Backcasts archive: Through Aug. 17, 2007
Blog calendar: Aug. 17 | Aug. 16 | Aug. 15 | Aug. 14 | Aug. 13
Editor's note: This is the seventh installment of My Back Pages, which recalls previous columns penned by the author.
My Back Pages: Mud marlin and the chartreuse grub
Lure a winner on bat ray and other inshore fish
SEAL BEACH, Calif. – Is that a marlin?
Usually that question gets an unintelligible response from a frantic angler readying for the battle of a lifetime.
Not this time. Only chuckles, ribbing and profanity followed.
For this opponent – the much-maligned bat ray – has long been thought to be unworthy, the laughingstock of inshore marine specimens. But because of their habit of peeling off line – often in screaming fashion when lightweight tackle is employed – with their powerful "wings," they are unaffectionately dubbed mud marlin.
"They're fun," said Will Akins, a Grover Beach skipper of a sportfishing charter-boat out of Morro Bay. "When the halibut aren't biting, you go into the back bays to catch bat rays and leopard sharks.
"Of course, I never tried eating them (rays). I heard someone saying it was good, but they also had about 15 beers, too."
Too ugly to be sampled by most sportfishermen and often unsavory due to a high urea content in their muscle, Myliobatis californica has a reputation as a trash fish. However, it is considered fine fare in some Asian cultures and was a staple of ancient American Indians here.
Yet it isn't even thought to be a game fish, earning no line-class-record consideration by the International Game Fish Association. (Curiously, it does warrant an all-tackle category; a 181-pounder taken from the Huntington Beach Pier set the standard in 1978. Of course, that was a very strong pier!)
But few other fish pull on 6- to 10-pound line quite like the bat ray, as I discovered on a sunny Friday in late spring when more than 200 fish in a variety of species were caught and released by four anglers in the Long Beach and Los Angeles harbors.
"We need to praise the mud marlin," said a somewhat facetious Larry G. Allen, a biology professor at Cal State Northridge who accompanied me on the private boat of Placentia fishing guide Mike Gardner. "They are really tough fighters."
On a day when fish are practically jumping in the boat, as they say, there are many stories to tell, and the bat ray was just one of them.
The real star of the day was the bait – a three-inch stick of dynamite in a plastic mold called a chartreuse grub. It fooled a remarkable assortment of targets – yellowfin croaker, sand bass, calico bass, shark, ray, sculpin, halibut, barracuda – proving to be simply irresistible.
So, inshore anglers take heed: You can use any color lure you want, as long as it's yellow-green.
"I know that if the fish are there, I'm going to get them on one of those colors," said Allen. "In those green-water conditions, most days that will out-fish anything else you throw 3-1."
Nobody really knows why chartreuse works so well, Allen explained. But against the green-tint, plankton-blue color that is common for nutrient-rich back bays, estuaries and inner harbors, it seems to be highly visible to these fish.
And the grub – a curly-tail, or shrimp-tail lure frequently fished on a 3/8-ounce, football-shaped leadhead with a size 3/0hook – appears to mimic a variety of green baitfishes, including the giant kelpfish. Gardner believes that when sent to the bottom, the artificial grub resemble the bivalves of clams – tasty fare for many fish, especially sand bass and the infamous bat ray.
While there may be no science to explain its success, experience certainly does, and I'll take that any day.
"The chartreuse works 24-7, all year long," Gardner said. "It's the most productive lure I got. I have caught fish from Washington all the way to Baja on this lure. And if I only could take one lure, that would be the one that I would use."
Gardner was fooled on more than one occasion into thinking a bat ray he hooked was a revered white seabass. "This is a fish. This is a fish," he proclaimed. But it was just a ray. Poor bat ray; it's not even considered a fish.
But Gardner would later recant. "They're fun," he said. "But they hurt my shoulder. I have arthritis in my shoulder. So I hand them off."
And I was more than happy to oblige, taking a couple of 40- to 50-poundgift bat rays and cranking the reel handle for all I was worth.
It's awfully tough to bring these unsung heroes to the boat, because once they see the vessel those wings act like propellers with line in tow. Many are inadvertently snagged in the wing, making for a stronger tussle. Therefore, Gardner maintains, you may be relegated to only "counting coup" by touching the ray with your rod tip.
The biology of the bat ray is of interest. They have crushing plates in their mouths that are used like vices to break open clams and oysters, Allen explained. They have such a passion for shellfish that oyster farms up the coast are enclosed by fences.
The habit of using their wings in hunchbacked fashion in search of buried meals by disturbing sand and sediment is considered an important element in helping to maintain the diversity of the organisms that live in ocean bottoms.
Like most sharks and rays, they are very long-lived and slow-growing and have low reproductive output. They can be found swimming alone or in large groups numbering to the thousands.
"Oh, here we go, another mud marlin," Allen joked on the next hookup. "We have found bat-ray central."
