MBK Derby

I went out with my Son Chris this morning and tried our luck at the MBK Derby. Ocean was great catching was not.  We drifted in front of the big hotel on the beech for butts and then made a move to cannery row that didn't pan out.  Chris go a nice cow cod first thing in the morning and that was about it. I didn't stay for the weigh in but it looked like everyone did about the same. Hey, it beats work and the gas bill was very palatable.  Nice fishing with everyone!

Way to get out there with your son Xraykid!!! Thats A hell of A paddle!!! Chris did Ahella alot better than I. Had three super takedows that probably would have won it!! .. None stuck.On the good side I was finally able to meet in person all the people Ive been interacting with on this awesome forum. Mooch, Guitarzan, Inseinduane, just to name A few.I will post pics latter,for now I have to go and clean the huge sanddab I caught. .. Had A great time. Thanks MBK and SCallen for putting the great event together. Until next time rip some lip... Andy

Thanks for the report xraykid and great pictures.

Jed

Congrats to Eugene for landing the large fish of the day - a 3lb. rock fish.

As for myself, it was a relatively uneventful first time on the big blue.  Except for being harassed by several sea lions that got a little too close - it really freaked me out.  I've read many accounts of them being curious with other guys on the board, but it is different when it happens to you.

My day started with me forgetting my camera and hog trough at home.  Thought to my self, self, hope you don't end up needing it.  Finally got on the water and my electronics started giving me weird feedback so I made several trips back to shore to sort it out but to no avail.   I was fishing in 2 & a half ft. of water all day.    It might explain why I had such little success.

I started the day drifting popsicles and a fishtrap smeared with jelly but nothing was doing.  I ended up drifting by some kelp and decided to switch over to some soft plastics for rock fish.  Got a few little nibbles but nothing stuck.

In all, had a great time although I showed up a little late for dawgs (12:55) and they were gone.    They sure looked good though.

Thanks to GB2 for the pointers as we headed out.  Sorry I wasn't able to catch up with you but I wasn't quite feeling up to it.  Next time for sure!

Michael

Congrads to Eugene, Pat, and Ernie for taking the prizes, and for Allen and MBK for putting on yet another awesome event!!!

Got there on Thursday, 7AM to do some scouting since my first time fishing out at MBK.  Meet up with mooch and lazily hit the water looking for some live bait, and learning the area.  Saw two dolphins having a great time out there, and when FishMaster1 and his son got there, they practically did a show for us, coming less than 10ft away from FM1 and his son!  That was awesome

Planned on staying over at Veterans like a few others, but Mooch said they were full when he drove by in the morning.  He worked it out with the MBK folks to let us sleep over in their parking lot, so we did just that.  After the employees at MBK closed shop, they had a BBQ going and invited us squatters over for some beer and food, what great guys   Hug out till around 10 or so chatting it up, then kicked back and listened to Guitarzan strum away on his guitar until crashing out sometime close to midnight...

Woke up to the sounds of cars pulling into the lot around 5am, got some breakfast from Mickys, and loaded up all my gear and headed down to the water to get ready for the launch.  After Allen gave the usual rules speach, we were off and running.  Well... At least I thought.

Took *ONE* stroke with my paddle during launch, and the left paddle broke off    So I pulled out of the water and started heading back to MBK to see if they can rent me one.  Allen saw me and offered up a spare that he brought along for just such an occasion, What a great guy!!!

Re-Launched, and headed out twards the hotel / yellow can, looking to drift for some halis, like most people tried out there today.  My buddy from work, Angel, and I started getting strikes drifting in about 40-50 FOW.  For the next hour we pulled up a couple dozen blues, china, and gophers on anchovies, hex bars, and megabaits.  NO hali love at  ALL today, so I was kinda feeling hopeful about catching some larger rockfish and at least trying to place 2nd (so I could replace my paddle : ) but no such luck.  Brought home 6 blues and one china, not too bad for me.

Great seeing everyone out there today!  It was a blast, and cant wait to do it again next year!!!

Alain-

Had a good time even though the fishing sucked!! Kind of embarrassing to us locals, hope u guys that traveled still had a good time. All in all a lot of fun. Maybe next year we can do it a few weeks earlier. It seems we missed the good hali bite last year as well. Bummed I didn't get to talk to/meet more of my fellow yak'ers. Ran late this morning and then had to split right after (uncles 75th b-day).  Hope to see and fish with you all again next month at the Kayak Connection Derby in SC. Congrats to all who actually got to weigh in. Also, thanks to MBK and everyone involved. Great event!! 

