Mac Meda Destruction Company

La Jolla Cove Black Sea Bass – 628Lbs – Donnie Tomlinson

628lb Black Sea Bass caught off La Jolla Cove by Fishermen Donnie Tomlinson - photo provided by Eber

Nowadays if you did something “Bitchen” like catch a huge fish well, most would take a digital photo, upload it on the internet and sent it to all their friends, and of course have bragging rights for the next zillion years.

But, what if that fish was a huge   628lb Black Sea Bass – and back in the 1960s  things were different, like, legal to catch Black Sea Bass,  no internet, computers etc. And of course, getting photos developed took about a week and there were only a couple of places to do this.  Read more... (443 words, 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

La Jolla Abalone Diving – Bird Rock, Casa Pool and Cove

Dennis Downie shows how it is done. Here he is with his mother, Tony Downie, on her back porch in Bird Rock with 18 "BIG"green abs taken in 1969. That was a good day, claims Dennis - photo provided by Dennis Downie

Back in the good old days, La Jolla abalone  diving was just a matter of getting into the water and searching for these  uniques creatures. Or in the area of Bird Rock, at low tide one could walk out and over turn rocks and there would be these wonder creatures.  The prime spots were Bird Rock to North Bird and anywhere in the general area of the Case Pool and Cove areas (which is now a marine reserve) due to their rocky bottom. In the early 1970s,  Richard Krug organized the 1st Abalone Dive Contest that was held off Point Loma, were the best of the best divers, free dived, and afterwords have a huge ab party.  Read more... (568 words, 1 image, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

Donnie Tomlinson – Legendary San Diego/La Jolla Lobster Fishermen

Donnie pulls a trap off La Jolla before they made the area a fishing reserve - Photo by Doug Moranville

To a lobster connoisseur, you think only of California’s Spiny Lobsters because of its excellent sweet taste. When thinking of those that fish lobsters, there is only one;  San Diego’s  La Jolla legendary fisherman, Donnie Tomlinson.

Donnie grew up in La Jolla, his dad owned La Jolla Cab, whose office was right next to Kramers Gas Station. They lived by the then,  La Jolla High/Middle School. One of the early stories is how his twin sisters had to flip coins of who was going to drop and pick Donnie and Jack MacPherson off in a limo (his dad rented out) when they would go spear fishing at La Jolla Shores. They were only 10 years old.  Read more... (1214 words, 3 images, estimated 4:51 mins reading time)

La Jolla Abalone Dive – Mac Meda Contest

Why would anyone brave cold and potentially dangerous surf, unpredictable currents, and stories of bull-shitting, man-eating sharks for abalone?

Strangely enough, ab divers spend an estimated $6,000,000 and $10,000,000 for abalone and at $100 per pound in places, we are talking a serious shellfish.  Presuming it’s unlikely that all of the estimated 40,000 recreational abalone harvesters are quite simply crazy, there just might be some reasonable explanation for this madness.

Well, Craziness is Mac Meda’s motto!

The giant snail inches its way across the rocks in relatively shallow water. Even so, diving for abalone has become one of California’s most hazardous recreational activities, over 10 people a year die from ab diving.  Read more... (463 words, 2 images, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)