Pete Thomas Outdoors

Legal to sell flies made with big-game and waterfowl parts?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Game and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: My friends that hunt big game and waterfowl often give me deer hide or duck wings and body feathers which I use to tie flies for fishing. In the past I have given them flies in return for the hair, fur and feathers. In addition, I have sold flies to a few local sport stores, which may contain materials provided by my hunter friends. Would I be violating Fish and Game laws by trading (bartering) or selling these flies? Granted, these hunters provided materials that make a very small portion of the fly materials used to make flies. However, I grew up among sportsmen in a culture that encouraged the sharing of the harvest (taken by hunting or fishing) and an ethic of utilizing the harvest to the fullest extent (meat, fur, hair and feathers). Please let me know. (Terry T., Davis)

Answer: Yes and No. If the flies you tie are made only with the deer hair your friends have given you, then you may sell them (Fish and Game Code, section 4303). Any of the flies you tie that contain bird feathers from birds lawfully taken in California may not be sold as this would be a violation of multiple sections of the Fish and Game Code (including sections 3039 and 3504).

The law does provide some exceptions for mammals that are taken under a Trapping License or that are raised under a Domesticated Game Breeding License.

Buying and selling parts of bird and mammal species that do not exist in the wild in California are not restricted under this law. For a list of the species that do exist in the wild in California, please go to www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/genplantsanimals.html.

Q: If I go out alone and I have 10 hoop nets on my boat, but I only have five baited nets, am I ok or do I need to remove the unbaited nets to comply? (Anonymous)

Swooping osprey nabs trout hooked by fly-fisherman (video)

The trout didn't put up much of a fight, but the osprey that grabbed the hooked fish and soared over  the lake with the catch was unstoppable. That is, until the large raptor released the trout from the grasp of its mighty talons.

A YouTube user named McDirtyBirdy uploaded the accompanying video last week after his fly-fishing excursion to an Oregon lake. He was in a float tube, nearly at surface-level, and presumably using a mounted camera as he tried to film his landing of a small trout.

But the osprey perceived the struggling fish as an easy meal and swooped down for the catch. It flew across the lake before letting go. The angler then reeled the fish to his float-tube, and set it free.

"One lucky trout," he concluded.

Fly-fishing extravaganza in weekend forecast for Pasadena

Prospects of a rainy weekend have you down?

If you're a Southern California fly fishermen, this shouldn't be an issue because spring is just around the corner and the annual Fly Fishing Show will be at the Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday, with something for everyone.

Expert tiers and casters will give demonstrations.  Representatives from angling destinations will show you what makes their places so special. About 80 exhibitor booths -- ranging from tackle manufacturers and dealers to clothing and lodge reps -- will line the center's exhibition hall.

There will be seminars galore and door prizes for a fortunate few include trips to such amazing fishing destinations as Patagonia, Mexico and Canada.

Detailed information about attendees and seminars is available on the Fly Fishing Show website.

Hours are 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $15 for adults (or $25 for a two-day pass), $10 for active military, $2 for children younger than 12 and free for Scouts under 16 (in uniform) and children younger than 5.

Rain or shine, the show should get you in the mood to fish.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo courtesy of ©Thomas Kelsey

Fly-fishing event Saturday features demos, flies and lots more

From guest-blogger and avid fly angler Bennett Mintz:

Hand-tied fishing flies from some of the best tiers in the country will be on sale Saturday at FlyBuy 2011, a fund-raising project of the Southwest Council Federation of Fly Fishers, at the Long Beach Casting Club. 

In addition, the day will offer a veritable three-ring circus of fishing tackle garage sale, casting lessons, fly-tying demonstrations, auctions and barbeque.

Members of the 24 fly-fishing clubs that comprise the Southwest Council FFF have donated rods, reels, clothing and accessories to the buyers’ carnival and demonstration of the art at 4901 E. 7th St., Long Beach, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

 Funds from the event are earmarked for FFF projects including Trout in the Classroom, monofilament recovery tubes for discarded fishing line placed throughout the Sierra, work with disabled veterans and other conservation and education activities.

 "About a dozen fly tiers – some of them international award winners – will demonstrate their skills.  Fly tiers include Maria Rivas, Peter Koga, Lee Baerman, Bill Blackstone, John Van Derhoof, Mark Kirchner, Dean Endress, Naomi Okamoto and Steven Fernandez,” said Council president Michael Schweit, Northridge.

