Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brent Leach to co-host fishing trip on Thursday

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brent Leach will co-host a fishing trip this Thursday, as part of the DodgerLife program.

The inaugural Dodger Fishing Adventure will depart from Long Beach Sportfishing, Berth 55, at 10 a.m. (check-in is at 9 a.m.)

Joining Leach will be sportfishing and TV personality Dan Hernandez, author and host of the weekly television program "Sport Fishing with Dan Hernandez."

The cost to attend is $200, which includes the four-hour trip, lunch, a chance to fish with Leach, and angling instruction by Hernandez.  For $35 more, the package includes a fishing license and tackle rental.

Reservations can be made by calling (323) 224-2646 or visiting www.dodgers.com/fishing.

The DodgerLife series of programs was started this season as an opportunity for fans to interact with Dodger players and enjoy activities both baseball- and non-baseball-related. Fans can participate in baseball clinics, batting practice, yoga, movie nights and stadium sleepovers.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brent Leach and pro angler Dan Hernandez show off a sculpin. Credit: Amber Matsumoto / Los Angeles Dodgers

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San Clemente Ocean Festival this weekend

Those looking to beat the heat this weekend might want to check out the 33rd annual San Clemente Ocean Festival, taking place Saturday and Sunday adjacent to the pier.

There will be a myriad of things to see and do, including fishing clinics and derbies, surfing and body-boarding contests, a woody car show and a pancake breakfast each morning griddled by San Clemente city lifeguards.

The main event will be the California Waterman and Waterwoman Championships, with competition taking place each day in sports such as distance and stand-up paddle-boarding, ocean kayak racing and biathlon.

There will also be plenty of activities for kids. A special pavilion will offer carnival games, face painting, ocean crafts and relay races. The Discovery Science Center and the Ocean Institute will also have booths offering various educational activities and projects.

The finale event will be the Great Rubber Duck Race at 4 p.m. Sunday. Festival attendees can purchase and decorate rubber ducks, which will be turned loose near the pier, with prizes awarded for ducks that reach the shore first.

Parking near the pier is limited, so complimentary parking and round-trip shuttle service will be available at San Clemente high school, located at 700 Avenida Pico.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Katie O'Keefe climbs the portable rock wall at a San Clemente Ocean Festival. Credit: Geraldine Wilkins / Los Angeles Times

Irvine Lake catfish and crappie now available under the stars

The scouting mission began in waning sunlight as others were heading shoreward at closing time. Only grebes and herons and egrets and ospreys were still fishing at Irvine Lake in the rustic hills atop Silverado Canyon.

Marlon Meade, who is on the Irvine Lake pro staff, had been given permission to conduct a post-closing outing in advance of Friday night's opening of the nighttime fishing season. I tagged along, as did Dave Strege, the former outdoors reporter for the Orange County Register.

We embarked at 4 p.m. and by dusk had teemed to catch about 10 crappie and two trout, using white mini-jigs. Meade caught the most but he has more experience at the lake and with this type of fishing, and wherever he goes he possesses some inexplicable ability to hook fish when others cannot.

(Meade on Saturday at 4 p.m. will give a seminar on nighttime fishing for crappie and catfish, at the lake's catch-out pond.)

Under a cloak of darkness and with our pontoon boat ringed by the black silhouettes of jagged foothills, we began to soak mackerel and shrimp and after two hours had not a single taker. Perhaps this is because the water is cooler than it ought to be at this time of year, because of so many cloudy days and the recent influx of new water via Lake Mathews.

San Diego's Day at the Docks Festival is Sunday

With gorgeous weather on tap, and with prime saltwater fishing season just around the corner, folks may want to attend the Day at the Docks Festival on Sunday at the waterfront landings in the Port of San Diego at Point Loma. 

Myriad activities are planned, including seminars and contests, boat rides around the bay, cooking demos, live entertainment, children's fishing and tours of boats at participating landings.

The festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free and parking is available on nearby Shelter Island with complimentary shuttle service running until 5:30 p.m. For more information and directions, click here.

—Kelly Burgess

Kobe Bryant gives shirt off back for youth fishing program

Kobe Bryant isn't a fisherman but a jersey he signed and donated to the 976-TUNA Youth Fishing Program sold for $775 at last week's Fred Hall's Fishing Tackle and Boat Show at the Long Beach Convention Center.

During the show's five-day run, fishermen were able to bid on various items, including Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia. Former player and current assistant coach Brian Shaw, and ex-player Flynn Robinson, have been ambassadors for the program for the past several years.

976-TUNA founder Philip Friedman said about $10,000 was raised for a program that treats inner-city and disadvantaged children to saltwater fishing excursions.

The top Lakers item was an "MVP Canvass" featuring signed renditions and photographs of Bryant, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal.

Surprisingly, signed jerseys of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Derek Fisher received no bids. Jordan Farmar's jersey sold for $400.

