fathomiers newsletter - Los Angeles Fathomiers

FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
FREEDIVING – SPEARFISHING – COMPETITION
SINCE 1957
THE GIANT TOTUAVA OF SAN FELIPE – By Gene Kira
Unlike some of Baja California's other
towns--such as Loreto, which was established by Spanish missionaries over 300
years ago--San Felipe's history is relatively
short.
As you stand on the wide, sandy beaches of
today's bustling downtown, it's hard to visualize what the place looked like as recently
as 1950, when it was just a sleepy fishing
village of perhaps three-hundred people. In
that year, the highway from Mexicali was
graded and paved, in hopes of touching off a
real estate boom that would not actually materialize for another half century, and the
town of San Felipe was just a seasonal fish
camp for a fleet of shrimp boats and a very
small group of fisherman who plied the local
waters in canoes and skiffs.
(Today, you can still see the remnants of the
original ice plant on the low bluff at the north
end of town, where ice was made and sent
sliding down a long chute to the shrimp
boats as they anchored at the base of the
cliff.) And, as you look out over the calm
waters of San Felipe today, it's hard to
imagine that as recently as the 1950s these
beautiful beaches were the scene of one of
the most dramatic lessons mankind has
ever learned about how fragile the life of
the sea really is.
The story began just after the turn of the
century in the town of Guaymas, some 400
miles south on the far side of the Sea of
Cortez. There, it was discovered that the
internal air bladder of a gigantic fish called
the "totuava" could be dried and shipped at
a good profit to China, where it could serve
as a substitute for a local product in a soup
called Seen Kow.
The totuava, Cynoscion macdonaldi, is the
largest member of the croaker or sea trout
(Continued on page 3)
Sunglasses – by Ed Glass
Most people select sunglasses based on fashion, or how they think the glasses make them
look. Even celebrities are guilty of this behavior.
The reality is, however, that you need sunglasses to protect your eyes. Sunlight damages human eyes in many ways. Among the
worst are that continued exposure to sunlight
causes cataracts and macular degeneration.
The macula (lutea) is to just to the side of the
center of the retina, and it is essential to good
vision. The macula is made up mostly of
light-sensitive cone cells. Once damaged,
they don't regenerate. The end result is, at
best, impaired vision (with unsafe driving,
inability to spot fish, difficulty reading, etc.)
and, at worst, blindness. Cataracts don't help
matters either.
So please respect your eyes.
SunBlocking
Be certain your glasses provide 99%+
blocking of ultraviolet B (UV B) light.
Blocking UV A light is also good. Polarized lenses allow only directional
light waves to pass. Polarized lenses
offer no additional damage from the
damaging effects of sunlight though.
They may offer better ability to see
down into the water, but on the other
hand, some feel they may also make it
harder to see certain patterns of ripples
on the water's surface (e.g. bait ripples).
Size and Shape
The purpose of the glasses is to keep the
light out of your eyes. Smaller lenses allow
light and glare to enter from the sides or
(Continued on page 10)
APRIL 2003
Inside this issue:
Secretary’s
Report
2
CUTTING 4
EDGE
2003
6
CALENDAR
BIRTHDAY 8
SUIT
Competitive 9
Results
The Fathomiers Newsletter is the
official monthly publication of the
Los Angeles Fathomiers
The Fathomiers is a Southern California club dedicated
to Freediving and Competitive Spearfishing.
Membership is open to the public. To become an Active member, you
must fulfill obligations and conditions. You can also become an
Associate Member for $20. Contact the Fathomiers for further
information.
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
SECRETARY
TREASURER
RECORDER
CONSERVATION
NEWSLETTER
CONTACT NUMBERS
Larry Carter
909-506-6253
Email: lspearo26@msn.com
Carlos Serret
310-375-6578
Stathis Kostopoulos 626-286-8645
Email: kostop@earthlink.net
Bob Sellers
310-320-7153
Email: bsellers@socal.rr.com
Fil Labastida
310-518-5548
Email: fillab@earthlink.net
Gary Thompson
909-674-4918
Tyler Dubberly
310-335.0136
Email: tdubberly@yahoo.com
Editor’s address: Tyler Dubberly
119 Loma Vista Street #1
El Segundo, CA 90245
Secretary’s Report
March 2003 Minutes
Meeting was called to order at 7:45 pm by president
Larry Carter.
