FOR THE RECORD; BIG CATCH TAKES MORE THAN LUCK.

Byline: BRETT PAULY

They are the Los Angeles area's links to fishing fame, establishing world standards for the largest catches on the books.

Men and women who have parlayed their angling passion into records recognized by the International Game Fish Association and the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame - the establishments that oversee such important matters.

They include Palmdale's Celia Dueitt, who, six years removed from her catch, still finds it hard to believe that she holds the woman's record for Pacific halibut - a 368-pound Alaskan brute that took the 100-pound grandmother of nine an hour to land and provided her family with a vast supply of steaks.

And Bradley A. Dew of Garden Grove whose 181-pound bat ray, the world's heaviest, was taken in 1978 from the Huntington Beach Pier. Of course, it's a strong pier.

And Joyce Corrigan, a Cerritos angler who is less concerned about keeping her women's 130-pound line-class record for yellowfin tuna than making sure the fish she brings back from long-range trips feeds the homeless.

Some specifically target records, filling vacant spots or carefully gauging what existing marks can be broken. Others make their names on incidental catches, aiming for one species and catching a whopper in another. Still others can credit good fortune.

``It's really a combination of luck and skill,'' said IGFA records secretary Stephany Wilken, whose data shows that, of the more than 4,000 records kept, some 200 are owned by Los Angeles-area anglers. ``Four thousand seems like a lot of records, but it's still not that easy to catch one.''

However it's accomplished, the holder of each record has his or her own story:

Topanga's Gino Picciolo was a 15-year-old deckhand when he watched a 21-pound, 3-ounce Pacific bonito engulf a small green-and-yellow jig on the first cast of a new rod, reel and line.

It was a loner fish that had been hanging around the Malibu Pier bait receiver for a couple of weeks, prompting the skipper to comment that it was the biggest bonito he'd ever seen. It proved to be the largest on record.

What made the event most special?

``My mom was out on that day, the one time she came to see me work,'' said Picciolo, now 35 and an eyeglass-frame inventory manager. ``She came out to watch these basking sharks two miles off shore that would come up to the boat with their mouths wide open.''

Sylmar's Russ Hampton was targeting calico bass on 15-pound line at Mexico's Cedros Island when he was taken for a 45-minute ride by a giant sea bass.

``It wasn't expected. I wasn't out to set a world record; that made it feel a whole lot better than something I was trying to do,'' Hampton said.

Then he wrung his hand for months awaiting word on whether his line tested properly in the 16-pound class for which he applied. Had it over tested, he would have been out of luck, since the mark for the 20-pound class was 425 pounds.

Corky Yokoe figured the pressure was off when he landed a 300-plus-pound yellowfin tuna at Mexico's Clarion Island at the first stop on a long-range trip out of San Diego.

``Basically, you catch a huge fish and you're not stressed to catch another one,'' Yokoe said. ``I was pretty much relaxed after that.''

The fish fought for only 35 minutes, so the Monterey Park plastics engineer was surprised to find it topped his personal best of 287 pounds. The biggest shock was still to come - a record in the 130-pound class, at 376 pounds, 6 ounces.

Speaking of yellowfins, Cerritos angler Corrigan hooked her 304-1/4-pounder - the women's all-tackle record - while furiously trying to avoid hooking a tiger shark.

The catch has brought her notoriety, but she has bigger fish to fry.

``I'm happy that I caught a 300-pound fish, but I'm just the same person as I was before, just a stubborn Italian lady trying to get a big fish,'' she said.

She and her husband, Don, whose biggest yellowfin is 272 pounds but who brags that no other couple has two larger fish between them, donates entire tuna to L.A. missions, hands out tuna sandwiches along skid row and brings fillets into the housing projects of Torrance.

``If they're happy for that one minute eating that sandwich, then it makes me feel that I did something good with that fish instead of just killing it.''

Among the few couples who own world records together, John and Sydney Whitaker of Manhattan Beach are split in their fishing intensity.

John, an orthodontist and a heavyweight among area record fishermen, has set more than a dozen standards, seven of which still stand, including three calico bass fly-fishing marks.

``I'm proud of the fact that I have them and I am going to continue to try and get more,'' he said. ``There is a skill factor and a luck factor. Ultimately, the record is broken on luck, but you have to be able to handle the fish once you hook it up.''

Sydney, who owns the women's 2-pound conventional-line record for California halibut, is more content to fish when she can and support her husband's endeavors. Records are gravy.

``It's fun, because it's such a big deal to John, and it's his passion way more than mine,'' she said. ``I think it's really wonderful of him to have me involved in something he loves so much.''

Redondo Beach saltwater fly-fishing guide Bill Matthews was geared for barracuda at Horseshoe Kelp off Long Beach when he noticed spawning white seabass swimming on the surface. On the third cast he got a hit.

``My buddy starts going berserk. He got more excited than me. We net the fish and it tapes out at 34 inches,'' Matthews said. ``He pulls out a cell phone, calls the IGFA in Florida. He said, `Dude, you got it, you got the record. OK, let's go in. And I said, `We just got here.' ''

The fish weighed in at 17 pounds, 7 ounces, setting a record for 16-pound tippet.

Talk about understatements: ``We heard the handle snap on the net. From there we knew it was kind of big,'' said Frank Murata of Norwalk, whose 23-pound, 1-ounce rainbow trout caught last December at Santa Ana River Lakes set the Hall of Fame record for 2-pound line.

It's quite an accomplishment, considering only a handful of area anglers make it into the hall, said director Ted Dzialo. ``You have the species of fish, but apparently you don't get the big ones.''

The big exception is largemouth bass, the nation's most popular game fish. Castaic and Casitas lakes have produced eight of 15 conventional-tackle bucketmouth records.

``It's the fish that commands the most attention,'' Dzialo said. ``What you lack in quantity you make up in quality.''

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4 Photos

PHOTO (1--color) Celia Dueitt of Palmdale fed her large family with this 368-pound halibut.

(2--3--color) A fly-caught 14-pound rainbow runner brought Camarillo's Steve Abel an IGFA certificate for the 20-pound tippet class.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News

(4) Corky Yokoe of Monterey Park was dwarfed by this 376-pound yellowfin tuna at Mexico's Clarion Island, a 130-pound line record.

W.A. Roecker/Special to the Daily News