LJ tournament

[tylerdurden]

Tourny report...
Thanks to PAL and the guys that put this together. Also thanks to all the sponsors that donated raffle items and prizes. Ballast point, my favorite, donated 24x22oz bottles of yt pale ale today . Everyone has their own story. I think there were only 4 big fish weighed in:




Most important, if we can just get everyone that went to the tourny today to the public workshops coming up the next couple days we can make a difference. Let's not drop the ball on this one.

[dsafety]

A great time was had by all. Here are a couple more shots I got of guys who obviously much better fishers than I, (skunked again). I don't know who these people are so if someone wants a full-size image, please PM me and I will email it to you.

Bob

[kurt]

A fun time and for a great cause. Hope to see everyone at the workshops on Monday and Tuesday.

[Grego]

Thanks for the awesome tourney PAL, and nice seeing everyone there. I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

Dave, thanks a million for those prints! Luv'em!!

[Billy V]

I had a great time at todays event and stayed out to fish well after the 11am cut-off.

Thanks Paul and everyone else who made this tournament possible.

Lets continue the momentum of todays event, and take it to the MLPA meetings to fight for our fishing rights.
--------------------------------
Fishing Karma is REAL.
Just ask Grego who was rewarded for his MLPA defense efforts with a huge halibut. We were just talking about that fish at the L.A. SAT Meeting.
-Somebody must have been listening, because the order was filled big time.
--------------------------------
I hope Clay enjoys his New Fishfinder, he certainly earned it.
See you on the water.

[Tman]

Great times, glad the fish showed up for some of us and made it memorable...

Paul, thanks again for your efforts, you did (and continue to do) a GREAT JOB!

Grego, great fish...if you want to see a pic of it, just google 'big ass table'...pretty much sums it up.

Personally I would like to thank those who showed up and contributed to a very worthy cause, great seeing a bunch of you, thanks Paul and all of you for the certificate to Clay that will be framed, the FF, LJKF for giving him a WON subscription along with the lures and Uni Butter, and again to Paul...



See ya at the next go round, the battle is far from over...

[bigderel]

What a great day!!

We had a blast doing the weighing & beverage control. I'll post pics as soon as I can locate a cable, my wife decided to road trip mine to Seattle. If you have good photos (particularly of the big fish) please email them to paul@kayakfishingzone.com ASAP so that they might be included in an article. He's got a tight deadline!

Highlights & stats:

Big fish looked like it might be a photo finish at first when Tyler & Jasmin paddled up with twin yellows. Without a stable platform (land) it was tough to get a 100% accurate weight...it was close and I haven't been to a gym in years so hoisting two 35# class fish on a balance beam wasn't in the works.

Greg then paddled up with a trump carpet in the hatch. Once on the weigh boat the magic carpet balanced out around 42 pounds - until Duane pointed out that 'dude, the fish is still on the ground'. Scrambled up to the casting deck and tried again - thanks for giving me the opportunity to sport my double chin - and we got a better idea on how big we were looking at. Bounced in the high 40's to over 50#. We marked down 48# but hopefully you got a certified weight on that beast Greg. MONSTER halibut! Congrats.

It was all over unless somebody found a ghost...weighed more big fish from Joe T., Jesse, Toby & Eddie...but no one found a fish that could take Greg's halibut glory. Eddie ended up weighing a 34+ halibut right at the end to bookend the 35# yellows that started it all.

The spearos showed up with a couple of yellows & a nice goat. I have no idea how you freedive for those yellows guys...I've seen 'em before freediving, but we're talking about pure ability when it comes to the hunt! Congrats to Ben Hendricks (biggest YT) and Mike Portolese with the big goat and overall big fish! Scott Defirmian also found a yellow. Right on.

Big calico honors was settled early on - we picked up a 5# class fish from Mark Lakamp and minutes later a 6.15# slug from Kevin Harvey...appropriately taken on the MC Slug. Kerry Peeler brought in healthy calico that edged Mark for second biggest but could not touch Kevin's big one. Nice work Harv Dog!
Duane & I did a lot more weighing, chatting and handing off beverages than fishing, but Duane the magician managed to find a 4# calico & I mustered a 2.6#. We had sidepot gifts to hand out for the closest two fish to ours, and Margarita Mike weighed one closest to mine...and Mike Graham found one a lot like Duane's...so they took home some goodies & tourney tee's.

80+ beverages were caught & released as well, many of them coming on the hook & hand once the sun came out. All trash seen on the water gaffed & filleted. Moyer got naked and jumped in the water. Once the weighing was done we made our way back to MB, stopped for a drift and saw some on the inside...tons of sargo, packs of calico, opaleye...the only bad sign was a dead starter battery once we got in. Just another reason to kayak!! I was late to the park but in time to see most everyone with their raffle items & big smiles.

Thank you everyone for coming out and supporting the cause. HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE thanks to Paul who has put in a MASSIVE amount of effort to stand up for our fishing rights throughout the MLPA process and put this great event together. Do your part and make sure everyone comes to the meetings on Monday & Tuesday...lots of grassroot effort (Kiyo and the boys had a stack of flyers for the effort north of San Diego, many of you are really putting forth a great amount of effort locally) but we have to keep our foot on the accelorator. Days like today should be available for everyone to enjoy in the future...long live the Jewel!