Visitors introduced themselves.
Jose made a presentation about the environmental organization “Oceans Unlimited”, and the many educational activities they pursue to educate the public on
issues of ocean ecology.
Terry Lentz discussed the Finmania event and conclusions.
Members should provide any potential Scramble Meet
art before July.
We signed a thank-you letter for Del Wren who gave us
the spearfishing video and album. Cisco has our club
website up and running.
We voted on: (1) to make club membership fees due by
March, rather than April as it is now. (2) awards for
out-of –the country fish will be plaques; the cost of a
plaque is now less than $25. (A potential record fish
must exceed the in-country fish for that species).
Jose had some interesting fish stories form the east
coast.
We voted for six new members.
The editor reserves the right to make spelling and grammatical corrections to
submissions, and may rewrite sections for purposes of clarity and/or space
considerations. The intent and meaning of submissions shall be maintained as closely as
possible. Anyone who has submitted an article may request a preview of their article as
it will appear in the publication. At that time the submitter may request changes or
withdrawal of the article. The editor and the club officers will determine which
submissions to include and which to exclude. While reasonable effort is expended to
ensure accuracy of the information in this newsletter, we do not guarantee it. The editor,
and the Fathomiers and it’s officers, shall not be held liable for errors in this newsletter.
The Fathomiers do not accept paid advertisements.
Meeting was adjourned at 10:00pm.
Submissions are needed. Articles or information may be mailed, emailed, or
communicated over the phone. Photographs submitted will be returned to the owner
after publication. Please take the initiative to contact me or to send me materials. If you
have information for the newsletter, do not depend on “word of mouth” to get it to me.
Stathis with a recent WSB
Page 2 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
APR – 03
THE GIANT TOTUAVA
(Continued from page 1)
family. It grows to well over 200 pounds in weight and it
looks something like a salmon on massive doses of steroids; when fully grown, it is literally as big as a marlin.
Despite their size, totuava swam close to shore in enormous
schools and they were easily caught. Overnight, a lively
trade sprang up around Guaymas, and by about 1920, the
local supply was becoming depleted.
About that time, it was discovered that Guaymas was actually located at the extreme south end of the totuava's natural
range; the local fishermen realized that they had only been
tapping the edges of the supply. The main mass of the totuava population was actually centered 400 miles to the
north, in the waters around San Felipe. Here, the anadromous fish migrated each spring into the mouth of the Colorado River to spawn, just like salmon.
As the totuava supply around Guaymas dwindled, some
fishermen began to make the arduous trip north to begin
fishing at San Felipe, and it was during the 1920s that the
town was actually established as such. I once met an old
fisherman who, as a boy in 1928, had walked from Guaymas, nearly 500 miles around the blistering hot north shore
of the gulf, with his mother and brothers and sisters, while
his father paddled their dugout canoe alongside. They made
camp in what is now downtown San Felipe, and they fished
for totuava by throwing baited handlines from the beach.
The fish were easy-to-catch and they were huge, with a few
even thought to have exceeded 300 pounds in weight. They
swam right to the beach in schools so thick they could be
harpooned with one's eyes held closed. Although their flesh
was delicious and almost indistinguishable from that of
their close relative, the white seabass, most of the totuava
were simply left to rot on the beach after their air bladders
were cut out. This remained true, even after some Americans began exporting the fish to the United States in the
early 1920s, using ice trucks specially equipped to make
the 125-mile open desert crossing to Mexicali.
In those days, though, traditional fishermen using harpoons
and baited handlines could do little real damage to the numerous schools that swam past San Felipe and the other
small settlements of the extreme northern gulf; they could
only catch a tiny, insignificant percentage of the total population. It was in 1935 that the first real damage was done
when the Colorado River was impounded behind Hoover
Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border. That cut off the annual
spring flood of brackish water that was the totuava's natural
spawning medium, and an inevitable cycle of decline was
begun.
