Pete Thomas Outdoors

Eastern Sierra fly anglers finding quality trout despite the cold

 

Tom Loe of Sierra Drifters guide service in the Eastern Sierra has issued his New Year's Eve fly-fishing report for the region. For those who don't subscribe, here it is, slightly abbreviated:

--Lower Owens River: Tough here toward the later part of December. Frigid weather and fluctuating flows at times have attributed to some very slow days in the drift boat and wild trout sections. Water temps have been in the thirties at times and this has made the fish very lethargic. Zero activity on the surface save for a sporadic midge hatch on the very warmest mornings.  Our best days involved fishing streamers #6-12 near the bottom and getting them to hit the flies more out of aggression than hunger.  Nymphing on the bottom will produce some fish in the very deepest pools using midge and caddis larva patterns #18-20.
 
Look for the fish to hold in the softest, deepest water you can locate in any given stretch. Looking into the crystal ball I see a warming trend developing in the first part of January and this could be the catalyst to get the fish feeding consistently once again.

--Upper Owens River:  Please exercise caution if you decide to drive on any of the two-track roads that lead to the river.  There are some substantial snow drifts currently, and others may develop quickly with any amount of wind making the roads impassable as you will become “high-centered” when you hit them.

I have been fishing this area a bunch this winter and have been rewarded with some of the best trophy-sized rainbow trout the area has to offer.  The scenery is spectacular, the solitude is wonderful; however, it is not for everyone and you should be prepared for some brutal cold and ice in your guides (and on your guide) most of the day.

Travis Pastrana to soar 250 feet in a rally car tonight in Long Beach

I once rode in a rally car with Travis Pastrana around a tight X Games track and the experience was a harrowing blur, not unlike a ride on a mega-roller coaster.

I would not like to be in Pastrana's car tonight as he rings in the new year by jumping his street-legal Subaru more than 250 feet from a ramp on the Pine Street Pier in Long Beach to a barge near the Queen Mary.

The freestyle motocross legend and perennial X Games star, who now races rally cars professionally, told me the idea was born on the simple premise of how far a person might be able to fly in a car. He plans to jump between 250-270 feet, shattering the world record of 171 feet, set by friend and fellow adrenaline junkie Ken Block.

The jump is part of the annual Red Bull: New Year, No Limits extravaganza and will be televised on ESPN beginning at 8 p.m. PST.

Pastrana, who will use a hand-brake and throttle to control his car's trajectory, will play the wind much like a golfer. But if his shot is errant, he concedes, it's the player who will suffer the consequences, which could be serious if you consider he'll hit the takeoff ramp at about 100 mph and will travel more than 25 feet over water and must land smoothly in a sweet spot to avoid ending up in the chilly harbor.

Cabo San Lucas rain does not hamper the inshore fly-fishing bite

It rained more than two inches in Cabo San Lucas on Wednesday, but the inshore fishing remained productive, reports Jeff deBrown of The Reel Baja.

The guide, who generally works the East Cape region farther north in the Sea of Cortez, has been working off Land's End and putting his clients on sierra, bonito, pompano, roosterfish and snapper. Sierra have been plentiful on both sides of the Baja California peninsula.

"Most of the Sierra have been in the five- to six-pound range with a few over 10 pounds mixed in," deBrown reports. The roosterfish are on the small side, weighing to about 30 pounds, but that's a lot to handle with a fly rod.

DeBrown will be guiding off Cabo San Lucas on Thursday before returning home to the East Cape, where fishing remains productive when the dreaded north wind isn't blowing.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Brian Doelle of Chicago displays a bonito caught on a fly off Cabo San Lucas. Credit: Jeff deBrown

Dog is dragged to death within Colorado National Monument

In what is being called "a heinous act" of animal cruelty, a German shepherd was dragged to its death early Wednesday within Colorado National Monument, and park officials have set up a crime tip line in an attempt to find the person responsible.

Joan Anzelmo, park superintendent, reports that a person or persons entered the monument on the West Hill and dragged the animal alongside the vehicle for about two miles. The dog was found dead with a blue and silver synthetic rope around its neck by a park employee at 4:30 a.m.

