“Fishing at mouth of river”
1989 – Akili-Casundria Ramsess, Herald Examiner Collection (Order Number 00028532)
Four fishermen are fishing off the pier at the mouth of the Los Angeles River in Long Beach. They are some of the many sustenance and recreational anglers who fish the Los Angeles River, typically catching bass, sunfish, blue gill, catfish, and carp using hot dogs, tortillas, and corn kernels as bait. The surprising fishability of the Los Angeles River has attracted national media attention and promoted the Los Angeles Times to even publish a recipe for ‘Los Angeles River Backyard Carp Larb’ using river-caught fish as the star ingredient. Experts cautiously suggest that eating a moderate amount of Los Angeles River fish is safe.
Projects are underway to bring steelhead trout back to the Los Angeles River. Creating habitat and favorable conditions for the return of this indicator species, last seen in the river in 1940, is an audacious goal. In a draft essay in 2007, river activist and poet Lewis MacAdams typed “I started telling people that when the steelhead trout run returns and the yellow-billed cuckoos were singing in the sycamores that the work of Friends of the LA River would be done.” In a firm hand, in ink, he added, “I wanted them to see a living river.”