By about 1940, fishermen could no longer handline totuava
from shore, but were forced to travel farther and farther in
search of fish. By 1942, the commercial catch of totuava
meat had also increased to the point that 4.2 million pounds
of fish were exported to the United States. Still, the totuava
APR – 03
population resisted the pressure, and stocks remained stable
until the mid-1950s when the real collapse began with the
introduction of gill nets and dynamite. Until that time, the
pre-spawn fish swimming into the mouth of the Colorado
River could not be caught with the fishermen's baited hooks,
because they refused to feed until after they had broadcast
their eggs and milt. Once gill nets and dynamite allowed the
interception of the fish before they had a chance to spawn,
the die was inevitably cast against the totuava.
Ironically, during this same period--between about 1955 and
1965--a very promising sport fishing industry was just getting
off to an abortive start in San Felipe. This was a period of
rapid expansion in U.S. interest in camping and sport fishing,
and when word of the huge totuava got out, tourists began
flocking south to catch them. But the local sport fishing business was nipped in the bud during the mid-1960s when the
totuava suddenly disappeared almost overnight.
American sport fishing columnist, Ray Cannon, wrote in
1965: "As a great commercial game fish, the giant, up to 300pound totuava seems close to losing its popularity, if not its
very existence.
"The once enormous migrating schools have now been reduced to a scattered few, which because of their peculiar
spawning habit, may now be too depleted to reproduce a sustaining number.
"This great croaker which once drew as many as 10,000 people for an Easter weekend to San Felipe, will cease to attract
any visiting anglers unless drastic action is taken to halt gill
netting..."
And what ever happened to the totuava?
This magnificent fish, greatly reduced in size and numbers,
still swims in the waters of the northern Sea Of Cortez, and
today it enjoys the protection of a federal ban on both commercial and sport fishing. In recent years, it seems to be making something of a modest comeback, with some specimens
over 30 pounds being caught by illegal poachers.
But those incredible schools of huge, marlin-sized croakers
are just a memory. On the beautiful tourist beaches of today's
San Felipe, very few people are aware of the phenomenal
fishery that existed there only a short time ago. --Copyright
© 2000 by Gene Kira.
I
Page 3 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
CUTTING EDGE SAFETY
Knife Locations
Popular locations are the upper arm, calf, thigh, chest,
weightbelt, and under the westuit (wrist or waist). Ideally, the knife should be located where you can easily
reach it with either hand and where it will not catch on
kelp, your floatline, etc. Comments on this.
• Recently I've started wearing my two knive's
sheaths under my wetsuit top, one on each hip,
handles down, sheaths up. You see, they are secured around my long johns like a belt (of
shoestring) before putting my top on, so that
only the handles stick out. In summary, two
knives, one on each hip, right or left hand draw.
No snagging since the wetsuit covers the sheath
in a very smooooth profile. They also don't interfere with ditching of the weight belt. But
careful putting it back in its sheath, or you may
slash through to your love handles!
• I have my knife on the left side of my chest. I
glued a patch of neoprene on the outside of my
wetsuit, and under this I glued the sheath. The
location is very handy, as I can get to the knife
with either hand. Next time I'll put the patch of
neoprene on the inside of the suit and put a slit
in the neoprene on the outside for the blade to
pass through. It will be more streamlined that
way.