Tracks in the snow indicate the dog initially was walking, then running, and then it was dragged. Park officials do not seem to think it might have been an accident. A news release states: "The employees of Colorado National Monument are sickened by this heinous act and are determined to find the person who committed this cruel crime."

The accompanying photo was posted in the hope someone might recognize the animal and provide information to investigators. Anyone with information that might help locate the vehicle or its owner is asked to call (970) 712-2798. Callers may remain anonymous.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo courtesy of Colorado National Monument

 

Afghanistan children on a roll as skate park opens in Kabul

Skateboarding's growth and popularity among younger generations have been phenomenal. An increasingly large number of kids would rather skateboard than play team sports. Skate parks are springing up in cities around the world, and this week one opened in what seems the most most unlikely location of all:

Kabul, Afghanistan.

That's right. In a Reuters story that hit the wires today, one of the world's poorest and most conservative countries now boasts a skate park that, like skate parks everywhere, will provide young people with a venue at which to challenge themselves physically and mentally, and to stay out of trouble.

The program is two years in the making and became a reality thanks to the efforts of Skateistan, a co-ed skateboarding school. In fact, its outreach toward girls has been surprisingly successful in a nation whose populace perceives most mainstream team sports as for men only.

"I want to be a professional skateboarder in future like my teacher, and help other children learn how to skate," Mahro, 10, is quoted as saying in regard to the park and the unique school that is part of the operation.

FMX star Cam Sinclair back on bike, hoping to bounce back in 2010

Cameron Sinclair is back on his motorcycle and some might call that inspirational, while others might say the freestyle motocross rider is crazy, having cheated death and debilitation at least once already.

But the Australian FMX star, like others of his kind, is a passionate athlete whose life revolves around the high-flying, gravity-defying sport. So he is riding again, five months after under-rotating a double back-flip and planting himself face- and chest-first into the dirt, leaving doctors, family and friends wondering if he'd walk or talk again.

Fans might recall the aftermath of an accident that occurred during a competition in Madrid. Cam experienced bleeding deep inside the brain. He could barely move the right side of his body and he could not breathe on his own, so tubes emanated from his mouth and nose during much of his hospital stay.

Here's part of a news release issued a week before Christmas by Cam's team: "The past two weeks he has been easing his way back into riding, by spending some time on a YZ250F at Southside HQ Motocross and Supercross tracks. For the past three days he has been riding his YZ250 Two Stroke again and building up to jumping ramps again at his close friend Bilko’s house.

"It makes me really proud to say that Cam’s return to FMX over the past few days has been fantastic. He pushed the ramp back to 75 feet this morning and began nailing some of his better tricks right away including double grabs and Hart attacks, etc."

The video, which will make you cringe, is posted on Cam's website and on Tuesday was posted on the Metal Mulisha website. He talks about his recovery and looks forward to competing in 2010. Here's hoping he comes back healthy--and stays healthy--and enjoys a truly memorable year.

-- Pete Thomas

Angler battles 800-pound blue marlin for six hours off Cabo San Lucas

Anglers off Cabo San Lucas are experiencing a late-season surge in big billfish activity, mostly in the Sea of Cortez near the Gordo Banks, where large tuna remain the primary target.

Dan Magers, visiting from Montana, boated an 800-pound blue marlin just before Christmas while fishing from the aptly-named cruiser, The Blue Marlin, which launched from Cabo San Lucas marina. Magers fought the behemoth for six hours while fishing with 50-pound-test line.

A 400-pound black marlin was landed Monday by renowned La Playita pangero Hugo Pino. Eric Brictson, owner of Gordo Banks Pangas, said many large marlin were hooked but lost by anglers using light fluorocarbon leaders while fishing for line-shy tuna. Some of those tuna have topped 300 pounds.

On the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula, the striped marlin bite remains erratic, perhaps because of unseasonably warm water, reports Capt. George Landrum of Fly Hooker Sportfishing.

