BUSINESSES FEAR BIG ONES GETTING AWAY; FEES FORCING BASS TOURNAMENTS TO LEAVE CASTAIC LAKE.

Byline: Keith Lair

Two tournament series have left Castaic Lake, another is threatening to leave and the town's main seller of bait and tackle is considering going into the toy business. It's all the result of a long-ignored fee schedule on the books at Castaic Lake Recreation Area and the promotion of Mika Yamamoto to park superintendent.

Yamamoto, a former assistant supervisor at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, determined at the beginning of the year that a park rule requiring corporations to pay 15 percent of their gross receipts would include fishing tournament organizers.

In the past, the park superintendent waived the fee, allowing organizers to stage tournaments at the lake, which was once one of the world's finest bass fisheries.

``The matter really is out of my hands,'' Yamamoto said. ``I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I'm an administrator and I'm administrating policy.''

What she did not expect was the reaction she's received. WON Bass and West Coast Bass immediately moved their tournaments to different lakes. American Bass Association is expected to eventually do the same. Joel Justice, owner of the Mobile Mini Mart in Castaic - a gathering spot for anglers - jokingly says he'll have to enter the toy business to offset his loss of business.

Because of the outcry, Yamamoto will waive fees until July 1.

``Tournaments are not money-making propositions,'' said WON Bass tournament director Ron Cervanka, who has moved two tournaments from Castaic to Lake Pyramid. ``The cost would put WON Bass out of business.''

Yamamoto says the tournaments are commercial enterprises, charging registration fees and changing money on site.

``They're doing business as a commercial entity,'' she says. ``They come out, have a registration fee, often times have 75 to 100 boats and promote their bass tournaments. They're just like when the drag boats or corporations hold picnics here. It's just that the (tournaments) do not do it on as a big of a scale as the others do.''

Anglers say there is a lot at stake, and it's more than just proceeds from two-day tournaments.

``I have an angler who drives a long way to Castaic, fills up his truck and boat when he gets to Castaic, goes to the Mini Mart and buys sandwiches, drinks and ice and pays the $12 entrance fee,'' said ABA tournament director Craig Sutherland. ``When he's done, he either goes back to the Mini Mart or to a restaurant for dinner. He says he spends between $70 and $100 each trip he goes there and he goes there at least four times before a tournament.''

Cervanka's season-opening tournament was scheduled for Feb. 12 at Castaic. It is now at Pyramid.

``I went up there this last weekend,'' he said. ``On Saturday, there were 34 bass anglers and 17 on Sunday, when the weather wasn't very good. Eighty to 90 percent of our anglers pre-fish. The people at Pyramid were loving it because they don't get that much business from bassers.''

It's a point that rankles Justice.

``It's kind of scary,'' the Mimi Mart owner said. ``To most of us, this is sort of a lake town. We have to be very careful and have this resolved. Maybe I'll turn into a toy shop. Or sell candy. When the weather is miserable, like Sunday or (Monday), we still get the hardcore anglers.''

Cervanka says he met with Yamamoto on Oct. 8 regarding fee structures. He says WON Bass and the ABA had been paying $50 for exclusive use of the park's west boat ramp for several years. He said he offered to pay $100 to stage tournaments - the same amount ABA offered - and nothing was said of applying the 15 percent fee to tournaments.

``It was absolutely out of the blue,'' Justice said. ``I think the reaction has been dramatic. I think if (Yamamoto) had presented it before, gauged the reaction better, fishermen and Castaic would have respected the lake's views for revenues and made recommendations. Then, they might not have been willing to support their effort to earn more money.''

ABA's Sutherland says the lake will hold three Castaic tournaments - the first is Feb. 24 - until July 1. When the fee is reinstated, the final five or six tournaments of 2000 will be moved.

Yamamoto says it's human nature to resist change.

``It's another hit in their pocket book,'' she says. ``I think they're in a Catch-22. They're a special event and are caught in a fee schedule that was not paid for a number of years. I come in and change things and they're mad at me. I recognize their disappointment and I'll be disappointed if they left.''

Yamamoto says she thinks her predecessors overlooked the fee schedule when the tournaments were booked in the past. Cervanka says they overlooked the fees because they knew what the tournaments meant to the lake.

``I tried to explain fishing to her,'' he said. ``The tournament days may generate only $2,500, but the days before the tournament may make a lot more money for the lake. That's why a place like Elephant Butte, N.M., will pay BassMaster $25,000 to hold a tournament. They know they can generate more than that by holding a tournament.''

He says his budget could not accommodate the 15 percent gross. He says, on average, WON Bass generates $17,000 per tournament with anglers paying $120 each to enter the tournament. Of the $17,000, $12,000 goes back into prizes to the anglers for winning weights and in side pots. Cervanka must pay the Department of Fish and Game $37 for a tournament permit. He pays an insurance premium, $50 for the use of the ramp, collects $1,200 in park entrance fees for the park (tournaments generally start before regular park hours) and the rest goes to pay his and others' salaries (the jobs are part-time), trophies and a minimal amount for advertising.

``I'm just enforcing the fee schedules,'' she said. ``If there is money exchanged, then the county gets its cut of 15 percent. This is the (county) Board of Supervisor's rules and I'm running one of their departments. If someone higher says I'm not doing the right thing, then I don't want to do this. I'll follow what I'm instructed. As a public administrator, I follow the public's instructions.''

Both Cervanka and Sutherland say that charity events they run are now in jeopardy. Yamamoto says that is not true because tournaments where all funds go to the charity do not fall under the guidelines, but charity events in which an organizer takes a percentage of the proceeds would have to pay the fee.

``It would be a shame if they don't come here,'' Yamamoto said. ``I'll be disappointed if they boycott, but I think fishing at Castaic will remain very popular. The matter really is out of my hands.''