•
I have a Deep Thought suit, and I had them put
a knife pouch on my left thigh. I notice that
Deep Thought both glued and stitched the knife
pouch to my suit. The stitching only stitches together the nylon on the surface of the neoprene
(not the neoprene itself), so the stitches don't
have to go deep. Also, the shape of the knife
pouch itself is interesting -- very wide at the
opening. I HIGHLY recommend a knife pouch
like this. Not only does it remove a snag point
with the knife, the pouch is so comfortable the
knife "disappears" when you wear it.It works
great. After you get the knife pouch installed on
your suit, you need a sheath inside of it to hold
the knife. I made my own out of plastic sheeting, with simple rivets holding the two sides of
the sheath together. I careful sized the sheath to
Page 4 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
•
•
EXACTLY fit the internal dimensions of the
knife pouch so it would stay in when I extracted the knife (important). I also chose a
plastic that resists cutting. When I riveted it, I
made sure the front half was slightly wider at
the top so that it would bulge open to receive
the knife. This makes my knife easy to extract, and safe to re-sheath because of the
wide plastic area above the insertion point.
(More on attaching a knife to your suit)
When you are done you want two pieces of
neoprene glued to the suit. One covers the
part of the sheath that covers the blade and
the other covers the sheath between the rubber loop and the top of the sheath. This keeps
the sheath flat to your leg but leaves the handle open. It's fast and easy access...the most
comfortable, convenient and quick method
I've ever used.
Don't stich it. Lay the sheath where you want
it and trace around it with chalk. Cut the neoprene to be 1 1/2 inches or so larger than the
traced part on the suit. Trace around the outer
edge of the neoprene patches and put neoprene cement in the margin of both the
patches and the suit, let it dry, put it on again
and let it dry, put it on a third time and let it
get tacky. Then stick the tacky parts together
and let dry. It will stay just fine without
stitching. I have a suit that is over 15 years
old that doesn't have a stich anywhere...
seams included. You just have to glue it
right. My knife pocket is quite secure still.
Technique
Killing fish
After shooting a fish you should subdue it quickly;
this is better for the fish and safer for you. The most
common method is to simply stab them in the brain,
although you can also rip the gills out or break the
spine.
The brain is located between and behind the eyes. If
you look at the top of the head and imagine an equilateral triangle connecting the eyes and pointing toAPR – 03
– 03
U.S. National Spearfishing
Championships
The date of this year U.S. National Spearfishing Championships is Thursday, August 21st.
The Rhode Island club is hosting this year
and they have yet to put out the registration
package.
Folks that could answer your questions
are:
John Warnock 401-726-2783 or
Dave Sipperly at 401-782-8408.
FOR SALE -Brand new Body Glove
wetsuit. One piece,
“Crush" 2/3 never been used. $25.
Small. Fil 310-518-5548
For Sale: Green Esclapez size 40-42
$30
Fil 310-518-5548
Picasso Carbon Fiber Fins, model: BT III, size: 4648 Will consider selling blades only. Make offer.
Contact Clint Koberstein
Wanted: Riffe or other good starter fin in size
10.5 - 11.
Contact Patrick Horton 310-737-9334
Technique (con’t)
(Continued from page 4)
wards the tail, the brain will be at this rearward point.
Stab down and twist the knife if needed. Be careful,
it is quite possible to stab yourself. For leverage, you
can use your other hand to hold the fish under the
gills.
Some fish have hard or thick skulls that may make
top-down stabbing difficult. In this case, stab the fish
in the side of the head, aiming for the same spot. Another safe alternative technique is to reach for the
brain from the gill openings and push the knife up.
This prevents accidental hand stabbings and you can
actually apply more force by also pulling the fish
downwards from where the gills connect to the body.
You will need a longer knife for this. You can also
reach the brain though the eye socket. This method
will also work using a fish stringer with a sharp
point.
It may be harder to find the brain on some fish, like
halibut. To make matters worse, these fish are especially strong fighters and you may find that cutting or
ripping out the gills is necessary to subdue them. If
you have a stout knife, you may also try to break the
backbone with it. This advice applies to other fish as
well.
themselves when you are underwater, fighting a
fish, and with lots of loose line in the water. The
best advice is to avoid this situation. But if you
can't, try and get the line tight and saw though
the line. Slashing at loose line is bound to get
you nowhere.