Silent and live auctions will be conducted throughout the day for books, artwork, fly plates, fly rods, reels, vests and other accessories.  “This is a great opportunity to pick up lightly-used tackle and tools at a great price while helping a great conservation cause,” said Schweit.

Hamburgers, hot dogs and soft drinks will be available.  For information call (818) 757-3474.

-- Bennett Mintz

Cabo San Lucas fishing heats up as storm-watch begins

Fishing in the Cabo San Lucas area is heating up and so is the water, providing the summer's first real chance of hurricanes making their way to or uncomfortably close to the resort destination at Baja California's tip.

Tropical Storm Frank, located 160 miles south-southeast of Acapulco, is expected to become a hurricane Wednesday as it tracks to the west-northwest. According to the National Hurricane Center, it will remain well to the south and west of the Los Cabos area, but it's too early to tell.

Water temperatures off Cabo San Lucas, in places, are as high as 85 degrees. The storm is expected to deliver large swells and much-needed rain.

"Our fingers are crossed for just some rain, and we are watching TS Frank right now," Capt. George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing said in his Monday fishing report.

Highlighting the fishing action are marlin and large tuna. One of Landrum's friends last week caught-and-released a black marlin estimated to weigh more than 500 pounds, while working a temperature break south of Land's End.

Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas in the San Jose del Cabo area provided the accompanying photo showing Josh Evans, from Oakland, Calif., posing next to a 342-pound yellowfin he caught after a three-hour battle from aboard a 22-foot panga.

Evans used a live moonfish for bait and a 200-pound-est leader attached to 80-pound mono. There are several grades of tuna swimming around high spots such as the Gordo, San Luis and Iman banks, Brictson said.

Striped marlin and dorado are being caught on the Pacific and gulf sides of the peninsula. The most consistent striper action, according to fleet operators, is on the Pacific side at or near the Golden Gate.

Most boats venturing to that area are hoisting between two and six release flags upon their return.

Please check back later in the week for updates pertaining to the storm.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of Josh Evans and his 342-pound tuna courtesy of Gordo Banks Pangas. Storm graphic courtesy of National Hurricane Center

Costa Rica anglers harassed--again--by commercial seiners

Earl Engel was celebrating his first capture and release of a sailfish off Costa Rica when trouble materialized in the form of an 180-foot commercial fishing vessel, and a helicopter whose crew was said to have dropped small bombs that caused Engel and his fellow anglers to fear for their lives.

The anglers, aboard a 45-foot yacht named Silver-Rod-O, faced a double assault: The crew of the Venezuelan purse-seiner (pictured) threatened to plow over the yacht, but decided instead to encircle the vessel with its net.

"Several explosives landed within 50 meters of the boat," Gary Carter, the yacht's owner, said of the recent incident, which prompted an outcry from a Florida-based fisheries conservation organization and an investigation ordered this week by Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla.

The anglers were able to flee and return unharmed to the Costa Rican port of Garza. But the incident is troubling because it's not isolated. It has happened twice to Carter, who lives in Duluth, Ga., but keeps his boat in Costa Rica, and it has happened at least nine times to other sportfishing captains during the past two years off the west coast of the Central American nation.

"The Costa Rican government has to do something to show these foreign seiners that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated before someone gets injured or killed out there," said Joan Vernon, a board member for The Billfish Foundation, which filed the complaint to Chinchilla and also notified the U.S.  Ambassador to Costa Rica.

These incidents have typically involved foreign-registered seiners licensed to fish in Costa Rican waters.  Their crews, like those who operate sportfishing yachts, are looking for dolphins, which often travel with tuna and other game fish.

If large schools of fish are present and if sportfishermen are in the way, the seiners will try to force them to leave so the nets can be deployed.

The explosive devices are "tuna bombs" dropped around the schooling fish -- usually yellowfin tuna -- to contain them in a small area, while a seine net is set around the school. The bombs are illegal in Costa Rica but apparently are still used by some commercial fishing fleets.

Chinchilla said Tuesday that she has ordered a probe into the Aug. 1 incident.

Carter said the previous encounter he had with seiners was on July 31, 2008.  A guest was fighting a large tuna when the seiner Lautaro arrived and deployed a helicopter to make close sweeps and try to force the yacht off the tuna school.

