Where Pole Cats Can Fish and All the Farm’s a Stage

Discover the pleasures of the sea at the northern and southern borders of landlocked Placentia. You can fish for free at Tri City Park, then enjoy some of the best mariscos in the county in Placito Santa Fe Old Town.

Landlubbers can visit a multipurpose family farm that not only is a venue for live stage shows, but also (perhaps in honor of Gene Siskel’s pick for best picture of 1998) boasts more than a dozen newborn babes of the porcine kind. That’s right: Piglets in the City.

MORNING 1

Trout bite best on cold mornings, according to any number of anglers who recently lined the shore of the lake at Tri City Park. Catfish are another big draw at the park, so named because it straddles Brea, Fullerton and Placentia.

Do they make for good eating?

“You can eat ‘em if you can catch ‘em,” said Arnold Lietzsey of Covina, who had set up three poles with lines in the water. “I paid $9 [to fish elsewhere] this morning and caught nothing. It’s free here; you got nothing to lose.”

Fishing in the lake is regulated by the State Department of Fish and Game. The limit is five fish per species (e.g., trout or catfish), and a fishing license is required for those 16 or older. There’s no wading or swimming in the lake, but there are lots of ducks to watch, and often model sailboats as well.

Picnic areas can be reserved by calling the Placentia Recreation Department at (714) 993-8184.

MEALTIME 2

El Farolito, one of about a half-dozen Mexican eateries clustered in Placito Santa Fe, is owned and operated by la familia Sandoval. It’s marking its 25th anniversary.

El Farolito may be the hottest Mexican restaurant in the county--at least when it comes to spiciness.

You can order some of the house sauces for dipping the chips: A side of mole sets you back 75 cents; diabla sauce (the menu describes it as “hot hot”) runs $1. Item 34 is camarones a la diabla, five shrimps in “extra extra spicy hot chile pepper sauce” ($9.25), and it’s rife with chile seeds; suffice it to say the house salsa won’t taste hot afterward. Menudo is served on weekends.

If you’re eating on the run, check out Tacos Tlaquepaque down the street (101 W. Santa Fe Ave. at Bradford Avenue. Tacos are 93 cents, burritos $2.85, and choices for fillings--be adventurous!--include brains, tongue, stomach, tripe, pork rinds and goat. The stand shares ownership with Tlaquepaque Restaurant (111 W. Santa Fe Ave.), where the renowned band Mariachi plays during lunch and dinner Fridays, dinner Saturdays and brunch Sundays.

AFTERNOON 3

Turn in at the “Birthdays Here” sign to find the Schaner Family Farm, where an emu shares a pen with a Shetland pony. The pony pulled a carriage in a farm production of “Cinderella.” “The Knight Before Christmas” played here more recently, and “Jack Rabbit and the Beanstalk” opens in mid-March. Stage shows on a farm? Dave Schaner, who has worked with various children’s theater troupes in Los Angeles, was recently given a cache of costumes. “Somebody gives you tools, you work on cars,” he said. “They give you costumes, you do theater.”

Schaner describes the farm as “the last true fruit stand in the county.” He grows everything he sells. Pesticide-free crops include lettuce, broccoli and cabbage; spring will bring corn, squash and bell peppers. One of 13 children, Dave Schaner is in charge of produce, theatrical productions, school field trips and kids’ birthday parties.

Brother Paul looks after livestock including sheep, cows, goats, geese and, right now, a gaggle of baby pigs. Dad, 75-year-old mechanic Pete Schaner, has lived on the site--which now incorporates four houses, lots of palm trees and a junkyard--since 1929, when he was 4.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

1) Tri City Park

2301 N. Kraemer Blvd., (714) 993-8184.

5 a.m.-10:30 p.m. daily.

2) El Farolito

201 S. Bradford Ave., (714) 993-7880.

7 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

3) Schaner Family Farm

1128 N. Kraemer Blvd., (714) 996-3314.

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

Parking: There is free parking in lots at each location.

Buses: OCTA bus No. 41 (La Habra-Brea) runs along Bradford Avenue between Chapman Avenue and Yorba Linda Boulevard, along Yorba Linda Boulevard between Bradford Avenue and Kraemer Boulevard, and on Kraemer Boulevard north of Yorba Linda Boulevard with a stop at Golden Avenue. Bus No. 67 (Brea-Tustin) runs along Kraemer Boulevard south of Yorba Linda Boulevard with a stop at Morse Avenue. Bus No. 69 (Fullerton-Santa Ana) runs along Chapman Avenue with stops at Bradford Avenue and Kraemer Boulevard.