Anglers Don’t Want to Miss This Boat

The sentiment of one angler was seemingly shared by all: “Man, what an awesome boat.”

As for the fishing, it was slow but that didn’t seem to matter to the 66 anglers who were part of the New Del Mar’s maiden voyage Saturday morning.

What mattered most was that they had a shiny new boat to break in.

Indeed, this is big news considering that landing operators, for the most part, are reluctant to make such costly additions to their fleets, which consist largely of antiquated tubs that have bounced from port to port over the past several decades.

“Why did I have this boat built? That’s simple: to better serve the public,” said Rick Oefinger, owner of Marina del Rey Sportfishing.

That may sound corny, but Oefinger, 46, deserves recognition for the upgrades he has made since taking over the landing five years ago.

He has transformed one of the sorriest live-bait operations into one of the most reliable. In 1995, before he took over, he built a 65-foot boat and named it the New Del Mar. To make room for the latest version of the New Del Mar, he sold the 65-footer and its name has been changed to the Spitfire. The Spitfire is still at the landing.

Last year, Oefinger brought in the Thunderbird, giving the Marina del Rey landing something it has always lacked: access to the islands and offshore banks.

“Now we have all aspects covered,” Oefinger said. “The Thunderbird gives us overnight capability, the Spitfire is our three-quarter-day boat and the New Del Mar is our state-of-the-art half-day boat.”

For nostalgia’s sake, he has kept on the Betty O, which has been running trips out of the landing since the late 1960s and will “handle our youth fishing groups and make our daily rock cod runs.”

As for Oefinger’s newest addition, it’s an eye-catcher. While most party boats are made of wood, this one is constructed--at a cost of $900,000--of high-grade aluminum, which needs no paint to protect it from the elements.

It’s 75 feet long and 25 feet wide, making it among the Southland’s most spacious and stable half-day boats. It can accommodate 150 passengers, although it will rarely carry much more than half that. It has an exceptionally large galley, a sprawling sundeck, and a bait tank that holds eight tons of water.

“To me, sportfishing is all about recreation and our thing is for people to come and have an enjoyable time even on a slow day,” Oefinger said. “If some guy comes on board and only catches two sculpin and a Johnny bass, then says he had a good time anyway, you know you’ve done your job.”

His passengers caught about 150 rockfish last Saturday. Since then, fishing in Santa Monica Bay has picked up considerably as a school of large and voracious barracuda have moved into the bay.

It’s just the christening Oefinger had been hoping for.

Early Albacore

If you want to be among the early birds during what promises to be a good season, now’s the time.

The first catch of the season was logged Friday aboard Relentless out of Fisherman’s Landing, as 10 anglers put four albacore and 45 yellowtail on board in an area 115 miles southwest of the landing. On Saturday, the Indian out of H & M Landing had six albacore in the same area; and on Sunday the Legend out of Seaforth Sportfishing had eight at 135 miles.

The Pacific Queen and American Angler were in the area Thursday, their skippers reporting ideal conditions but no takers as of about 3 p.m.

Catalina Croakers

Asked to assess the local fishing picture, Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, said there is nothing worth mentioning close to shore. “Unfortunately, all of our eggs are in one basket and that basket is over at Catalina,” he said.

Fortunately, Catalina is the site of one of the best spring white seabass runs in years. The big croakers are bunched up in spawning mode along most of the back side of the island and along portions of the front side, enabling opportunity even for those aboard three-quarter-day boats.

One-fish limits have been the rule and the fish are averaging 20 to 30, with many topping 40 and a few pushing 50.

Troubled Waters

These are tough times for many marine mammals and notably for California sea lions, which are stranding themselves on Southland beaches by the droves, and carpet the pens of care facilities from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

They’re suffering from the effects of domoic acid poisoning, caused by a toxic bloom of algae ingested by schooling fish that the mammals prey on. The biotoxin doesn’t affect the fish but it leaves the mammals disoriented and subject to violent seizures. In many cases, it proves fatal.

This is a natural event that should start tapering off soon, but until it does people are asked not to harass the beached animals and to report--to animal control agencies--only those that appear to be ill.

Joe Cordaro, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, said sea lions that have come ashore are placed under a 48-hour watch before they’re brought to care centers “to give those that are not in such dire straits a chance to get back off the beaches on their own” and to relieve overcrowding at the centers.

The toxic blooms appear to have occurred well offshore and there have been no advisories warning against the consumption of fish caught in Southern California.

Heartbreak in Himalayas

The mountaineering season is underway and harsh weather has helped turned the past few weeks into deadly ones.

On April 24, Raymond David Coughron, 58, an energy consultant from Berkeley, became separated from his group on Mount Makalu, at 27,766 feet the world’s fifth-highest mountain. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Coughron froze to death in a hole he had dug for shelter. His body was discovered two days later by members of a Swiss expedition. They buried him at 23,330 feet.

On April 30, a British climber was killed on Mount Everest, at 29,028 feet the world’s tallest mountain. Peter Legate, 38, of Lymington, Hampshire, fell more than 600 feet into a crevasse while trying to descend from Base Camp III to Base Camp II.

Next week, Jeff Mathy, 23, a Fullerton climber attempting to become the youngest to conquer the Seven Summits, will begin a summit attempt of Everest (giving him six of the seven). He and his team have been busy acclimating with trips between base camps. The expedition is being chronicled at www.liptont.com.

No Tahitian Treats

Few waves are as perfectly shaped or as dangerous as the wickedly hollow tubes that pound the reef at Teahupoo in Tahiti. On really big days they strike fear into the hearts of even the world’s best surfers.

They were really big most of this week, during the opening rounds of the 2002 Billabong Pro Teahupoo, part of the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ World Championship Tour.

The surfers had plenty to say about the atmosphere associated with holding an event in such precarious conditions, but none said it better than Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, who is in Tahiti rooting on friend and six-time world champion Kelly Slater.

“It actually is so big, and such a freak of nature it takes at least a couple of days to figure it out,” Vedder said. “Your brain can’t compute, or at least that’s what I’ve found. And then all the people out there, it’s kind of like a circus built right next to an earthquake that’s going off.”

Water on the Brain

Last week’s Newport-In-Water Boat Show at Newport Dunes Resort and Marina was offering a new boat to one of 10 finalists chosen to participate in a “Survivor”-themed contest designed to see who could stand in a fish-fighting position the longest.

Surprisingly, when the show ended, after 72 hours, four of the 10 remained, though on wobbly legs. The giveaway was ultimately decided by a casting contest won by Kevin Hannon of Anaheim.

It was the victory celebration, however, that provided the most entertainment for show-goers. Hannon was mobbed by friends and family, who tossed him into the water. A show spokesman said the water was only a few feet deep and that Hannon, who landed head first, emerged “covered with mud and with blood pouring from his nose.”

Winding Up

Are you ready for the Urban Challenge? This city-style version of the Eco-Challenge comes to Los Angeles on May 25. It will feature teams of two racing around town--either on foot or via public transportation--trying to decipher clues to 12 hidden checkpoints that must be visited and photographed in proper order before teams can cross the finish line.

L.A. is the second stop of a 21-city U.S. tour. The top teams will win a trip to Las Vegas this fall to compete in the $50,000 national championships. Details: (602) 308-4868 or at www.urbanchallenge.com.