While the guest was struggling to land the tuna, Carter said, "the seiner dropped its net to fully encircle us. About 45 minutes later, my guest landed the tuna and the Lautaro refused to let us out of the net for well over an additional hour."

Carter said explosive devices were not used in the 2008 incident. Of the more recent incident, when asked how loud and powerful the bombs were, Carter answered:

"I cannot say how powerful the incendiary devices are. With all of the noise from my boat and of the tuna seiner with its speed boats, and the helicopter, it was not possible to hear a blast. We could only see the smoke billowing from the water wherever they hit."

The Billfish Foundation, a nonprofit group that works with governments around the world to try to conserve billfish populations, has been trying to persuade Costa Rica, one of the world's premier sportfishing destinations, to take a tougher stance on commercial fishing.

The group recently completed a study that found sportfishing-related tourism generates $599 million annually for the Costa Rican economy.

"If Costa Rica won't address this sort of outrage and also take better care of the marine resources like sailfish and marlin that drive this economic engine, they will find people moving elsewhere and taking their money with them," said Ellen Peel, president of the Billfish Foundation.

Peel noted that Costa Rica's southern neighbor, Panama, recently outlawed purse seining within 200 miles of its coast. Guatemala, which is to the north of Costa Rica, does not allow seiners inside of 110 miles.

-- Pete Thomas

Photos of the Venezuelan seiner and helicopter used to harass those aboard the Silver-Rod-O courtesy of Gary Carter

False killer whales fail to spoil Zihuatanejo roosterfish bite

Fishermen are few these days off Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo, but those who have traveled to this beautiful part of Mexico recently probably were not disappointed.

Guide and longtime Zihuatanejo resident Ed Kunze reports an abundance of sailfish and some blue marlin in the blue water offshore, which at present is only about six miles from the beach.

A private yacht from Ixtapa Marina returned to port Thursday flying six sailfish release flags.

Kunze also reports a wide-open roosterfish bite closer to shore, and these powerful members of the jack family have been the primary targets for fly anglers. There are lots of jack crevalle in the same areas, too.

Fly-fishing guide Lance Peterson has enjoyed a productive week with clients from California, but the bite was interrupted one of the days by the arrival of predatory false killer whales, which cruised the nearshore waters and scattered the game fish.

Kunze spent one day acting as guide for Houston anglers Rosario and Cecile Tortoice. They ended up with five roosterfish to about 40 pounds, caught and released aboard Dos Hermanos.

-- Photo: Rosario and Cecile Tortorice, and Capt. Adolfo (center), pose with one of five roosters caught off Zihuatanejo aboard the Dos Hermanos. Credit: Ed Kunze

Marlin fishing remains a game of patience off Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas fishermen have seen more striped marlin during the past week but, as Capt. George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing reports, "They were not swimming around with their mouths open."

Landrum adds: "It took time, patience and working the right fish to get hooked up as it appeared most of the fish were still full of squid."

With the exception of mullet, bait fish remain hard to find and this is the case all the way north to the East Cape region.

Cabo anglers did encounter football-size yellowfin tuna close to port, within five miles of the Gray Rock area, but those fish had largely disappeared by the weekend.

Dorado are being caught sporadically by anglers trolling live bait; even by those trolling close to shore for roosterfish.

In the Sea of Cortez, inshore fishing for jacks and roosterfish is still better than offshore fishing for glamor species such as marlin, dorado and tuna.

Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas out of La Playita said, however, that a 450-pound black marlin was caught, and that fleets from Puerto Los Cabos/La Playita accounted for nine striped marlin releases during the past week.

At the East Cape, fishing is fair or good, depending on who is filing the report. But action seems to have slightly improved for marlin and dorado. Most of the dorado caught this past week, however, were small fish taken close to shore.

Yellowfin tuna are being located beneath porpoises far offshore, but they're easily spooked and those who are first to find them are enjoying the most success.

Mike Hergert of Coronado, Calif., reports that during his week-long stay at Rancho Leonero Resort last week he caught two marlin (released), six tuna to about 50 pounds, two dorado from a kayak, two roosterfish and several smaller fish that were caught from the beach with a fly rod.

That's a great week and a promising sign that fishing is, in fact, improving.

-- PTO

Marlin photo courtesy of Bill Wilson

Cabo San Lucas-area fishing is finally on the upswing

Fishing is finally picking up off Cabo San Lucas and especially to the north in Baja California's East Cape region.