For more info see Feedivelist FAQ
Cutting line
Cutting line or cable is relatively easy with the right
knife and under the right circumstances. However,
the right circumstances are not likely to present
Apr-03
Page 5 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
FATHOMIERS 2003 CALENDAR
Month
Day
Event
April
6
14
20
Club dive - Point Dume
Club meeting
Easter Sunday
May
11
12
Club dive - Reef Point
Club meeting – Start gathering for club auction in June
June
7
9
21-22
22
July
12 Club dive – Omer Neilson Tri Club meet – Laguna Beach
14 Club meeting – Scramble meet logistics
18-23 La Paz Game Fish Trip
Neptunes Bluewater meet
Club meeting / Auction
Long Beach Scuba show
Club dive – La Jolla
August
2
11
16
21
23
Club dive – Scramble meet – Point Fermin..Paseo Del Mar and Meyler
Club meeting
GLACD # 1
US Nationals – Jamestown RI
Neptunes Bill Kroll meet Todos Santos
September
8
Club meeting – Vote on New Members – Nominations for Life time members due next month. ( If any) must
show # 1. One page typed bio outlining distinguished service. # 2. Must be published before Nov. vote. # 3 Must
present verbal presentation during Oct meeting
Club dive – PRO/AM MEET Leo Carrillo
GLACD # 2
14
20
October
November
December
11
11
13
19
Pacific Coast Championship
Neptunes Fall Classic Meet
Club meeting – Bio’s and Verbal presentations due for Life Time Member nominations ( If Any). If more than one
nominee, a secret ballot will take place establishing which ONE candidate will go for club vote in November. Editor to publish bio before Nov. if not done
Club dive – CHARLIE STURGILL POLE SPEAR MEET (PV area)
2
10
15
Club Dive – One Thousand Steps (Laguna)
Club meeting – Vote for Lifetime Member if any – nominate club officers for 2004
GLACD # 4
Club meeting – inactive members not paying dues terminated
8
13 or 20 Neptunes Dragon Swim
14 Club dive – LARRY STATT POLESPEAR MEET- Whites Point
Page 6 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
APR – 03
FATHOMIERS 2003 “OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA” RECORDS
DIVER
SPECIES
WEIGHT
LOCATION
FATHOMIERS 2003 “IN CALIFORNIA” RECORDS
DIVER
SPECIES
Todd Bergenbring White Seabass
WEIGHT
LOCATION
54lb 7oz
Rocky Point
Todd Bergenbring
Halibut
31lb
Rocky Point
Scott DeFirmian
Lobster
6lb
Palos Verdes
Rene Rojas
Calico Bass
10lb 9oz
Catalina
Brian Dreiling
Trigger Fish
2lb 90(dec)
Palos Verdes
CALIFORNIA GAMEFISH AWARD
Steve Redding Trophy:
Diver
TODD BERGENBRING
White Sea
Yellowtail
Scott deFirmian
Thom Fogerty
Rene Rojas
Eddie Ota
Al Schneppershoff
Nelson Dooley
Skip Hellen
Richard Balta
Paul Romanowski
Jim Matsukas
Marcos Pinho
Carlos Serret
Kent Hill
Fil Labastida
Ed Glass
Howard Saxton
Erez Abayov
Clint Koberstein
Halibut
Calico Bass
XXX
Page 7 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
Page 7 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
APR – 03
Page 7 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
BIRTHDAY SUIT
You can't get any cold than this! When I was a Navy
Diver I was sent to Greenland to do some diving. We
had to cut a hole through 6 feet of ice to go diving. It
takes more than an auger and a chainsaw to get
through that ice. This is not really surprising, since the
sun does not shine there for about 3 months out of the
year! We used a boiler system that runs hot water
through a ring. The ring has many holes drilled in the
bottom which allow the water to cut through the ice
(Very Slow Process ).
First timers to the arctic jump into the dive hole Only Wearing There Birthday Suit OR YOUR, Simply not a MAN!!!
Needless to say I did it TWICE,( 2X's ). YA THAT'S
RIGHT!!!