TL, Andy

[Iceman]

vessel assist

[Holy Mackerel]

Thanks Paul, and congrats to all the guys who caught some nice fish!!

I had lots of fun fishing with some friends I don't get to see that often!

some pics.

[Margarita Mike]

Just want to add to Andys post and say congrats to all the winners. Some very nice fish, you guys always hard and the rewards show it, but I really think All of us will be winners if we show up to the Meetings that are coming to the San Diego area.
Andy thanks for a very nice "Match the weigh boat fish" prizes.
The on the water beverages sure help fighting those two pounders

Thanks to Paul "Pal" for getting this put together and everyone who helped and to all that showed the support for something we all love and thats is dear to us all.

Margarita

[PAL]

Reading this thread is pumping me up! HUGE THANKS to all of you, our collective efforts will raise more than $6,500 to keep our precious and rare kayak and spear fishing sites open. 135 of you turned out for this impromptu celebration and rally. Awesome - words fail me.

And sweet fish! Talk about quality. La Jolla gives up the love. Grego, amazing. Props to the bass guys for turning out and rolling their MBF into the fun for a great cause.

It meant much that our brother and sister low impact, human-powered hunters joined us on and in the water. Thanks to the free dive contingent! Working together, our strength, energy and passion will get the job done.

There are so many to thank. Dave Easton, loved those gyotaku. Amazing, someone send me a high-res jpg please. And so many others opened their wallets or donated costly, high quality gear to the raffle. MJ Kennedy, who is fighting alongside me on the RSG, thanks for coming down and spending the day with us at the Jewel, and for everything else you do.

Thank you Ocean Kayak! SD Kayak Adventures / OEX Kearny Mesa. Big ups to Dana Pt Jetski - premium prizes and a fat check for the cause. OEX Oceanside and Malibu! Pelican, Catalina Offshore Products for the seafood certificates and Tommy Gomes and Unigoop for the Buttery goodness.

Western Outdoor News - mega on the subs. Kerry Peeler's Bugz Baits! Kickbike, you rock! Hobie for lots of duffles and other goodies. Chipotle for buritos that looked like the best of gut bombs. Pat's Bait and Tackle - drop by the next time you're in Vista. Candy Catcher -squid jigs supreme. La Jolla Kayak Fishing for the Surf and Safety Classes - they'll make you next to crash proof (nobody's perfect). The LP! Joe Nguyen, Cory Wyrick, Eugene Kim, the fabulous crew at Islander Sportfishing!

Helpers extraordinaire, Andy Wright, Bob Van Epps, Steven Green, and our raffle team headed by the Fishcatcher - grattitude. Halcyon Electric, who took care of our permits and bought the dogs and drinks (I'm the one who forgot those last 20 buns). Hook 1, the best of the best. Reebs you rock. Big Hammer. Ballast Point, Fastlane Kayak Center, and everyone else who pitched in - heartfelt thanks.

Paul

[steveooo]

My story from the tourney. Great time, big thanks to Paul & all who helped out/donated.

Saw this. A familiar sight to many.



Sorry Andy if I jinxed you. I was hoping to get a sweet pic of the gaff shot but alas, it was not meant to be…

Junk fish were out in full force. Patrick posing is my favorite part of this pic…



Mud marlin too



Saw many “different” landing techniques

















Later at the park, Dave made these really cool fish prints





I also won this Trident for $700. Check out the for sale/ trade section of this site. Really cool safety color, makes you VERY visible to other boats on the water



Again, great time. Thanks again Paul

[yakker420]

I am going to the MLPA workshop Tuesday, 5:30pm at Marina Village. Hope to see you there. Congrats on your big tourney fish guys.

[robmandel]

awesome day for sure. first time for me down in LJ but definitely won't be my last. long drive for me but what an amazing fishery. I did the bass thing and managed a few calico. so many great people involved. thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make it happen, and those that donated stuff for the raffle.

[tylerdurden]

Great pics guys. I wish I took more. Still amazed what a grass roots effort can pull off.

Great timing on the tournament day too. Today was windy from the start.

[Jim Sammons LJKF]

Thank you Paul for all your hard work and for putting on a great event and thanks to everyone else that pitched in. Great to see our community come together. I don't often get to fish in these things and it was just fun to see and BS with some of the guys. I spent my day entertaining the leopard sharks so nothing to show for the day but a good time. Congrats to those that got to weigh in fish, big congrats to Grego that thing was a beast.
I did a surf class this morning and you talk about a different day, the surf was smaller but the wind was up much more, not nearly as nice as yesterday.
Speaking of the surf class, watching some of those landings and even some of the launches yesterday and again today. I have to say I think a good number of people would benifit from this class. I gave away two classes in the raffle yesterday so I will put a class on my calaneder real soon.
Greeny I hope your hand is OK, I think you had the catch of the day, a 250 pound Landwhale

[Grego]

Here's some water photos

[Jim Sammons LJKF]

Congrats again Grego, that is just an awesome fish. I don't think any of those photos shows just how FAT that fish was.

[LocoKayako]

That thing is just enormous!

Absolutely huge. Congrats Greg that's a beaut of a fish

[tylerdurden]

Congrats on the fish and the win Greg. Wow .