FAIR GAME

Spout spotters

The sperm whale announced its presence by sending a dense plume of mist into the air. With the Sea Wolf II closing in, the great mammal arched its back, effectively waved goodbye with its massive fluke and disappeared into the haze of Monterey’s submarine canyon.

Minutes later, Nancy Black, director of Monterey Bay Whale Watch, answered her cellphone. This columnist was on the other end, asking whether there have been any notable sightings in Central California.

“Well, we’re just waiting for the sperm whale to come back up,” she said calmly, as if to underscore how special her workplace is. “He blew several times and just treated us to a huge fluke-dive. That was at 10:11. It’s now 10:18 and we’re still waiting.”

Fall is an exciting time off Monterey, and Black regards the trips she guides as the perfect primer for the comparatively bland but more reliable gray whale migration, which is imminent.

Sperm whale sightings, the whale researcher pointed out, are rare in coastal waters -- the Sea Wolf II doesn’t usually stray more than a few miles from the coast -- but the deep and meandering canyon sometimes leads them in, along with other magnificent creatures, large and small.

What else has been going on? Black thought about it. “Yesterday we saw several humpbacks -- there were 10 or 12 -- on their migration route south,” she answered. “The day before that we encountered huge schools of Risso’s dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins and northern right whale dolphins. We saw about 2,000 of them, all in one group.”

Vivid memories. But not as vivid as that of four adult killer whales teaching a juvenile how to hunt sea lions, as Black’s passengers watched in awe during a recent trip.

“They were batting this sea lion around pretty good,” she said. “It went on for at least a couple of hours.”

As for the sperm whale, it reappeared at 10:51, made another impressive fluke dive and sounded, not to be seen again.

A turkey treat

Cuyamaca-area residents whose homes were destroyed in the recent Cedar fire -- including many who remain in temporary housing in a recreational-vehicle park on Lake Cuyamaca grounds -- were treated to Thanksgiving turkey dinners at the local firehouse. Donations came largely from fishermen, according to Hugh Marx, head ranger at the east San Diego County reservoir. Lake facilities, remarkably, were largely unscathed by the fire and remain a base for the recovering Alpine community.

Visiting fishermen have been buying permits “even on cold and nasty days, whether they’re going fishing or not,” as a show of support, Marx added. “And from my perspective that’s had a huge psychological effect on my crew, because it not only gives them work but lets them know people are there to help.”

As for the fishing, it actually improved after the fire -- inexplicably, Marx said -- and remains very good for trout anglers casting Trout Teasers and Panther Martins from the shore. “They’re averaging about three trout per day, and [five-fish] limits are very common.”

Chasing rockfish

In the last few weeks the rockfish fishery has been ordered closed on an emergency basis, reopened by a judge who deemed fishermen weren’t given enough notice, then again ordered closed next Tuesday. Such moves, made in an ongoing attempt to ensure the health of the fishery in California waters, have been as confusing as they have been frustrating for all parties involved -- especially the fishermen.

To avoid the confusion, some are traveling to Mexico to a simpler place, where restrictions are few and the fishing nonetheless is pretty darn good. A favorite destination for many is San Quintin, a quiet, wind-swept paradise about 100 miles south of Ensenada.

“The bottom fishing, as you know, is great this time of year, with big whitefish, lingcod and rock cod,” Gene Allshouse, owner of San Quintin Sportfishing, said in one of his typical fall reports. “Captain Chino was out yesterday with three guys and they loaded the boat with nice big rock cod and whitefish just a little northwest of [San Martin] island in 300 feet of water. They said that each angler was pulling up four and five fish at a time. Good eating stuff. Try that above the border!”

Earning big buck

When pro angler David Fritts isn’t stalking bass, chances are he’s in the field stalking trophy-size whitetail deer. Fritts, a passionate hunter, is selective and often returns home empty-handed, but during his most recent trip to the wilds of Canada’s Saskatchewan, he tracked and videotaped a specimen he thought worthy of harvest.

He showed the tape to other hunters, who assured him it was indeed a record-book qualifier. Fritts went back into the field and, nearly two weeks later, came out with a 260-pound, 12-point buck whose antlers scored 188 points on the Boone & Crocket system, well above the 170 required for record-book entry.

Now the hunter is hoping his good fortune will carry onto the 2004 tournament trail. The former Bassmaster Classic champion from Lexington, N.C., finished the 2003 season ranked 104th.

To e-mail Pete Thomas or read his previous Fair Game columns, go to www.latimes.com/petethomas.