Then Everybody lines up and takes a picture (OUT SIDE)
in there SPEEDO's or SOCK, which ever is more appropriate for the "TEAM PHOTO." If You Don't Believe Me, go to
Underwater Construction Team 2, Port Hueneme CA and
look at the pictures in the lobby.
Anyway to make a long story short the water temp was Clint Koberstein
only 33 Degrees. For those of you who aren't that famil- Ex-Navy Diver
iar with degrees, 32 degrees water freezes! Burrrr!!!
LA Fathomiers
There is this initiation, associated with going to the
Arctic Circle that has become a U.S.Navy Tradition."The Order of the Blue Nose" Realm of the Arctic
Circle.
This is it, you already know the water temp.
Todd with an early season
WSB
Page 8 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
Clint with his recent
Redding Fish
APR – 03
March 2003 Fathomiers Competitive Results
Fathomiers meet was Sunday, March 9th at Palos Verdes.
Al Schuck
Memorial
Al Schuck Trophy
Thom Fogerty
Eddie Ota
Zoilo Velasquez
Terry Lentz
Erik Banados *
Richard Balta
Paul Romanowski
Daniel Carlberg
* tentative member
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Fathomiers 2003 Competitive Results
Place
Diver
Jan Score
1 Bob Coyle
6.68
2 Steve Seo *
6.62
3 Paul Romanowski
13.16
4 Daniel Carlberg
5 Jose Shaur
6 Brian Dreiling
0.00
7 Erez Abayov
8 Dan Piper *
9 Carlos Serret
0.00
10 Cisco Serret
0.00
11 Brandon Wahler
0.00
12 Mark Navas *
0.00
13 Fil Labastida
0.00
14 Stathis Kostoupolos
15 Al Schneppershof
16 Anthony Funiciello *
Jan % Mar Score
50.76
11.14
50.30
9.54
100.00
12.32
10.60
0.00
9.98
9.52
5.20
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Mar % Total Score
90.42
141.18
77.44
127.74
100.00
100.00
100.00
86.04
86.04
81.01
81.01
77.27
77.27
42.21
42.21
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
* Tentative member
Apr-03
Page 9 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
SCUBA Show 2003
SCUBA Show 2003 -- June 21 & 22, 2003
Long Beach Convention Center, Long
Beach, CA
SCUBA Show 2003 diving exhibition will
take place June 21 and 22, 2003 at
the Long Beach Convention Center in Long
Beach, California. This is the 16th
year of this popular event. Over 10,000
have attended every year for the
last 13 years and it is the largest convention of its kind in the Western
U.S. The show will consist of a 57,065
square feet of diving related
exhibits including new gear, travel pros
(many offering show discounts), and
diving experts. In the exhibit hall will
also be a demo tank with equipment
demonstrations and trials (bring your
swimsuit!) and free intro scuba
courses. Additional activities at the
show include a continuous underwater
film festival featuring premier films,
seminars by top diving experts,
exhibitor presentations, door prizes and
a Saturday night Casino party
benefiting the Catalina Conservancy Divers. Exhibit hall hours are Saturday
10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday from
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission
is $9 and includes admission to exhibit
hall, film festival and exhibitor
presentations (seminars are an additional charge). Discount coupons are
available at California dive stores, on
dive California dive charter boats
and through California dive clubs. Age
10 and under are admitted free with
paying adult. For information on SCUBA
Show 2003 call (310) 792-2333 or
visit the web site http://www.
saintbrendan.com.
Page 10 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
Sunglasses
(Continued from page 1)
from above and below the lenses. This can even aggravate the
situation, because a small, dark eyeglass lens causes your pupil to
dilate, which then allows more damaging light to get inside your
eyes from around the sides. Choose sunglasses that wrap all
around and that block light from all directions from reaching your
eyes in the first place. Remember that glare from the water can
double the damaging effects of sun.
Lenses and Frames
Either glass or plastic (polycarbonate) lenses can offer good
protection. Glass is more scratch resistant, but is heavier and can
shatter. Plastic is lighter but scratchable. If you wear them where
they get wet, consider RainX or something similar to bead up the
water.
