Outdoor Notes : Some Fishing in Mexico Is Reported to Be Superb

Fishing in Cabo San Lucas has been only fair as of late, with hotel boats catching two to three striped marlin apiece on a daily basis, but mainland fishermen from Puerto Vallarta south to Zijuatanejo are finding an abundance of bigger and stronger billfish.

According to J.D. Doughty at Bisbee’s tackle shop in Newport Beach, the clear 80 degree-plus water has made for perfect conditions, and many fishermen have reported catching 200- to 500-pound blues, along with an occasional black marlin near 500 pounds.

“(Aside from the marlin) they have also been running into large schools of 50-pound yellowfin tuna,” said Doughty, who maintains radio contact with fishermen in Mexican waters. “Even the pangas (small guided motor boats) have been bringing in 300-pound blue marlin and some of them have brought back 500-pound black marlin as well,” Doughty added.

Chances that any California bighorn sheep are still alive in Modoc County’s Warner Mountains have grown slim, according to Department of Fish and Game officials, who are working with livestock owners in an attempt to learn more about the infectious bacterial pneumonia that raced through the population in recent weeks.

The latest helicopter survey turned up 2 more carcasses, bringing to 13 the number of carcasses found thus far. Officials feel the remaining dead animals might be in caves or possibly obscured by snow, rocky ledges and timber.

Fourteen sheep were introduced to the area in 1980 and had grown to about 49 animals when the disease hit. California bighorn sheep are a state threatened species.

From the Dept. of the Interior: Thirty-six percent of all adults in the United States fish, as do 15% of the women. Of all anglers in the United States, 69% are males and 31% female.

Grunion season began Saturday, and for the next several months night-time high tides will on occasion be accompanied by the small fish, who beach themselves for a half a minute or so to fulfill their spawning obligations, depositing and fertilizing their eggs in the wet sand along many Southland beaches.

There is no limit for licensed grabbers, providing bare hands only are used. Those interested in obtaining more information about grunion and their habits can contact the Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro, which conducts several seminars each year.

Briefly

Turkey season in California begins March 26 and licensed hunters and archers can take one bearded turkey--one having a beard visible through breast feathers--per day and two a season, which ends May 1. . . . The San Diego Oceans Foundation is sponsoring a seminar on California’s abalone resource March 16 at the University of San Diego. . . . A law lowering the age at which a person can hunt in Utah was passed during the recent session of the Utah State Legislature and awaits the signature of Utah’s Governor, which would enable 14-year-olds under adult supervision to legally participate in the 1988 big game season. . . . Flyfishing: June Lake pack station operator Dink Getty will present a program on “Flyfishing the High Sierra Back Country” during the San Fernando Valley-based Sierra Pacific Flyfishers’ March 17 meeting at the Odyssey Restaurant in Mission Hills; Inglewood Police Dept. Detective Duane Chebul of Granada Hills has been elected president of the club.