Catch of the day

from Carmelo Gaeta: “This fish was caught 5/23/07 on the L.A. River at a spot I call Splits, downriver behind Taylor Yard. It’s a wonderful section of the River — very peaceful with no freeway noise and an endless gentle breeze. The vegetation is lush. I guess the weight at about 10-12 lbs with a length of 22in. (Yes, I threw it back, like I always do.) I caught one bigger then this a few weeks back — at least 20lbs, but the photos came out poorly. I’ve caught several of this size and bigger down there. It’s my new spot. (The tackle box with the L.A.Record sticker is 6.5 inches long–do the math. It’s not scientific accurate but close enough.)”

From “The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth” by Blake Gumprecht (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999), 26:

“At least seven species of fish once lived in the river and its tributary streams, not including the many salt-tolerant species found where fesh and salt water mixed near the river’s mouth. Two marine fish, the southern steelhead and the eel-like Pacific lamprey, spawned in the river, and their young spent one or two years in the stream before returning to the sea. They were probably the largest fish to live in the river, both reaching two feet in length. Three smaller freshwater species–Pacific brook lamprey, arroyo chub, and unarmored threespine stickleback–were widely distributed in the river and in the marshes formed by its overflow. The Pacific brook lamprety grew to about eight inches in length. The arroyo chub, a member of the minnow family, and the threespine stickleback rarely grow longer than three inches. Two other species, the Santa Ana sucker and the Santa Ana speckled dace, occurred primarily in the river’s mountainous tributaries but were also found in the main river channel.”