Anglers Don't Want to Miss This Boat

What mattered most was that they had a shiny new boat to break in.

Indeed, this is big news considering that landing operators, for the most part, are reluctant to make such costly additions to their fleets, which consist largely of antiquated tubs that have bounced from port to port over the past several decades.

"Why did I have this boat built? That's simple: to better serve the public," said Rick Oefinger, owner of Marina del Rey Sportfishing.

That may sound corny, but Oefinger, 46, deserves recognition for the upgrades he has made since taking over the landing five years ago.

He has transformed one of the sorriest live-bait operations into one of the most reliable. In 1995, before he took over, he built a 65-foot boat and named it the New Del Mar. To make room for the latest version of the New Del Mar, he sold the 65-footer and its name has been changed to the Spitfire. The Spitfire is still at the landing.

Last year, Oefinger brought in the Thunderbird, giving the Marina del Rey landing something it has always lacked: access to the islands and offshore banks.

"Now we have all aspects covered," Oefinger said. "The Thunderbird gives us overnight capability, the Spitfire is our three-quarter-day boat and the New Del Mar is our state-of-the-art half-day boat."

For nostalgia's sake, he has kept on the Betty O, which has been running trips out of the landing since the late 1960s and will "handle our youth fishing groups and make our daily rock cod runs."

As for Oefinger's newest addition, it's an eye-catcher. While most party boats are made of wood, this one is constructed--at a cost of $900,000--of high-grade aluminum, which needs no paint to protect it from the elements.

It's 75 feet long and 25 feet wide, making it among the Southland's most spacious and stable half-day boats. It can accommodate 150 passengers, although it will rarely carry much more than half that. It has an exceptionally large galley, a sprawling sundeck, and a bait tank that holds eight tons of water.

"To me, sportfishing is all about recreation and our thing is for people to come and have an enjoyable time even on a slow day," Oefinger said. "If some guy comes on board and only catches two sculpin and a Johnny bass, then says he had a good time anyway, you know you've done your job."

His passengers caught about 150 rockfish last Saturday. Since then, fishing in Santa Monica Bay has picked up considerably as a school of large and voracious barracuda have moved into the bay.

It's just the christening Oefinger had been hoping for.

Early Albacore

If you want to be among the early birds during what promises to be a good season, now's the time.

The first catch of the season was logged Friday aboard Relentless out of Fisherman's Landing, as 10 anglers put four albacore and 45 yellowtail on board in an area 115 miles southwest of the landing. On Saturday, the Indian out of H & M Landing had six albacore in the same area; and on Sunday the Legend out of Seaforth Sportfishing had eight at 135 miles.

The Pacific Queen and American Angler were in the area Thursday, their skippers reporting ideal conditions but no takers as of about 3 p.m.

Catalina Croakers

Asked to assess the local fishing picture, Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, said there is nothing worth mentioning close to shore. "Unfortunately, all of our eggs are in one basket and that basket is over at Catalina," he said.

Fortunately, Catalina is the site of one of the best spring white seabass runs in years. The big croakers are bunched up in spawning mode along most of the back side of the island and along portions of the front side, enabling opportunity even for those aboard three-quarter-day boats.

One-fish limits have been the rule and the fish are averaging 20 to 30, with many topping 40 and a few pushing 50.

Troubled Waters

These are tough times for many marine mammals and notably for California sea lions, which are stranding themselves on Southland beaches by the droves, and carpet the pens of care facilities from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

They're suffering from the effects of domoic acid poisoning, caused by a toxic bloom of algae ingested by schooling fish that the mammals prey on. The biotoxin doesn't affect the fish but it leaves the mammals disoriented and subject to violent seizures. In many cases, it proves fatal.

This is a natural event that should start tapering off soon, but until it does people are asked not to harass the beached animals and to report--to animal control agencies--only those that appear to be ill.