To the north at the East Cape, fishing remains very good on days without the seasonal north wind. John Ireland, owner of Rancho Leonero Resort, reports abundant sightings of and hookups with striped marlin, sailfish and dorado. 

Off La Paz, similar conditions exist but there's also an abundance of 20-pound tuna breezing about the high spots, reports Jonathan Roldan of Tailhunter International.

--Pete Thomas

Photo: Dan Magers of Montana (to the right of the billfish) poses with 800-pound blue marlin caught after a six-hour fight off the Cabo San Lucas area. Credit: Gordo Banks Pangas

Peregrine falcon puts on Christmas show at Bolsa Chica wetlands

A woman strolling on the gravely path at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve referred to the sighting as the perfect Christmas Present. "I've been studying birds here for 10 years and this is the first time I have seen anything like it," she said of a peregrine falcon that had landed only 30 feet away and began to eat small stones, supposedly to aid its digestion.

The remarkable raptor then took off and made a low, swift flight over the sprawling wetlands, sending hundreds of western sandpipers and other birds into a collective panic.

It was a sunny, crisp Christmas morning and the reserve was abuzz with avian wonder. I walked with my brother, to burn off some holiday calories, and a man with a camera pointed out a reddish egret, a rare visitor from Mexico, known for its dancing behavior as it corrals prey in the shallows.

Northern California man pleads not guilty to shooting sea lion

Larry Legans, a Northern California fisherman accused of shooting a sea lion along the Sacramento River, pleaded not guilty Monday in Yuba City to a felony charge of cruelty to animals. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5 in Sutter County.

Legans had already been arraigned on misdemeanor charges but the more serious charge was leveled after it was learned the sea lion, which is being cared for at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, could die from its infected head wound. The sea lion, however, is eating heartily and appears to be on the mend.

A witness reportedly saw Legans shoot the pinniped in the face with a shotgun after it had stolen a fish from his hook. Sea lions, whose numbers have grown exponentially over the years, have become infamous for this tactic and some say they represent a serious threat to the fishing industry.

In Southern California they often shadow recreational fishing boats for hours, casually dining on fish after they've become hooked. Frustrated captains are certain the crafty mammals even teach this practice to their young, which compounds the problem.

But is it right to shoot them because of this? No. But some fishermen might disagree.

--Pete Thomas

Photo: California sea lions perched atop a buoy off Redondo Beach. Credit: Pete Thomas

Sea Shepherd's Christmas greeting to Japanese whalers falls on deaf ears

 

As whalers from Japan continue their assault on minke whales in the turbulent Southern Ocean, the crew of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is feeling snubbed. Its Merry Christmas wish to the whalers and their families, reportedly issued via radio, went unanswered.

This is not surprising. Capt. Paul Watson and his crew aboard the Steve Irwin are perceived as terrorists by Japan, which is conducting annual hunts despite a moratorium on commercial whaling (using a "lethal research" loophole) and widespread global opposition.

I followed this story for the past two years while an employee at the Los Angeles Times' (here's my last LAT post on the issue), and this latest announcement by Sea Shepherd is merely a PR ploy, but you can't fault Watson for trying to keep the story of his cause in the news.

The Christmas message, posted on the Sea Shepherd website: “Shonan Maru No. 2, Shonan Maru No. 2, this is the whale conservation and protection ship Steve Irwin. This is a message from the captain and crew of the Steve Irwin to the captain and crew of the Shonan Maru No. 2. As much of the rest of the world enjoys Christmas dinner and the companionship of friends and family in the comfort of their homes, our two crews are in the heavy seas of the Southern Ocean intent on two opposing missions. You, to protect the whalers from us and we, to protect the whales from you.

"We may be enemies, but on this day, perhaps we can stop and reflect that despite our opposition on the high seas, we are all human beings, and all of us would rather be somewhere else if not for our duties and responsibilities.

"Therefore we on the Steve Irwin would like to express our best wishes for your safety and health. We share the dangers of this unfortunate conflict in these remote and hostile seas and for that reason we share many of the same concerns.