About $4,000 was raised through a wheel-spin for a $5,000 diamond donated by Newport Jewelers. It was claimed by Ventura's Erika Simo.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo courtesy of 976-TUNA

 

Fred Hall fishing show opens today at Long Beach Convention Center

Employers throughout Southern California take note: If you have workers who enjoy fishing and have called in sick today, chances are good you'll find them inside the Long Beach Convention Center after 2 p.m.

Today marks the opening of the 63rd Fred Hall's Fishing Tackle and Boat Show, and for anglers it's not to be missed.

The world's largest fishing show runs through Sunday and features more than 3,000 exhibits and nearly nonstop seminars.

For many, it's a place to choose and book their next big fishing vacation, as concessionaires from Alaska to Argentina, and points far beyond, will be on hand.

For others, it's a place to load up on the latest fishing supplies at a time when springlike weather is beginning to beckon them back onto the ocean and to their favorites mountain streams and lakes.

Economic worries won't stop Fred Hall show from ushering in fishing season

Sales might not be as brisk during this year's Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show at the Long Beach Convention Center, but thousands will attend regardless of the beleaguered economy to help usher in the spring fishing season.

The 68th rendition of the show will run March 4-8 and boast more than 3,000 exhibits, and offer almost nonstop seminars. Trucks, boats, kayaks and trailers will be for sale, along with every type of fishing excursion and modern fishing product known to man.

You can subscribe to any of numerous fishing magazines -- Fish Taco Chronicles has nothing to do with Mexican food but is crammmed with stories and photos -- and meet such radio/TV personalities as Pete Gray, Philip Friedman, Dan Hernandez and Ronnie Kovach.

Dana Wharf's free fishing clinics and half-day boat tickets for children

Dana Wharf Sportfishing is offering a free dockside fishing clinic every Sunday from noon-12:30 p.m. Participants will have the opportunity to learn hook-tying and other useful angling skills and techniques. While the class is geared toward children, adults are more than welcome to join in to get pointers.

After each clinic, children will be able to try out their newly learned skills on a half-day fishing trip. With each paid adult admission, one child age 12 or younger will be allowed on the boat for free and enjoy complimentary use of a rod and reel. 

Reservations are not necessary. There are some blackout dates in the summer when neither the clinic nor the trip will be available, so those interested should contact Dana Wharf for more information.  Dana Wharf Sportfishing is at 34675 Golden Lantern in Dana Point. The phone number is (949) 496-5794.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Brandon Chung happily displays a rockfish that he caught. Credit: Dana Wharf Sportfishing

Fly Fishing Show to take center stage this weekend in Pasadena

Spring is inching closer and so is another fishing season, which means the big fishing shows are coming to Southern California.

The annual Fly Fishing Show is this weekend at the Pasadena Center. It'll feature new products as well as booths manned by authors, fly-tiers and representatives of destination lodges around the world.

There will be about 50 presentations, demonstrations and other fly-fishing shows per day. A schedule of "Destination Theatre" shows and  seminars is available on the Fly Fishing Show website.

Hours are 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $15 for adults (or $25 for a two-day pass), $2 for children under 12 and free for children under 5.

Also forthcoming is the Fred Hall Fishing, Tackle and Boat Show on March 4-8 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Outposts will have more on that mega-spectacle soon.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Jerry Land displays silver salmon caught and released on the Mulchatna River, Alaska. The fish was enticed by a purple egg-sucking leech. Credit: Bennett J. Mintz

Irvine Lake yielding lunker trout, offers free Saturday morning seminar

I fished Irvine Lake recently with my brother and we caught one fish between us, and lost another. Turns out we missed an early-morning bite by about one hour.

While we didn't see anyone but ospreys catching trout, we did find a big crowd at the cleaning table, with some impressive specimens.

Just once I'd like to be there when the bite is truly on, and maybe someday I'll latch onto one of the monster rainbows they stock in the picturesque reservoir atop Silverado Canyon -- like the beautiful fish Tim Williams of Orange landed on New Year's Day (pictured).

Williams' trout, caught on a Rapala near Rocky Point, weighed 15 pounds, 4 ounces. Since then, the lunker parade has continued. A few examples: Jason Allingham of Corona caught a 14-2 rainbow on a Panther Martin near the dam; Don Tucker of Irvine caught a 14-2 on a Panther Martin at the red clay cliffs, and Ty Wythey of Tustin caught a 13-8 on Power Bait at Trout Island.

Irvine Lake's Pro Staff would like all visitors to catch fish so it's offering a free seminar Saturday from 8-10:30 a.m. Marlon Meade, whom I've fished with numerous times in the Eastern Sierra, is the lead instructor and will cover techniques for trolling, bait fishing and jig fishing.

Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling (714) 649-9111 (I should dial that number right now), and be sure to ask about the Martin Luther King Tournament Jan. 17-20.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Tim Williams of Orange shows off a 15-pound, 4-ounce rainbow trout caught on New Year's Day at Irvine Lake. Credit: Irvine Lake