The Angling Memories of Saturday Are Covered With Dust a Day Later

It was truly an opener to remember last Saturday at Crowley Lake. . . .

Thousands of fishermen setting out at first light, eager to get their hooks into their first trout of a new season in the Eastern Sierra. . . .

Experiencing the thrill of that first strike, then another and still another. . . .

Toting to the tables a full stringer by noon, then resting and going out for more. . . .

Yes, it was an exciting opening day at Crowley. But it was nothing compared to Sunday.

With dawn came a similar assault as more than 500 boats fanned out over a surface so smooth and glassy it mirrored the flame-colored sky. Again, the splashing of fish on the hook was almost immediate.

But by noon, nobody was hauling stringers of fish up the banks. They were hauling for cover to avoid being swallowed by clouds of blowing dust.

Those still on the lake were trying their best to get off it, rocking and splashing their way slowly back to the launch ramp, trying to stay afloat on the turbulent waves.

The same wind that had raged through the Owens Valley at speeds of up to 90 mph in the days before the opener--stopping, graciously enough, for opening day--had whipped back up as suddenly as it had disappeared.

When the red flag went up warning boaters to get off the lake, everyone set a course for the docks at once. A mad scramble resulted in gridlock.

“It was just a comedy watching them try to get their boats in,” said John Fredrickson, president of Crowley Lake Fish Camp. “Having 2,000 people trying to get off a six-boat launch ramp is pretty interesting.

“It stayed fairly well organized, though, because we moved the whole crew down there, but I saw two guys with trailers driving in reverse [toward one opening at the ramp] at a very high speed.

“And Jon Sweeny, our local fire chief, and I realized that they were both going for the same spot. . . . They were playing chicken with each other, and one of them finally stopped. I can chuckle about it now, but for a minute we were terrified that one of them wouldn’t stop and they would crash into each other.

“Patience was getting tight, but the sheriff and our patrol boats managed to get everyone off the lake without anyone capsizing or getting hurt.”

Truly an opener to remember.

BY THE NUMBERS

Wind or no wind, there’s no doubt that Crowley anglers did a number on fish that had been minding their own business in the quiet months before opening day.

Curtis Milliron, a Department of Fish and Game biologist, said opening-day anglers caught an average of 0.86 trout per hour and by day’s end an average of 4.2 trout per person.

Since about 5,000 anglers dropped a line into Crowley’s nutrient-rich depths, more than 20,000 trout--mostly rainbows averaging a little more than a pound--were caught on opening day alone.

Maybe the wind was Mother Nature’s way of giving the fish a break.

TWIN JEWELS

The most productive lakes for big fish this past week were scenic Upper and Lower Twin in the Bridgeport area.

In Upper Twin, the following trophies have been reeled: a 7-pound 6-ounce German brown, a 7-5 brown, a 7-0 rainbow, a 4-6 brown, a 4-3 brown and a 4-0 brown. “We had one guy go out and catch 22 fish in just a few hours, including three small browns,” said Kent Monroe, manager of the Mono Village boathouse. “So there are lots of limits of smaller fish being caught.”

Lower Twin produced the top fish on opening day, a 13-pound 10-ounce brown.

END OF AN ERA

With the recent passing of Frank Pachmayr, founder of Pachmayr Gun Works in El Monte, the sporting world lost much more than a pioneer gunsmith and craftsman. It lost “a legend who was internationally known by all the big gun houses,” said Nick Misciagna, 70, a longtime friend of Pachmayr’s who now lives in Cody, Wyo.

Pachmayr died last week after a long illness at his home in Cheviot Hills. He was 91.

A lifelong Los Angeles-area resident, he came from a long line of gunsmiths. His father, like his father before him, was a gun maker before and after moving here from Germany.

At one point, while a child, Frank Pachmayr developed an interest in music and began secretly taking lessons. His father found out and sternly informed the youngster, “No son of mine is going to be a music player. You will be a gunsmith.”

