Big Blues Lingering at Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas is living up to its reputation as the striped marlin capital of the world, but the stripers are being upstaged by out-of-season blues.
In the past two weeks there have been several catches of blue marlin weighing in at more than 500 pounds, and an Alaska angler landed a 700-pounder. He was outdone last week by Malibu’s Jim Rapf, who brought in a 737-pounder.
Asked about the fight, Rapf, 48, was hesitant to describe it because there wasn’t much of one. “It was relatively easy,” Rapf said. “I think it was my technique.”
The fish jumped several times, but came to the boat in about 30 minutes. Once gaffed, it took off, straightening the gaff and fighting for another 10 minutes before Rapf and crew could subdue it. “It was fun, but short,” Rapf said.
Stripers are still abundant enough to keep fishermen busy.
Gene Gamache of Vancouver and a guide on one of Victor’s pangas experienced a triple-hookup with stripers while trolling eight miles from shore. They fought two and handed the third to an angler on a nearby boat. All three were brought to the boat and two were released.
Another group reported catching 10 stripers in two days, including one that weighed 198 pounds. The Pisces fleet reported 79 stripers for the week, 69 released.
*
Daniel DeWayne Royse’s first mistake was to take the easy way out when trying to fill his bear tag.
But after illegally killing a black bear that had gathered to forage--as several do each day--in a Northern California landfill, Royse left a bloody trail that required only basic detective work on the part of Department of Fish and Game warden Ken Taylor and his son Shawn.
There was the bungled getaway attempt.
Royse, 41, of Ferndale, Calif., killed the bear in Happy Camp landfill, but had hoped to keep that information secret.
He somehow moved the bear to the edge of a the forest above Klamath River Highway and rolled the 500-pound animal off a cliff, hoping it would land in the bed of his pickup.
“But it didn’t work and the bear ended up wedged between the base of the cliff and the truck,” Taylor said.
Two men stopped on the highway and helped Royse load the bear, but Royse left behind a bloody piece of rope with bear hair on it. Taylor found it.
Royse also left a pile of guts at the scene of the crime. In the pile, there was a bear heart “the size of a football”--with a three-blade head of an arrow. Taylor found this, and notified DFG check points.
When Royse checked his bear with the DFG--as required by law--in Eureka and proudly proclaimed, “I shot him right through the heart,” the jig was up.
Taylor and sheriffs deputies paid Royse a visit. A search turned up shoes matching footprints at the site of the kill, a bloody bow and a bloody piece of rope.
To make matters worse for Royse, officers found a gray owl mount and feet and talons of a great horned owl, an endangered species.
Royse pleaded guilty earlier this month to illegally killing and possessing the bear and killing a bear at a dump site. He was ordered to pay $2,735, spend two days in jail, give up his bow and forfeit his hunting rights for three years.
Charges of illegal possession of an endangered species are pending in Humboldt County.
Briefly
EARTHQUAKE--The Department of Fish and Game has been in contact with CalTrans regarding the possibility of using the rubble from last week’s earthquake for the construction of artificial reefs off the Southern California coast. Bob Fletcher, president of the Sportfishing Assn. of California, suggested the idea. CalTrans is still considering the possibility.
SALTWATER--Bottom fishing remains most productive locally, but there is variety available in the form of calico bass at San Clemente Island, bonito at Catalina and sand bass and halibut at Santa Monica Bay and near Horseshoe Kelp. A 38-pound 8-ounce halibut was caught by Scott Niven of Los Angeles aboard Marina del Rey Sportfishing’s Spitfire.
The northern Channel Islands, primarily Santa Rosa and Santa Barbara islands, continue to produce impressive numbers of large lingcod and cow cod.
Cabo San Lucas: Besides marlin, anglers are hooking up with yellowfin tuna on a regular basis, and with an occasional thresher shark. Dorado have for the most part moved on. The tuna, ranging from 15 to 45 pounds, are scattered in good volume from Cabo San Lucas up the gulf to Gordo Banks and beyond.
Mazatlan: Sailfish, tuna, dorado and an occasional blue marlin are providing most of the action, but the Star Fleet reports five swordfish taken in the past week, including a 325-pounder from California angler Mike Bowie.
INSTRUCTION--Pacific Edge is hosting a seminar on how to find, catch and use live squid Thursday from 7-10 p.m. at Seal Beach Church in Seal Beach. Details: (714) 840-4262. . . . Eagle Claw Fishing Schools will begin their 1994 schedule this weekend with a 2 1/2-day seminar-fishing trip beginning Friday aboard the Holiday out of Point Loma Sportfishing in San Diego. Details: (714) 840-6555.
