Fishing for ‘cows’They slipped into 2004 unaware...

Fishing for ‘cows’

They slipped into 2004 unaware that a new year had begun, which is understandable considering that, after three solid days of fishing and many more ahead, the days all ran together.

“Nobody was up at midnight. There was no celebration or anything like that,” said Tommy Rothery, captain of the Polaris Supreme, Friday via satellite phone. “We just ignored it. We just kept fishing and having fun.”

They’re still doing that, in a “top secret” area somewhere south of Baja California. The eight passengers on the 90-foot sportfishing vessel, which runs out of Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego, are on perhaps the most serious effort of the long-range season: a 20-day excursion that ends Jan. 15.

Their year began with a bang. Wahoo, among the fastest fish in the world, tore through baits and took flight on the hook, at times slamming into the side of the boat.

Tuna, the main attraction, were and still are being reeled in at an average of about 150 pounds, which is impressive but not good enough for this bunch. They’re releasing most fish under 185 pounds in hopes of filling the hold with the “cows” they’re after: tuna topping the magical 200-pound mark and weighing perhaps more than 300 pounds.

“That’s the only thing missing so far: the big cows,” Rothery said. “But this trip is longer than normal for a reason: These guys want a lot of time on the water so we can go where we can find those big fish and have more time to catch them.”

And only when they do will there be cause for celebration.

Broken records

If approved, Yorba Linda angler John Chapman’s Christmas Eve catch of a 27 1/2-pound rainbow trout -- at Santa Ana River Lakes, on two-pound-test monofilament -- will boost to 61 the number of world records set by California anglers in 2003. Among the notable line- or tippet-class records:

* Four Pacific sierra mackerel records set on the same day -- the largest a 9-pound, 8-ounce fish caught on 12-pound tippet -- by fly fisherman Steve Cali of Saratoga, off Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja California.

* Three California yellowtail records set on the same day -- the largest a 5-pound, 1-ounce fish caught on 20-pound tippet -- by Peggy Endler of Vista, off Ensenada.

* A 38-pound, 11-ounce white sea bass caught on six-pound-test by Cheryl Duncan of Newport Beach, off Catalina.

* A 33-pound, 14-ounce yellowtail caught on 20-pound-test by Rose Burns of Carlsbad, off Guadalupe Island west of Baja.

Perhaps the most notable all-tackle record was a 9-pound, 6-ounce goldfish caught by Matthew Servant of El Cajon, at Lindo Lake in San Diego County.

Circus act

THE world of pro bass fishing can seem a circus at times, with all the traveling and the chaos associated with the competition. If familiarity breeds success, then Lee Cepero should fare well on the Citgo Bassmaster tour. The 32-year-old Florida angler, who recently completed his second season on the Southern Open circuit, chose fishing as a career after 10 years as a circus performer and five years as a bull rider.

“I did bull riding for five or six years -- one year professionally,” he said in the latest issue of Inside BASS, an online newsletter. “I got injured real bad and got down on myself. That’s when my wife and I bought a boat, and I started tournament fishing.”

Cepero’s hardly flipping over his performance so far, however. His best finish is a 39th and his tour earnings total only $1,200.

High noon

WHEN the killers come calling, it’s best to give them a wide berth. Such seemed to be the thinking of thousands of common dolphins early last week off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. One minute they were frolicking, their movements being logged by volunteer spotters for the gray whale census project at Point Vicente, and suddenly and collectively, they disappeared.

Soon the culprits surfaced: as many as nine orcas, or killer whales, feeding on an unknown prey. Said volunteer Hugh Ryono: “It was like in the Old West movies where the gunslinger comes into town and all of a sudden the streets are empty.”

The killers haven’t been seen since, but the dolphins are back at play.

Tough breaks

PETER Clark, a physician at Mammoth Hospital in Mammoth Lakes, said snowboarders set a one-day record last Martin Luther King Jr. Day that he hopes will never be beaten: 45 were treated for broken wrists.

Hospital records show that snowboarders suffer five times as many injuries as skiers. Clark said in the January issue of Mammoth Monthly that the most common injuries were fractured ankles -- suffered mostly by riders exiting chairlifts with only one foot strapped in, and the other free -- and broken wrists.

The former is referred to as “Snowboarder’s Ankle,” suffered mostly by beginners. “It’s an unfamiliar feeling to them, first of all, and then they have to exit on cue,” Clark told the publication. “The lift is going as fast as it goes. It doesn’t slow down just because it’s your first day. You’ve got one foot strapped down and that makes a tremendous lever out of the strapped-on leg.”

The most common skiing injury is referred to as “skier’s thumb,” which is caused by the stretching of ligaments between the thumb and hand when a skier falls holding a ski pole.

To e-mail Pete Thomas or read his previous Fair Game columns, go to latimes.com/ petethomas.