Frank not only became one, he became one of the best, eventually being granted more than 200 patents for his guns and modifications.

“He was also a gun-maker for the stars,” Misciagna said. “He made guns for Clark Gable, Robert Stack and Gary Cooper. . . . You name them, they were all his customers. Jimmy Stewart was one of his favorites. He had photos of all of them in his house. . . .

“Ronald Reagan was a good friend and he made a gun--a Winchester ’94 or ‘86--especially for him, which he called the Ronald Reagan Gun. The inscription told his life story. It had a gold football, it documented his sportscasting career, it had a mast of the theater and a Screen Actors Guild emblem. It had the governor’s seal, the presidential seal . . . and there was even a likeness of him on it. All the metal work was done by hand.”

Pachmayr was also an avid hunter and conservationist, donating support and money to several wildlife groups, among them Ducks Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

But it was his ability to devise and to develop better systems for existing products that led to his being granted the patents, over nearly three-quarters of a century.

“He was full of ideas,” Misciagna said. “He was a prolific inventor.”

BAJA BITE

The San Diego long-range season is winding down just as the fishing is heating up. Top catch, at the Revillagigedos south of the peninsula, was a 300-pound yellowfin tuna--one of the largest of the season--by Mike Marshall of Arcata, Calif., aboard the Excel. The 21 passengers also boated 303 wahoo, marking the best haul of that species this season.

Other catches of note:

--A 25-pound barracuda caught aboard one of Victor’s Pangas in the Sea of Cortez north of Cabo San Lucas. Pacific barracuda don’t get nearly that big, but fleet owner Victor Gutierrez said this one, with “black stripes and big teeth,” was not like any Pacific barracuda he had seen. Chances are, if it is a Mexican barracuda, which are common off Central America, it could be a world record. The existing record is a 21-pounder caught off Costa Rica.

--In three days off Cabo San Lucas aboard the private yacht White Cap, skippered by Pete Groesbeck, Las Vegas angler Dave Ballantyne caught and released 16 striped marlin and landed 13 dorado and a 210-pound swordfish.

--Ed Pietrenka of Placentia caught 40 African pompano while fishing from Victor’s off San Jose del Cabo. The pompano, whose flesh is considered delectable, have been showing in unusually large numbers, making them a target species rather than just an incidental catch. They are averaging five to 18 pounds, according to Larry Burson at Jig Stop Tours in Dana Point. Jig Stop is the U.S. representative for Victor’s.

STAYING ALIVE

The Boat Owners Assn. of the United States is offering on the Internet a 50-question “teaching test” on basic boating safety and survival. The on-line course, which was launched two weeks ago, is geared to increase boater education and, it is hoped, reduce the average annual fatality figure of nearly 900 nationwide. The website is https://www.boatus.com/course.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will receive a BOAT/U.S. safety certificate.

Education efforts already seem to be paying off. According to national figures released earlier this week, recreational boating fatalities last year dropped 13% to a record-low 714. The previous low was 800 in 1993 and the record high was 1,754 fatalities in 1973.

AROUND THE SOUTHLAND

About 3,000 are expected Saturday for AFTCO Mfg.’s annual Day at the Lots from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at 17351-B Murphy Ave., Irvine. The reasons for the big crowd are the fishing tackle and clothing sales and free seminars. But the event is noteworthy for another reason: A good portion of money raised through raffles and auctions will benefit the conservation efforts of the United Anglers of Southern California, which hopes to recruit a few new members. Details: (714) 660-8757.

Flatfish fanatics who haven’t yet signed up for this weekend’s Marina del Rey Halibut Derby can still do so, in person, at 13640 Mindanao Way, Marina del Rey. See Tony Munoz. Cost is $40. First prize is a fully equipped inflatable boat. Proceeds will help support Marina del Rey Anglers’ white seabass grow-out facility, to provide fishing opportunities for the underprivileged and to gather halibut brood stock for another conservation project.