Elk Tourney Report 8/12/06

OK... since everyone else is probably still recouperating from the event, I'll start the report here.  I'm certain others will chime in with their experiences and photos.

First of all, as usual, a HUGE THANK YOU to Sean and his family and everyone else who pushed the buttons and pulled the levers to make this event an incredible success!  This was teamwork exemplified... if something needed doing... folks pitched in to help.  Also, thank you to the sponsors who ponied up the prizes. 

Secondly, a HUGE THANK YOU to all who donated to the Coastside Fishing Club through our annual raffle.  In total, we raised just shy of $1,600 which will be donated to Coastside.  There were many $100 donors and the contributions FAR exceeded my wildest expectations.  WAY TO GO!!!   (Oh... and Zilla won both fishing rods... and In Seine won the Whale Tail 14kt gold pendant  donated by Fishshim.)

Thirdly... thank the rest of you for not finding any fish bigger than my 16.8 # ling... and Congratulations to Dave Swenson for his second place finish with a 10.4# ling and  Tony Guerrero for his third place finish with a 9.1# ling. 

Now I need to figure out what to do with that second Marauder 

Even with the excellent weather above the water line (gorgeous weather actually), the conditions on the ocean were rough and the fish were tight lipped.  Swells were probably pushing 9-feet and you definitely had to keep an eye out for that rogue breaker.  It turned the area inside the cove into a washing machine that only got worse as the day went on.  Most everyone was able to manage and thankfully get back safely without any serious mishaps.  Good teamwork on the beach to assist with landings as well.  That's what it's all about.

There were some decent fish caught... some big coppers and reds but no true lingzillas, aside from the 22# ling that Fuzz speared after the derby.

My personal fishing experience included my fishfinder going out on me just after launch (battery issues) so I was fishing blind.  I wound up catching and releasing a 28" ling early on, and landing the biggest copper I've ever caught, at approximately 23" and 7.80 lbs.  Kept that one, and around 10:00 or so I hooked into and landed a very scrappy ling that wound up taking the pot... 36" and 16.8 lbs. I gaffed it once and it slithered back into the water, only to be successfully gaffed the second time.   Thanks to Joel for being my cheerleader throughout the ordeal and issuing the play by play.  Also released a small assortment of various gophers and chinas.  Lucky lure was a 7" dark green swimbait with red flake custom poured by Bill with 4oz jig head and tipped with a strip of ling belly meat from Chuck/Stuart/Fuzz's catch the day earlier. 

The food was great... the highlight for me was Chefstefano's UNBELIEVEABLE Ceveche and freshly made tortilla chips (I thought we were roughing it... ), followed only by Chef and Chuck's team effort with the massive fish fry they hosted on Friday night. 

Finally, happy birthday again to Jelly and CPKayak... glad we could all celebrate that together.

Awesome weekend... pics later.

EK

Unusually, I am speechless (nearly  ). Sounds like a great event thanks to many but particularly Sean and his family. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the Bendo at Mendo II. Good hear of the success and that all made it safe home to port. Looking forward to pics (and particiapting in person next year).

It is difficult to follow such a thoughtful and eloquent post but here goes.  First of all Thanks to Sean for coordination of such a great event. Secondly thanks to Bill for putting together and keeping this forum going smoothly for all of us. Thridly thanks to chuck for his savvy tourney skills. Fourth thanks to Eric for a great raffle.  As you can see it is an amazing team effort.   Without them I never would have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful sport and event.

As Eric pointed out the water was less than Ideal and was very reminiscent of washing machine. Suds and all.  However Bill and Joel being the guides they are brought us to calm or calm as can be waters.  Fishing was great for me catching nearly 14-16 fish with 6 lings.  4 under lings, one keeper lost on the yak and another thrown back although it was a keeper, it was dinner size for Eric's winning fish. As I was bringing up a greenling a huge Ling followed it to the water line only turn disappear back to the 60 feet it came from.  In my estimation it was nearly 12-15 lbs.  wouldn't have won but would have given second and third a run for the money. Dave great fish for second and I am Glad we broke the wind curse!!

On a food note everything was great.  Chef you are talented.  My first Ceveche and it was tremendous.  My wife thought it was the best she has ever had.  Amazing.  The Flank steak, pulled pork and chowder were off the hook too.  Bill great pork roast as well.  

In case anyone doesn't know what  a nice guy Joel (mooch) is, after my wife found out she had to stay late at work he kindly pitched our tent for us.  We arrived at 9:30pm and putting a tent up would have been miserable.  As it was I didn't bring the plug for the air mattress so night 1 was pretty miserable.  night two was better after some rigging to keep air in.

Can't wait for next year.

