24 | June 25 - July 8, 2021 | THE LOG
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Fishing
FEATURED CATCH The Spirit of Adventure out of H&M Landing in San Diego opened their season the second weekend in June and returned home from a 1.5-day trip with multiple bluefin over 100 pounds. Jackpot winners from the trip were Jeff for a 170-pound catch, Paul for a 169-pound catch and Gary for a 111-pound catch. H&M Landing shared this photo of one of the jackpot winners in a June 15 Facebook post. They also announced in the Facebook post Mike Keating had retired as captain of Spirit of Adventure and Captain Evan Kraft has taken the helm.
H&M Landing Facebook photo
Catching 100s
fishrap.com
Photo provided by CDFW
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FISHING NEWS FISHING NEWS UPDATES
tight lines By Jordan B. Darling
Owens Pupfish Makes a Comeback The species was declared extinct the first time in 1940, before being rediscovered only to face extinction again in 1969 when restoration techniques picked back up. By: JORDAN B. DARLING MONO C OUNT Y— In a June 9 press
Owens pupfish have been on the edge of extinction twice before being brought back by conservation efforts.
release, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife shared that in early April biologists from the CDFW in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser vice, Reno Office had relocated pupfish from five different habitats in Owens Valley to the River Spring Lakes Ecological Reserve in Mono County. The Owens Pupfish has faced extinction twice, once in 1940 and again in 1969 when fishery biologist Phil Pister saved the pupfish just days before its habitat would dry dried up. For the past five years the CDFW and USFWS have worked to restore the
fish’s habitat, removing non-native species from the reserve, and translocating more than 700 pupfish from Owen’s Valley to several square miles of marsh in the River Springs Lake Ecological Reserve in Mono County. “This release represents the culmination of years of dedication and hard work by numerous former and current biologists,” said CDFW Fisheries Supervisor Russell Black in the June 9 press release. “This population will become the largest and most genetically fit population of Owens pupfish since World War I and is a great victory for conserving the species.” The Owens pupfish is a small thin fish that ranges in color from bright blue for breeding males to brownish with a silvery stomach for females. They congregate in small schools and feed on aquatic insects. The fish genera lly ha ng out in spring pools, sloughs, irrigation ditches, swamps, and flooded pastures in Owens Valley and historically from Mono County to Inyo County. The introduction of non-native trout and bass paired with an increase in water resources development caused a decrease Please see PUPFISH, PAGE 25