Hi Yakers:

         I just wante to thank MBK, Allen B , Alex V, Eric and
Chaco Shoes for help to make this Derby a Sucess for me.
         Fishing was a lot of fun but, a lots of Skunked
Anglers. . I was really supprised with the Catch and, the fact that a lot of very experienced fisherperson when home with their Bait.
         I used Frozen Anchovies and "Fish Traps" swimbaits. on the Bottom in about 55 Pulls next to the Yellow Can. My Verm. was caught on a Penn 505, 25 Lb. Pline-X, Owner Stinger Rig. Bargin Shamano $40.0
Rod.
          I'm a Contender for winning a Kayak some Day but, aren't we all!
                                                              Sea-ya at the SC Derby.
                                                              E
P.S. Alex your NOT allowed to Win a second time!

This is going to be a long report.

First of all, I hit the Wharf after work on Friday to see if there was any bait around. I worked a sabiki for an hour+ but it was pretty dead. No ‘chovies, smelt, macs, or ‘dines. There was a weird school of very small baitfish swarming around every now and then. I tried to catch some but they wouldn’t bite. A friend stopped by there later and confirmed that they were some sort of rockfish. And they sounded a lot like the same ones I was catching 3 weeks ago. They look like very small boccacio or even calico bass. Supposedly there has been a run of macs cruising the wharf around 9-10PM.



On to Saturday’s report. I whimped out on Sackyak and SC X-factor, again. They made a trek down to Big Sur for a commando fishing assault. Well, I decided to stay local and conserve my energy for the MBK Tourney on Sunday. After checking various spots in Carmel, I opted to launch on the safe side of the Peninsula. Got to Coral St around 9 and launched into somewhat dicey conditions. The cove looked calm but a couple medium-sized sets rolled through, causing a waist-high wave to sheet across the launch and break over the rocks. I timed it perfectly and got out without a single drop of water.
Forgot my VHF and FF battery (still plugged into the chargers at home D’OH!) so I stayed close to the launch. The fishing was rather slow and I pulled up about 10 small to medium-sized rockfish. It was a good variety though, as I managed to catch a blue, black, copper, gopher, kelp, black-and-yellow, and brown rockfish. Smallest was a 9” blue and largest was a 13” copper. All were released as an offering to the god of fish karma. The top producer was the red shrimpfly tipped w/squid. But I did get a few on a 2oz glow Pucci spoon and the standard 6” rootbeer scampi on 3oz head. Those darn gophers will somehow get the huge 8/0 leadhead hook into their mouths. And then proceed to poop on me when I release them. Every time. This time I have photo evidence too! Just need to download the pics when I get home tonight.

I came back in around 12:30 and got quite a ride from the waves breaking across the cove. The tide had receded and the treacherous rocks were exposed with each wave. I surfed one perfectly and shot right between a couple big rocks. The crowd on the beach was amazed and had 1000 questions for me when I got to shore. While answering their questions, I unknkowingly dropped my car key in the sand, and continued to break-down my gear. When I couldn’t find the key, I freaked out! Next thing you know, I’m digging furiously through the sand around my kayak looking for the key. My wife is out of town and she has the spare…crap!
I was just about to call FishMaster1 and tell him I needed a ride back to Marina. Actually, I was gonna tell him I caught a 40 inch halibut that he should drive over to see….and THEN tell him I needed a ride home. But I didn’t have to resort to such tactics because one of the nice people on the beach found my key buried beneath my pile of gear next to the car! WHEW! Huge sign of relief!


I drove over to MBK to see if there were any NCKAers. Ran into naerob, FishMaster+son, Mooch, and Al in the parking lot. Mooch broke the bad news that Veteran’s campground was full when he arrived at 6AM! Damn, that sucks. Mooch worked it out with the fine folks at MBK and they allowed our crew of vagabonds to sleep in the parking lot. That was a very cool move by MBK. Ironic that they welcomed NCKA into their home and treated us like family, despite the somewhat harsh criticism that some members displayed in years’ past. We owe them a Big Thanks.
Another twist to this story is that Fishin Jay arrived at Veterans at like 2PM and got a campsite no problem. Just another testament that the late bird sometimes gets the worm LOL!



