Beachgoers flock to the lakes on Labor Day

By:vBRIAN ECKHOUSE Staff Writer | Tuesday, September 5, 2006 11:10 AM PDT ∞

The clock approached noon, yet dozens who were fishing Monday along the shores of Lake Skinner

hadn't had any bites -- even though many arrived there six hours earlier.

Still, most weren't agitated by their lack of luck; it was, after all, the last official off day of summer, Labor Day.

Upland resident Jim Haidet and two friends visited Lake Skinner for the first time Monday.

"So far so good, but there could be a few more fish," said Haidet, 68, as he pointed at the first fish -- a striper -- that they had seen break the surface in several minutes. "We haven't caught anything."

His friend Rodney Gauthier, 42, of Camp Pendleton feigned anger.

"Come on, Jim," Gauthier said, perhaps in jest. "I've caught five."

Their female companions didn't join them, but they expected results, Haidet said.

"My wife gives me a hard time when we don't catch anything," Gauthier said.

"So if we don't catch anything, we'll go to Albertsons and get some fish," Haidet added.

Ben Ngyuen, 27, of Arizona also hadn't caught any fish by noon, so he decided on a different strategy: drinking a can of Red Bull to wake him up out of his morning slumber.

"I gotta have energy," he said.

Kyler Rahbari, 11, of Temecula thought he'd caught a fish Monday. But it escaped -- and, adding insult to injury, ruined his fishing line.

"A fish grabbed my line, ripped off my legs, then the line," Kyler said, grinning. "It was a big tug."

That was the closest he'd come. By 11:30 a.m., the stiflingly hot conditions prompted him and a friend to head home.

"It's just too hot," Kyler said.

Hundreds of visitors to Lake Skinner, including Kevin Burns and his family of 8, preferred cooler surroundings: either in a large swimming pool near the lake or under the long arms of trees.

For a fourth day in a row, the mercury soared to at least 100 in Temecula. And there was just the slightest of breezes passing over Lake Skinner, creating tiny ripples of waves.

It felt hotter at Lake Elsinore. Yet, Jet Skiers and families packed the lake early Monday afternoon.

Chris Reese and friends stopped by Lake Elsinore to jet ski as they returned to Southern California from a weekend trip to Lake Havasu.

But, they readily admitted, the visit wasn't limited to jet skiing. It also was to drink beer. A lot of beer.

"No, this isn't the end of summer. That's the day when you finish drinking. That would be Dec. 31," said Reese, 24, of Huntington Beach. "Summer's never over."

That final sentiment -- that Labor Day didn't signify the unofficial end to summer -- was shared by Veronica Gallardo, 19, of Moreno Valley.

"Oh, we've got another month or so to go before the end of summer," said Gallardo, who was joined at Lake Elsinore by her father, siblings and boyfriend. "I'll probably be back here next week."

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