Just my type of place, thank you.
This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Daily News on July 29, 1999.
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Reggie, the swinging alligator in the zoo
I read this news piece on the wire today and immediately thought of Wally Gator … you know, the swinging alligator in the swamp.
Baby boomers remember the Hanna-Barbera cartoon well. After all, there has never been a greater operator in the swamp.
Which brings us to Reggie the alligator, who became famous a couple of years ago after eluding trappers for nearly two years at a heavily urban lake in Los Angeles.
Well, it seems Reggie is up to his old tricks at his new home, the Los Angeles Zoo, where yesterday he escaped from his enclosure and was found only a few minutes before opening time, according to the Associated Press.
Keepers discovered the 7½-foot gator was missing from his personal exhibit pond at around 7:30 a.m., and a search of every rock and bush proved he wasn't anywhere in the display.
The wily beast was finally found near a loading dock several hundred yards away shortly before the zoo's 10 a.m. opening time, spokesman Jason Jacobs said. It's believed he had climbed a mesh-covered side wall of the exhibit, the AP reports.
"It proves to us that he's a very smart, healthy gator," Jacobs said.
Reggie was placed in quarantine while a mesh overhang was added to his exhibit to prevent another escape.
Good thing, too, because apparently, just like Wally, he's the greatest percolator when he really starts to romp.
Here is Reggie's backstory, according to the AP:
He originally was spotted in August 2005 at Harbor City's Machado Lake in L.A.'s South Bay region. Authorities say a man who illegally raised him as a pet dumped the gator in the lake when he got too big.
Reggie finally was captured after several failed attempts in May. He was introduced to the public last Thursday, and fans have been eager to see him.
"I am sure that Reggie simply wanted to explore his new home at the zoo and introduce himself to his neighbors," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the Harbor City area. "Or maybe he was heading back to Harbor City."
"We all know that Reggie is a very smart and elusive gator," she said. "It took us almost two years to catch him, and I would expect nothing less than at least one escape attempt from him."
Thankfully he was recaptured, or it would have been, "See ya later, Reggie Gator!"
Nice pickup in the Mailbag regarding the Maasai Journey
The Mailbag has been dry for a spell, but it got healthy in a big way today when one Jake from Commerce, Texas, offered a compelling and well-written commentary on yesterday's blog topic about the Maasai Journey educational exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Much obliged, Jake, and here's your take:
I read your letter to the editor re: Maasai Journey and I think perhaps a more concise point needed to be made. Ms. (Catherine) Claiborne completely misses the mark in her protests. Zoos are a vehicle for both conservation and education. I have been to many zoos and have seen many keepers deliver educational lectures concerning their charges. If the Seattle zoo has decided to educate the public about Maasai culture, who better to do the educating than an actual Maasai? As an academic, Ms. Claiborne must certainly be aware of the value inherent in receiving information straight from the horse's mouth (oops, let me rephrase; I'd hate to equate the Maasai to animals). I mean to say, Ms. Claiborne must certainly be aware of the value inherent in receiving information directly from an original source. Would she prefer that some kid from Iowa that's taken three or four classes in African culture educate folks about the Maasai Journey?
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Maasai Journey apparently too much for some academics to handle
As we mentioned yesterday, the study of wild animals often leads to discoveries about ourselves. And in no small part that's why news of zoos and animal parks is worth keeping in the sportsman's peripheral view.
Locally we're quite lucky to have such a fine facility as the Woodland Park Zoo, and, specifically, its Northern Trail segment and the remarkably accurate habitats created for the wolf, Arctic fox, elk, mountain goat and grizzly (as well as trout). I could spend all weekend there surveying these great beasts. But I digress.
According to the Seattle Times, four Maasai docents who represent their nomadic ethnic group from southern Kenya and Tanzania help zoo visitors understand the relationship between animals and people in Africa, and the need to protect the environment there.
However, the Times also reports, some professors and students at the University of Washington say the zoo's use of Maasai is insensitive and hearkens back to the days when zoos across the nation used people of color as accessories to exhibits.
The naysayers even staged a public forum to debate the matter.
Indeed, forum coordinator Catherine Claiborne, a master's candidate in public affairs and international studies at the university, went so far as to tell the Times the Maasai Journey could influence zoo patrons to "associate African people with animals, and African-Americans with animalism."
Rubbish, I say. I went a step further and wrote a letter to the Seattle Times expressing these sentiments. (It goes to show I actually have the desire and ability to express public views outside of the relative security of Backcasts.)
Suffice it to say, the Times, in its infinite wisdom, chose not to publish my comments. Ahh, it's so nice after all to have a place to call home for these sorts of things, so here's my letter to the editor.
Editor:
The Maasai Journey has been a fascinating departure for the Woodland Park Zoo, and I would venture to say a more educational and cultural adventure would be rare for zoo visitors anywhere.