I could hardly sleep the night before the tourney. Looking forward to meeting new folks and hanging out with old friends. And, of course, Fishing!
Finished packing around 10PM and got to bed. It took longer than usual because I was bringing 2 kayaks and gear. It was the first time I’d carried 2 yaks on the roof and the Thule rack took a little bit of ghetto-rigging to fit. My friend Chua would be joining me for the tourney. He’s only fished from a kayak once before and it was in rough conditions out of Carmel. The whole week leading up to the tourney he was wavering on the contest, not sure if he’d enter or not. And, well, he decided to not enter. This would be a mistake. BIG mistake!

Our crew of me, Chua, and LaMosca launched into pond-like conditions around 7:30 and paddled North towards the beach hotel We stopped short and drifted-trolled around a secret spot, hoping for a halibut. I decided that I’d concentrate my efforts on halibut 100% and only chase rockfish+lings as a last-resort. I was trooching a double-hooked anchovie w/a glow hoochie+mylar behind a 4oz mooching sinker.
At about 9:30, LaMosca hooks up. Chua gets my attention and I reel up to go help with the fish and get some photos. After a see-saw battle, we realized it was just a snag. I was planning to continue trolling out into deeper water. But the snag meant structure. So I dropped down my offering and immediately hookup. It was a nice brown rockfish so I put em on the stringer. Next thing I know, I’ve got another one on! Then Chua hooks up. We continued to drift over this spot, catching some quality browns. Allen joined us and put a few nice fish on the stringer too. He got some pics of me with a fat stringer but he probably won’t post them for a while because he and frankfishing went on a fishing trip to Big Sur today. It reminded me of Ferris Buehler’s Day Off but with 2 old dudes instead of high school kids LOL! And I’m not sure which one is Ferris? Just kidding guys, I’m just jealous.

We worked that area for the next few hours. Chua pulled up a really nice cabezon and decided to paddle back to MBK to use the facilities. Note to self: don’t drink beers in the yak if wearing waders…because it’s way too hard to pull em down and pee while OTW. So there goes Chua back to MBK at like 11AM. As luck would have it, that cabezon weighed 5.5lbs and would’ve won the tourney! IF he would’ve entered….D’OH!
I believe the cabbie went for a scampi. I caught most of my fish on a megabait kudako w/a 3” glowing grub trailer. But also got some on my halibut rig w/anchovy.

Meanwhile, me and LaMosca started making out way back to MBK, stopping here and there to try various kelp paddies. The main kelp produced some small rockies that narrowly escaped the harbor seals. My final tally was 7 nice browns, 2 black-and-yellows, and one copper. Kept 6 browns, all between 15 and 17.5 inches.
Upon returning to the beach, I saw that most people had small to medium sized rockfish in the stringer. So I grabbed my 2 biggest browns and trudged over to the weigh-in table. Allen’s boga bottomed out at 2.5lbs and I thought “Ahh, that’s OK. I won’t win but it was sure fun.” Then I saw e2g and his son walk up with a couple nice reds and conceded I wouldn’t win.
Well, it turned out that e2g’s red was 3lbs and his son’s was a tad shy of 2.5lbs. So I was in 2nd Place! I returned to my kayak thinking somebody would show up with a ling, right?
Wrong! No legal lings of halibut were caught this day. 

I am really happy for e2g! And his son! I couldn’t think of a more deserving winner. The fact that NCKA swept the prizes was just icing on the cake. And, not to mention the locals represented. Woohoo!

Once again, a Big Thank You to MBK and all of the participants! Thank you for making this such a successful event.
Also got to say Thanks to Allen for organizing this thing. And to Aaron for grilling up some tasty dogs. This was truly a team effort.
Pictures are forthcoming. I’ll upload some after work tonight. But I know Mooch got some good pics. Hopefully others will share their pics too.

Hasta la pesca,
PK


Pics from 8/16

Coral st launch when I arrived. Should've taken a pic of the same place when I landed.


Typical small copper.


Another small one.


And proof that gophers always poop when you catch em.


Standard-issue blue.


Kelp rockfish.


Another one.



Tourney Day getting ready. Sorry about the picture quality. My camera lens was fogged up apparently, and most of my pics were all blurry. Bummer.




The first thing I caught that day. While trolling, nonetheless.


LaMosca hooked up. The porpoises were playing right behind him but I couldn't get them in the shot.


LaMosca with a nice brown.


Pile of fish in the tankwell at the end of the day, with Chua's potential-winning-cab on top. I'm still laughing about that one.


My browns.