Jason

Erik,

Congratulations on the win and successful raffle.   I'm glad to hear you used the lingzilla head bashing scream I thought you last year.  I like to think it makes a difference.

I left fairly early (my son Owen wasn't feeling to good), and I didn't get a chance to calculate the results of the North vs South grudge match.  I'm hoping someone took a good picture of the weigh-in board so I can do the math later.


Oh and Sean, thanks again. Glad to see you well for the festivities this year.

Brian

Here are some photos...

Camp getting set up on Friday 8/11


Chuck and Chef's fish fry on Friday


Table-O-Prizes


The cove looking nice on Friday Evening


View from the beach at launch time.


Looking down at Pat and Randy...


Looking up at Pat and Randy...


Jelly... "hey... this isn't Baja!"


Da' Mooch and Da' Cabazon


The landing team at the north side of the beach.


My catch


The board...


CPKayak's birthday speech... just before having cake.

Looks SWEET.

I would have lasted 15 minutes in those seas......

Nice catch Erik and excellent job on the raffle.  I'm glad I could contribute.

MolBasser

Congrats to Eric on both the big fish and big raffle.  Huge thanks to the Whites for another great tourney.  Sean, glad you stayed healthy this time!!

Dawn from Cuffey cove...


A couple of successful landings...



A not-so-successful landing...


CPKayak's stringer, with Mooch mooching screentime in the background...


Here's another pic of Eric and his winning ling...


The youngest Selli gettin' down with fish printing...


The bait Eric was using for his winning ling...



Zilla, great doing business with you.  The Mini-X I brought home is currently serving time in our pool!!

-- Dave

Congrats to all of the winners, a huge thank you to all of those who helped, and a GIANT thanks to all of the sponsors who supported our efforts.  We were really happy with the way everything went, andwe had a great time.  It was super impressive how well everyone did in the seas we had, as they were quite fiesty...this group is ready for anything!  As always the group was fun, courteous, and a blast to be around.  We had a great time and thanks again for coming! 

While the weather impared the fishing, there were still some real nice fish that came in.  Eriks ling was a legit winner, and some of the reds and coppers that made it in were downright amazing!  A few photos....

The winner...



Dave's second place ling...



Cpyaks "secret" spot inside a washing machine...cany you seee him???



Jelly with his baby butt!  I think he's smiling more abou this new NRS gear...good day for a brand new good paddling jacket...



Mahi with a very nice vermillion...



Cpyak with his catch...



William 102 with a fat copper...



Bluefin 17 with a nice copper...



Rockhopper with another nice copper...



Jelly and Mahi cleaning, Sharkbait and Walrus heckling...

JTF with a nice catch...



The BML crew put on a fish printing class that was SUPER cool and very popular with young and old...



Some very blue blacks???



The potluck was off the charts...even the tortilla chips were cooked on site!!!!  The chow was epic...

I'd also like to echo all of the thanks that went out. Thanks to Sean and family for the event site and hospitality. Thanks to Bill for this website. Thanks to Chuck for the fried fish. Thanks to Mooch, Dave, and Jason for letting me tag along through some spots that I NEVER woulda paddled through by myself (the scenery on the water was worth the trip alone). Thanks to Chef for making the awesome jade necklace I won in the raffle...keeping my "every raffle" winning streak alive. And thanks to EVERYONE who showed up for making this a spectacular event.

I landed one 5lb 6oz copper for the day, but still had a great time just checking out the scenery. I will definitely be back. It was nice to see the usual suspects and meet some new members. Congrats to Erik, Dave, and Tony for their top three fish and congrats to all who won sweet prizes in the raffle...especially Zilla!!

Dave great pic of the Aiden.  If you can send it to me that would be great.  Have fun with your mini kayaks! It is a good excuse to get your kids out there now!

Dustin you are always welcome to go on a suicide mission with us.

Here are a couple of pics.  1 is Fuzz's great diving catch.  22lb ling, Uni and abs.  Great dive.  Thanks to Bsteves for the fish printing. My wife and son enjoyed it very much.



Jason

Who won the beer?

If your out there, PM me so I can get malt this week if I need it, I can brew the beer this coming weekend.

MolBasser

Some pics:
Views of the cove from the top of the hill.




Dave’s pre tourney transducer adjustments:


What swell?

Before:


After:


Some scenery:


The kelp paddy that did not produce for me:


Jason and (I think) Dave:

Oh yeah - MAJOR thanks to whoever moved my paddle out of the surf zone and left it higher up on the beach. I realized I was paddle-less as I was packing up my truck 5 HOURS later. I remembered exactly where I left it and thought the worse.

Luckily when I got down to the beach I found it moved up by the cliff.

So, I owe somebody big time! 

I MISSED OUT!!!    Next time I'm going just to GO!   CERTAINLY A TOP NOTCH EVENT!!