Stories by Mike Stevens
NorCal mountain lion attack leaves one dead
GEORGETOWN— A mountain lion attacked a pair of shed hunters on March 23 in Northern California leaving one man dead and the other injured. The brothers (age 18 and 21) were shed hunting in a remote area when the incident occurred.
The 18-year-old dialed 9-1-1 and reached the El Dorado Sheriff’s office at 1:13 p.m. According to a press release from the Sheriff’s office, he and his 21-year-old brother had been attacked by a mountain lion in a remote area of Darling Ridge Rd. and Skid Rd., inGeorgetown. The reporting party suffered traumatic injuries to his face and was separated from his brother during the attack. At 1:34 p.m. Deputies and Paramedics arrived in the area, located the reporting party and began to administer aid to him. Additional Deputies began the search for the unaccounted brother. At around 1:46pm Deputies observed a crouched mountain lion next to a subject on the ground. The mountain lion was between the Deputies and the subject on the ground. Deputies discharged their firearms scaring the mountain lion off so they could render aid. Unfortunately, the male subject was deceased. Wardens and Trappers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife along with the El Dorado County Trapper responded to the area, located the mountain lion, and dispatched it.
According to the DFW list of verified mountain lion attacks in California, this is the first fatal attack since 2004 (Orange County). There were two nonfatal attacks in 2022 (Los Angeles and Trinity counties) and a total of seven (counting this one) between 2020 and 2024. The whole list is available at wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Mountain-Lion/Attacks.
Marina operations return to Lake Perris
PERRIS— Motorized and non-motorized boat rentals returned at Lake Perris Marina on Friday, March 22, per Rec-Out SoCal, the lease holder for marina operations at the Riverside County Lake. This “grand opening” event was the first of two slated for this spring with personal watercraft rentals becoming available in May.
Rec-Out SoCal picked up the contract to rebuild the facility in 2021, and construction on an all-new marina and marina store started in July of 2022. A temporary store offering snacks, drinks, ice, bait, tackle and other essentials opened soon after that operated while the work on the docks and a permanent store were underway.
The current rental fleet includes fishing boats, kayaks and paddle boards, and additional options arriving in May include jet skis and wave runners. The store is currently open Friday through Sunday, but in May the schedule will shift to 7 days per week. The first marina was built in the early ‘80s, and the lake has been operating without one since 2019.
For more info, visit RecOutSoCal.com.
Big cat breaks lake record at El Cap
LAKESIDE— The catfish record fell at El Capitan Reservoir when a 63.5-pound blue cat was caught by an angler who is no stranger to chalking up lake records.
“I have broken the lake record for the second time since 2018,” said WON reader Bob Baker. “The weight was 63.5 pounds, and this is my fourth official lake record in Southern California. My first was at Dixon Lake on in 1983, a 16-pound bass. Second was a 52.81-pound blue catfish at Diamond Valley Lake in 2010, and the third record was a 53.50-pound blue catfish taken at El Capitan in March of 2018.”
In other monster catfish news, there was also a 56 pounder caught at Lake Wohlford where dedicated catfish anglers catch and release these resident tankers every year.
