Top stories, top memories of 2010
The year 2010 was one of great change and loss, opportunity and renewal. There were great bites, no bites, oil spills and renewed salmon runs, weddings, funerals, and baby showers.

For this writer the biggest change was a job switch after 24 years in the same spot. There were a lot of good times and great stories over those decades at Western Outdoor News, but in the end it was like I was never there. At least that's how they reported it. Or didn't. I would say it was like I died, but at least Pat McDonell wrote a story about Chuck Garrison when he died this past May. But hey, you can hold off on the obit. After all, Garrison's passing wasn't deemed notable enough to make WON's year-in-review piece.

Combined, Chuck and I were saltwater editors of WON for about 40 years. I would say a newspaper without a sense of its own history is a publication without soul. But maybe that gives the company the competitive edge owner Bob Twilegar was looking for when he told his editors not to write about their former colleague. That's all in the past and the last you'll hear of it from me, and only this time because this is a moment to reflect.

The biggest story of the year had to be Mike Livingston's 405.2-pound yellowfin tuna on the Vagabond, breaking the 399.6-pound mark held by Mark Gasich as the biggest ever on a long range boat and becoming the first yellowfin tuna over 400 pounds to ever be weighed on a certified scale. The best part for many on the sportfishing scene was that the catch took place with Captain Mike Lackey at the helm. Known for his abilities at Guadalupe and an uncanny knack for finding the first albacore of the season, Lackey and his "big tuna or bust" group proved Lackey's standing among the top rank of San Diego skippers - and that means among the best in the world.

The other big story of the year involved infamy instead of glory - the biggest cheating bust in many years in the competitive fishing world. Mike Hart of Valencia was caught presenting bass with lead weights to tournament officials at the U.S. Open of bass fishing at Lake Mead, NV.

One of the last assignments I had at WON, where I finished up as WON BASS editor, was to cover that U.S. Open tournament. I was there in the hotel room at Boulder Station as much respected WON BASS director Harvey Naslund paced the floor and hatched the plan that would ultimately ensnare Hart. John Cassidy's weigh crew worked hard to keep bass alive in the desert heat, so there were only a few anglers who had three dead fish to their name the second day of the three-day tournament. It was while cutting those dead fish to give to charity that Nevada wildlife officials found the weights.

The question was, would the cheater try again on the third and final day? What if he backed off and didn't present a last chance to catch him? Yet a look at the second day results showed that Mike Hart had moved into the money - the only angler with 3 dead fish to do so. There was a good chance he would cheat again if he was the culprit and wanted to stay in position for a payout.

Still, the weight of the world was on Naslund's 78-year-old shoulders. He had come back to WON after two previous stints as director to revive the fortunes of the dying tournament circuit. A cheater getting away scot free was not the way to crown an illustrious career.

Billy Egan announced Hart's name as he climbed the U.S. Open stage and made a stab at interviewing him, but couldn't help looking over to where Cassidy was lifting a bass out of the weigh sack and massaging the belly. At Cassidy's grin and nod toward Naslund, you could see the weight lift and the joy spread among the three. Not at ruining someone's life, but at preserving the honor of a sport they all loved. They took aside Hart, cut the fish, found the weights, and Naslund came back, strode the stage and with a fist pump looked at me and said, "We got him."

It was a story that broke across the country, earning Naslund congratulations from the like of Ray Scott and Johnny Morris, but one that resonated most close to home. The stakes were high enough - $100,000 total in cash, bass boat and motor - for Hart, a SoCal team tournament competitor, to believe it was worth it to place his reputation and way of life at stake. Later, some wondered whether all his team victories came because he had made a habit of cheating in the past, which made many top names in the bass game - former partners of Hart - more than uneasy.

It's a reminder going into the New Year that everything we do as fishermen reflects on the rest of the angling community. On the other hand, it's also important not to impose your ethics on others. Everyone deserves the freedom to develop their own perspective while working within the laws, regulations and rules set up to protect fisheries and the integrity of competitions.

Then again, there are the fishing closures enacted under the Marine Life Protection Act, the Southern California array approved just a few weeks ago by the Fish and Game Commission at their Santa Barbara meeting. I followed every minute of the process and I don't believe those laws are valid because the process was as much a fraud as the recent jailing of the Russian oil tycoon to keep him from funding opposing politicians. Marine Protected Areas are a good thing that can be of benefit - if the stakeholders buy into and approve the process. Instead, a wealthy segment of society bought the closures.

To make matters worse, it was simply the worst year of fishing I can remember in all my years of covering the local offshore scene. I lucked out and connected on most of my trips, but that's why I love the saltwater (and Seaguar fluorocarbon - a shameless plug for a product I believe in). And, sure, the incredible fishing for giant white seabass along the beach was so good it sent many a private boater to Long Beach to buy a commercial license.

And that's kind of it - other than all the great prospects ahead of us. Kelp beds are in fantastic shape, rockfish regulations are finally loosening up, these ARE the good old days on the long range boats and we know there are a bunch of yellowtail along the Baja coast - they made it all the way to La Jolla before the water turned to ice in May. Massive numbers of albacore were right behind, they just hit the wall and went west and north to the coast of Oregon, Washington and BC. Our turn will come again, hopefully sooner than later

Out with the old, in with the new. Happy New Year!

CAPTION:A NEVADA WILDLIFE digs out the lead weights that pointed the finger at Mike Hart during the U.S. Open.

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