OUT LOOKS: FISHING ANGLES COVERED.

Byline: Brett Pauly Daily News Staff Writer

From angling in the Golden State to a potpourri of faraway destinations, overviews of three recent fishing books:

To read how small calico and sand bass were once restaurant staples gives anglers a glimpse of the bounties offered by coastal waters during the first half of the century.

A dinner platter was best presented with a fish that measured 10 to 12 inches; larger specimens were pooh-poohed because they required filleting.

Ah, the good ol' days before size and catch limits. But, it is said, all good things come to an end, and the fishing pressure on juvenile bass led to diminished stocks, the removal of the species from the marketplace and fishing regulations to preserve the resource.

These are among the ``Tales of the Golden Years of California Ocean Fishing: 1900-1950,'' published by the Friends of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum and the museum's Research Society ($14.95).

Author Ed Ries has pieced together a series of snippets that provides a rare and invaluable look at our angling history.

It was a time of 12-foot bamboo rods, ``knuckle buster'' reels with handles that spun backward like buzz saws when hooked fish made their runs and vegetable-fiber lines that could be ruined almost overnight by a single spot of blood, rust or slime. Those who couldn't afford such tackle relied on simple handlines.

A time when, in 1902, five tons of albacore were boated off Santa Catalina Island in a single afternoon by 20 anglers. When members of Avalon's prestigious Tuna Club were catching the world's first tuna, marlin and swordfish on rods and reels.

Ries, 79, of San Diego, an angler since 1932 and a revered sportfishing writer, gives a unique perspective to the sport and illustrates the 126 pages with dozens of archival photos and wonderful prints of paintings by his own hand.

Harbors are where boats depart to catch fish in open waters. But they are also home to many species - notably the spotted bay bass - that are a blast to target with light tackle.

But their strikes are extremely subtle, and to recognize when the bait is in their mouths - more often than many anglers realize - is to put more fish in the boat.

``Fish Have No Hands: Catching Tons of Fish in Bays and Estuaries'' (Ragnar's Books; $19.95) by Placentia angling guide Mike Gardner should help.

The title of the 174-page book says a lot, actually. Since fish have no hands, where else is the lure going to be? In other words, set the hook anytime you feel the slightest tap; you can never swing too often, Gardner preaches.

Many other useful tips are proposed in practical if not poetic terms.

Locate the headwaters of Montana's Armstrong Spring Creek and you have found ``Distant Waters: The Greatest Fly-Fishing Worldwide'' (Random House; $35).

For it is here, in the ``Mornings - The Rocky Mountains'' chapter of the coffee-table format, that the solitary aspect of the sport is defined in full color. The stunning photographs by R. Valentine Atkinson provide the essence of the 192 pages, and the reprinted essays by angling heavyweights such as Nick Lyons and Ernest Schwiebert serve as the backdrop.

You will be transported to farther locales than the Big Sky country.To sight-fishing trout streams in New Zealand. To tent towns along the banks of Russia's salmon-rich Ponoi River. And to Mexico, where anglers aim for permit above endless sand flats on flies that imitate crabs not bugs.

Each section is complemented with detailed photos of tackle and ``factfiles'' that highlight the essentials for each fishery chronicled.

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Photo: (Color) New books on fishing transport readers to distant locales.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News