Frames should keep a snug fit. Pick a pair that's comfortable,
and that doesn't slide down your nose. Otherwise you won't use
them.
Also, since most sunglasses sink, consider a using a band, strap,
or "croakies" that will keep your sunglasses out of, or at least on
top of, the water.
Additional Safety:
Always use a wide-brimmed hat, and wear sunscreen. The hat
will protect both your eyes and your skin. Forget about "getting a
tan" if you are fair-skinned. Sunlight causes skin cancer which will
disfigure you at best, and at worst, kill you (malignant melanoma).
Don't think it can't happen to you, because it can. There are about
35,000 new cases of melanoma a year in the U.S., and head and
neck melanoma is one of the worst varieties.
Conclusion:
Buy a pair or two of good sunglasses. Always use them. Don't
forget your hat either.
APR – 03
What’s Closed:
Deadly Ensemble
Wong Ono gun rigging:
-4 5/8" Mori rubbers from 30 to 31.5" in
rubber lengths, increasing in 1/2"
increments
-5" spectra wishbones
-65" Riffe 5/16" shaft
-5" (not 4"!) Aimrite slip tip with large
cable
-2 wraps of Picasso 100% spectra (blue) 750#
shooting line to Hawaiian quick
release
First shot:
20+ foot shot at about a 30 degree angle upwards on a moving mahimahi. The
thing just lasered it... perfectly flat
stone shot.
Willie Mahin aka the Haole Crab
Maui, Hawaii
What’s Open:
California Sheephead
The sport fishery for California sheephead
(Semicossyphus pulcher)
will be open all year, or until the annual harvest quota
is met or is projected to be
met, prior to the end of the
year, at which time the fishery will close. The daily bag
and possession limit is 5
fish with a minimum total
length of 12 inches.
Surfperch
The sport fishery for
surfperch (family Embiotocidae) remains open all year.
The daily bag and possession limit is 5 fish in combination of all species except
shiner surfperch, which have
a separate bag limit of 20
fish. Redtail surfperch
(Amphistichus rhodoterus)
have a minimum size limit
of 10 1/2 inches total length.
Apr-03
Rockfish, Lingcod, California Scorpionfish, Ocean Whitefish, Cabezon and
Greenlings
The sport fisheries for rockfish (Sebastes
sp.), lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), California scorpionfish (Scorpaena guttata),
ocean whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps),
cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus)
and rock and kelp greenlings
(Hexagrammos superciliosus and H. decagrammus) are closed in all waters, at all
depths, to all methods of take through June
30, 2003.
Spiny Lobster
The sport fishery for spiny lobster
www.fathomiers.com
The site is now open at
http://www.fathomiers.com
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your login name is the first
letter of your first name
and then your last name, all
lower case. For example, if
your name is Britney Spears,
your login name is bspears
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Page 11 - FATHOMIERS NEWSLETTER
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
TYLER DUBBERLY
119 LOMA VISTA #1
EL SEGUNDO, CA 90245
Next Club Meeting
April 14, 2003
(2nd Monday of the month) at 7:30 pm will be
the next meeting at Carrows Restaurant at
20535 Hawthorne Blvd in Torrance.
Club Meet
Sanday, May 11 – Reef Point
ANNUAL DUES
The Fathomiers’ board of directors extends
wholehearted wishes to everyone for a happy
and safe new year of diving. The members are
reminded that their annual dues for 2003 ($30
for active members and $20 for associates) are
payable on the first day of the New Year. You
must be paid up by the April, 2003 club meeting
to remain on the active list, to continue receiving
the newsletter, and to be eligible for any catch
records, etc. Please, let’s avoid any possibility
for conflicts and pay early. We don’t want to
loose one single individual.
Payments may be made any time to the Treasurer, Bob Sellers, 2307 Santa Fe Ave., Torrance,
90501, or if more convenient, to any board
member. Please make checks payable to: L. A.
Fathomiers.
When making your payment, please be sure we
have your current complete address, telephone
number and if you want, your email address.
Thanks----