay, the crowd was so big that anglers, after launching their vessels, were parking so far away that they had to take taxis back to their boats. Conditions are good, though, so fishing is expected to improve.

* Halibut derbies: The annual assault--in two waves--is close at hand.

The Marina del Rey Anglers’ event is March 27-28. Prizes include a new truck and Alaska and Baja fishing trips. Cost is $40 a person and optional team and awards banquet fees. Details: (310) 827-4855.

The Santa Monica Bay Halibut Derby is April 10-11. A second weigh-in site has been added for the Santa Monica Bay event, in Redondo Beach King Harbor. A block of 1,500 Super Lotto tickets will be divided among the top five finishers. The top prizes are an Alaska fishing trip and a Baja fishing trip. Cost is $50 a person and optional costs for the awards banquet and team competition. Details: (310) 450-5131.

* Barrett bass: Opening day at one of the Southland’s premier bass fisheries--Lake Barrett in eastern San Diego County not far from the border--is April 7 and the catch-and-release, barbless-hooks-only lake will be open for reservations only on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Prospects are good, biologists say, which means it will not be uncommon to land double digits of northern-strain largemouth bass. Reservation information: (619) 220-8497.

* Fly fishing: The annual Free Festival in the parking lot of Fishermen’s Spot in Burbank begins Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The event features exhibit booths from about 50 manufacturers, a casting area for testing and free drawings.

* Talking turkey: Sharpen your calls. The turkey season begins March 27 and prospects are fair throughout much of the Southland, biologists say. Bag limit is one bearded turkey a day, one in possession, and three turkeys for the 37-day season.

* Showtime: If you missed the Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show two weeks ago in Long Beach, a scaled-down version is in progress at the Del Mar Fair Grounds in Del Mar. Cost is $8. Hours are 2-9:30 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.

ON WHITER SIDE

Yes, that is actual snow up there on the slopes of the local resorts. The New Mountain High in Wrightwood was one of the prime beneficiaries, getting six-eight inches of powder. The Big Bear resorts got slightly less. Cold temperatures have enabled steady snow-making too, and skiing and boarding haven’t been this good in more than a month.