Well had a great time and it was good to see so many folks I haven't seen in awhile (Doug, Alex, Jay, Joel, Michael). My catchless hali streak for 2008 continued, now 0/5 but at least nobody else caught one this time.  After trolling a popsicle and casting fish traps for an hour I headed up to the aquarium to look for bait. Marked a ton of bait but after 30 minutes on the sabiki, NADA.  Unable to make bait, I gave up on the hali hunt and headed out to the red can and fished with 2 locals (fishmaster? + pirate flag man?). I was fishing for dabs and I believe they were rock fishing because they didn't seem happy when they landed dabs.  I on the other hand LOVE sand dabs and the dab fishing was WFO with a couple of AOTY 10 inchers!!! After cathching a bunch of dabs, headed to the yellow can and ran into Alien and E2G + son. Bagged a couple of coppers and headed in for the weigh in. I asked Eugene how he did and he said he didn't catch anything that would win and I reminded him that I won a kayak last year with a 13" trout.  Ended up placing 5th which on this day was not easy. If I had known a rockfish would win, I probably wouldn't have fished sand dabs for 2 hours, but then I wouldn't have had that delicious dinner last night. 

Scott

Had a great time and want to thank MBK and SCallen for a great time.
Left Fresno about 10:pm Fri and pulled into MBK around 1:am tried to sleep in car but not much luck.
Woke about 5:am when someone sideswiped a light pole. After b-fast at mickey-d's rigged the yak and headed for the beach where i met up with 2 others from Fresno (Dennis & Bill). After Allan gave his speech headed West to try my luck at R.F. and got bit on my first drop for a nice brown. as the day went on Tried different spots and baits but no weigh in fish. Wish i could have weighed in the seal that kept popping up 5ft of my bow.
Total for the day 17 brown, 2 verm, 3 gopher, and 1 san dab (not one over 1.5lbs.)
Dogs after were a welcome site after a day of small fish and pesky sealions.
Great to also meet up with and put faces to many NCKA members
Thanks again to MBK and Allan for a great time
Eric

Nice job, Eugene! So that fish pays out at roughly $300 per pound (I'm guessing at the kayak MSRP)... now that's something to be proud of! Congratulations to all the other winners as well. Enjoy the hard fought booty.

Got to MBK around 6am.  After registration I loaded up the gears and got ready for the derby.  I was trolling/drifting various swim baits and jigs for Halibut the whole time but no love from the Hali!  It's foggy in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon.  The ocean was calm and nice but where are the fish?  Here are some pictures I took:

Getting ready to fish:


Allen went over the rules before launch:


Fishing time:


Weight in results:


The derby winner:


The smallest fish winner (no prize for this winner):   


Everyone enjoyed the BBQ hotdogs:


Pellicants & Seaguls:


And once again, thank you Allen for making this this 2nd annually derby possible.  And don't forget the soda/water next year 

Sailfish

Yup, that shiner was a hog. Thanx to MBK for letting us crash in the lot and crash your bbq too, and Allen for the MCing and everything else... My plan was to troll for halibut shallow to the hotel then out to 60ft then zig-zag back and I stuck to it till the end, should have had the alternate: plan A till 10, if it wasnt producing,  then hit the rockfish, oh well, It was lots of fun with the dolphins anyways. Glad to see !st and 3rd go to father and son.
Cant wait till BAM...

Big thanks to MBK and Scallen for putting this show on!

This had all the drama of the Olympics.  What exactly is edible gamefish?  Commonly edible by what ethnic group?  Live bait importation scandal?  Facilities not able to handle all the athletes (camping)?  Doping scuba diver halibut scarers?  Demented seals bought off by the commies?  In the end, it came down to strategy.

Nathan and I have fished for halibut and so far the score is us getting squat.  We have had a few lings here and there so opted to let all those gold medal seekers push the high start values.  We would keep it simple and consistent.  If they hit, we are toast.  But if they stumble...

We fished simply with swimbaits.  No high tech for us.  Old School.  We went straight out towards the yellow can.  Well as straight as I can paddle

At the weigh in our vermillions seemed kind of small to be at a weigh in, but its what we had and on that day was enough.  I took the gold, Sincoast the silver, Nathan the bronze and Ernie got the 4th place (stainless steel?)

Again thanks to all who put this on.  It was great seeing so many yaks on the water and the radio chatter alone was worth the price of admission.  I promise the trident 13 will see lots of action.

pic one is nathan sitting on the OK trident 13 prize, wearing his 3rd place shades.  The two fish that brought us this loot are shown.

pic two is the size the vermillion will grow to as the story is passed down through the years.

MBK weekend base camp....