It's good because landing operators and resort owners are running out of ways to spin news that action was not up to normal springtime standards.

There's still lots of room room for improvement but during the past week marlin became more cooperative, primarily in the Sea of Cortez; dorado and small tuna showed up offshore, and roosterfish finally arrived off beaches, adding to the variety this region is famous for."I think we finally are out of our fishing slump,

said John Ireland, owner of Rancho Leonero Resort at the East Cape.

A side note to East Cape action: Small roosterfish have become prevalent along the shore. Fly anglers using clover-rat patterns  have been catching lots of 3-pound roosters and ladyfish from the beach, according to guide Jeff deBrown of The Reel Baja.

The wahoo bite is surprisingly good for this time of year, with fish from 40-80 pounds breezing from Cabo San Lucas to the San Luis Bank, reports Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas.

Brictson also reports slightly improved striped marlin activity off Chileno and at the Gordo Banks, with caballitos accounting for most. Capt. George Landrum, of Fly Hooker Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas, reports only fair fishing for marlin on the Pacific side of the peninsula, where larger blue and black marlin are sporadically being hooked.

Catch of the week honors belong to East Cape resident Jim Moyer, who bagged a 28-pound snook in one of the lagoons. (Thanks for Gary Graham of Baja on the Fly for this report and the accompanying image.)

Snook, especially large snook, represent an unusual catch in the region. But this has been a highly unusual spring.

-- PTO

Photo: Jim Moyer displays 28-pound snook caught in an East Cape-area lagoon. Credit: Baja on the Fly

Life at 'the Ranch' is never dull for intrepid Baja anglers

An unseasonable north wind raged across the Sea of Cortez during the first two days of our visit last week to Rancho Leonero Resort in Baja California Sur's remote East Cape region.

My brother Scott and I realized fishing would be tough, even after the wind subsided, especially at the offshore marlin and tuna grounds.

But we also knew we had arrived at one of our favorite destinations, regardless of conditions, and that all that was required to catch fish was some improvisation.

During those first two days we stayed ashore, snorkeling and casting over a reef that sprawls before a sleepy resort that rests atop a desert bluff overlooking the sea and its stunning aquamarine hues.

We saw plenty of colorful fish through our masks and didn't mind that we caught only a few small croakers and cabrillas with light-tackle rods. The sun kept us warm and the prospect of afternoon beers, poolside on the patio, kept us in a proper mind-frame.

On the third day, with the wind having laid down, we fished aboard a super-panga with a whistle-happy captain named Santos. Our goal was to stay reasonably close to shore and catch edible fish for dinner, then try for a few roosterfish to cap the outing.

Santos came through on the first mission. We used live mullet and jigged Krocodiles beyond the Lighthouse area to hook enough African pompnao and pargo to feed us and some friends we had made during our stay.

What few roosterfish we encountered were in a funk, however, and refused to even inspect our hooked mullet. But jack crevalles, stronger cousins of roosterfish, were visible in packs and we each caught a 15-pounder before calling it a day.

The pompano that night (pictured at left) was savory, more tender and sweeter-tasting than the pargo, but both were attacked with knife-and-fork by those sitting at our patio table. Life at "the Ranch" is especially good, indeed, when a plate full of fresh fish becomes part of the fare.

Because the sea needed more time to settle and warm we did not venture back out on a boat, but instead chose to roam the shoreline on ATVs during our final full day and last morning. We were fortunate that Gary Barnes-Web, the resort's general manager, had enough free time to serve as our guide. He uses a throw-net to catch mullet, and while that did not help us achieve our target of caching large roosterfish from the beach, it did enable us to land and release three more jack crevalles (see top photo of Scott's second release).

We also cruised to the north and visited the other small resorts dotting this Baja's eastern shore. Sadly, most are still reeling because of Mexico's war on drugs and associated violence, even though that violence has not occurred in southern Baja or anywhere close to the East Cape.

But business is better than it was at this time last year, so maybe people are beginning to feel more comfortable about traveling to certain destinations in Mexico and rediscovering their charm and allure.

Rancho Leonero, with its rich history and attentive staff, is one such destination. Scott and I plan to go back as soon as we can get away. After all, we each have a score to settle with some hulking roosterfish.

-- Pete Thomas

Photos of Baja's varied catch by Pete and Scott Thomas

Editor's note: Reports early this week out of the East Cape tell of a vastly improved roosterfish bite. Of course I am not surprised.