Before reading Catherine Claiborne's comments on the African Savannah exhibit and its four Maasai docents it would never have crossed my mind to "associate African people with animals, and African-Americans with animalism."
Even after discovering in the Seattle Times coverage (Aug. 8, Page B1) the despicable yet bygone exploits of American zoos in this regard, I find the Seattle zoo's interpretation as refreshing and engaging a cultural exhibit as I've encountered. Kudos to the curators for creating such a meaningful and memorable visitor experience.
I applaud Ms. Claiborne as an academic. I applaud that she is organizing a public forum. But I reject her motives as frivolous, hypercritical and pugnacious. As a master's candidate in public affairs, it seems ironic she's put a negative spin on a feel-good story.
Let me know what you think of the zoo issue … and my opining.
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That's hot: Squirrels have unique defensive stance vs. rattlesnakes
Hot tail.
Couldn't resist stealing the Associated Press teaser for its piece out of Washington, D.C., about a newly published study on how California ground squirrels outsmart rattlers by using a little of the snake's own medicine.
These little varmints (think red mist) exhibit some amazing and impressive self-preservation techniques by actually heating their tails and shaking them vigorously to deter the bite of the buzzworm, according to a study in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Because the snakes, which are ambush hunters, can sense infrared radiation from heat, the warming makes the ground squirrels' tails more conspicuous to them – signaling that they have been discovered and that the squirrels may actually come and harass them, said Aaron Rundus, lead author of a study.
The tail "flagging" places the snakes on the defensive, he said.
Researchers are not sure just how the squirrels cause their tails to heat up, but they think it may be by shunting warm blood from the body core into the tail.
"It's such a new discovery that it leaves a lot of questions," said Rundus, who did the research while at the Animal Behavior Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis.
But apparently the hot tail isn't just a reflex, because the squirrels only exhibit the behavior when hassled by rattlesnakes. Confronted by gopher snakes, which can't sense heat, the squirrels wave their tails aggressively but don't bother to heat them up, the AP reports.
Adult ground squirrels are immune to rattlesnake venom due to a protein in their blood; they have actually been known to attack and injure snakes, by biting and kicking gravel at them. The rattlers are instead targeting the immature rodents, which they can kill and devour no problem.
In addition to the straightforward biology of the squirrels, the study found an interesting tie to our own behavior:
Learning more about these complex communication methods among animals may help improve our understanding of how complex human communications have evolved, Rundus said.
He said it serves as a reminder that to understand more about animal life, we need to pay close attention to how animals act, according to the AP.
"There is potentially a lot going on out there that we're not aware of,'' Rundus said.
So even a pest like the California ground squirrel can help us learn more about ourselves. Food for thought – and I've had ground squirrel, right off the spit; tastes a little like chicken, I suppose.
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Two startling grizzly attacks 40 years ago changed our views of bears
It was a primitive horror – being killed by a grizzly – but one until Aug. 13, 1967, may not have been in the collective consciousness of Americans in the Lower 48.
That all changed 40 years ago today, when Montana's Glacier National Park recorded its first grizzly documented fatalities in separate attacks that claimed two 19-year-old college women who were working summer jobs at the grand Rocky Mountains preserve.
The media jumped all over the gruesome deaths of Julie Helgeson and Michele Koons, and, as Backpacker magazine describes in its August edition, the nation's attention to and attitude about the predators were dramatically altered as a result:
What happened to those young people in the dark of night changed forever the public perception of grizzlies and the way the contest for primacy in American wilderness is refereed. After an initial retaliatory frenzy during which Glacier officials shot and killed four bears, an increasingly progressive bear-management philosophy took hold. Within less than a year, Glacier had closed its dumps, banned feeding (baiting bears for the amusement of guests), equipped every backcountry campsite with either a steel food box or "bear pole," instituted a pack-it-in-pack-it-out policy, and begun formally educating every park visitor on proper bear etiquette.
Investigative writer Jack Olsen penned "Night of the Grizzlies," from which Backpacker takes the title of its article, and the 1969 book about the tragedies went on to sell millions and become one of the most popular outdoor titles in publishing history.
But while Olsen predicted the Glacier attacks would doom the grizzly to exile and destruction, Backpacker points out the opposite is true. The response to the deaths of Helgeson and Koons ultimately strengthened bear populations, according to the magazine. The grizzly population in Glacier, which totaled roughly 100 forty years ago, now stands at 300.
Backpacker's report, complete with interviews of witnesses to the savagery of Aug. 13, 1967, and the aftermath, is must-read material.
About the author: Brett Pauly spent nearly six years editing and publishing ESPNOutdoors.com before moving on to produce the ESPN.com Sports Travel site.
He is a national award-winning writer and editor with 14 years of experience in the newspaper trade. The Evergreen State of Washington is where he makes his home. Click here to email him.
