We started a new series this year and registration just opened. It’s a statewide, saltwater only, online competition that runs from March thru December. There is also a second part where anglers can qualify, through the online portion or by competing in the in-person tournaments throughout the state, for a Tournament of Champions in October.

You can register and get an overview of the tournament here: https://ianglertournament.com/2018-california-saltwater-kayak-series

Or, you can get the full details at cal-salt.com

If you have questions let me know. Cheers!

I am reaching out to you guys to let you know about a change that I have made in this years tournament. We are changing the format to CPR (catch, picture, and release) from actual weight to length.

I am doing this for a couple of reasons:

1. It allows for catch and release should people want to, which also promotes conservation of our fisheries which I want to promote.

2. It eliminates the need for additional cleaning and garbage service that we would be responsible for at the campground.

3. In light of the recent cheating scandal in the national kayak bass series, this helps us fall under some existing national guidelines for kayak tournaments. This protects our anglers and our tournament.

I realize that taking a picture of a flopping fish can be challenging and for folks planning to keep their fish, they are by all means allowed to bring their catch back to shore to take photos there. If you want to release your catch you will need to take your photos on the water.

The second part of this is that the only approved measuring device will be the Hawg Trough. I appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Thanks,

Eric


Here are the updated rules regarding this change:


Tournament Payouts:

Competitive Divisions:
All paid competitors are automatically entered into all 4 divisions. These divisions are cash payout divisions and payouts will be determined by the number of competitors entered.

All divisions are based on length -

Division #1 - Longest single Rockfish
Division #2 - Longest single Cabezon
Division #3 - Longest single Lingcod
Division #4 - Tournament "The Slam" Champion: 

Based on a combined length of all 3 species (rockfish, cabezon, lingcod). Anglers must have all 3 species to qualify for this division. If no single angler catches all 3 species, then it will fall to the combined length of 2 of the approved "slam" species.

Special Category: Single Longest "non" Slam species

Halibut, White Seabass, Salmon, Greenling, Flounder, Perch, etc. If the CA DFW says they are in season then they are fair game.

Excluded species include sharks, rays, and skates.

Payouts/Winning:

All 4 divisions are cash awards:

Divisions 1 - 3 will award payouts to
1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

1st place  - 50% of pot
2nd place - 30% of pot
3rd place  - 20% of pot

Division 4 "Tournament Champ" - Highest combined length of all 3 species
1st place - 100% - winner take all!

Special Category: Winner receives a gift certificate - TBD

Competition Weigh-in:
Scoring for this tournament is based on catch, picture, and release (CPR). The Hawg Trough is the only approved measuring device and the tournament marker must be visible in the photo. If anglers intend to keep their catch then they are allowed to take their pictures on shore before the weigh-in.

Anglers will log their lengths onto the tournament score card and submit this card to the weigh-in officials. Only competitors placing in the top spots will be required to show photo proof of their catch.

ALL anglers are responsible for having the correct equipment for viewing of their photos. Approved devices for viewing are SD card, Micro SD card, or proper cables to connect to the judges laptop.

ALL competitors must be in line at the weigh-in tent by the designated time.
- ONLY the Tournament Director and designated staff will be involved in the judging process.
- Anglers not in line by the cut-off time will not be allowed to weigh-in and will be disqualified.

The 2016 2nd Annual Tournament will be held on Saturday, June 4.

I wanted to let everyone know that reservations have been opened up at the Morro Bay State Park Campground. This is where the meeting and awards are going to be held and where many of us will be camping.

The dates for the event are as follows:
Friday June 3 - Captain's meeting,
Saturday June 4 - tournament @ Montana de Oro State Park with awards and raffle to follow @ Morro Bay State Park Campground (about a 10 - 15 minute drive away).

We are planning to be the there Friday and Saturday, leaving Sunday. We have already secured some sites and many others are filling up with non-tournament folks, so if you are planning to camp at the event book soon before they are all gone. If you have any questions let me know.

Cheers!

The tournament went down this past Sunday in Cayucos, Ca. The weather on Saturday was perfect and the forecast called for much the same on Sunday. We woke Sunday to overcast skies and glass water. Unfortunately, unlike the previous day the wind was not to be held at bay for long. On the Northern tournament boundary the buys got blown off the water by 11:00 while on the Southern end they were able to fish past 1:00 before being forced in. We called this tournament the Estero Kayak Challenge for 2 reasons. First, it was held within Estero Bay and the Northern boundary was Estero Point. Second, the fishing can be tough in this area, hence the "challenge". We ended up having 49 anglers compete and as you can see from the results, there were many who didn't weigh in any fish at all, while others were able to find some nice ones.

A very big congratulations to NCKA's own Jim Gosciminski (Goz), our tournament champion! Jim, took the win in 2 divisions. He took the Lingcod division with a solid 10 pound 9 ounce hawg and in the 2 fish division added a nice 6 pounder to his other ling for a total of 16 pounds 9 ounces! Way to go Jim!

His buddy, Mike Sapp (solsrf1) who traveled down with him from the Santa Cruz area, took 2nd place in the Lingcod division with a heavy 9 pound 10 ounce ling, followed by Ren Reidel in 3rd with a very nice 7 pound 5 ounce fish of his own. Solid fish boys!

In the Rockfish division there was some very tight competition with quite a few guys tieing, luckily all of the ties were lower on the leaderboard. Just like at CSD 3, Carlos Cantu, took the win in the rockies! Congrats Carlos, nice work in some tough conditions. Carlos was followed by Billy Hurst and Jason Potts, in second and third respectively. Awesome job guys!

The Cabezon division was very tough. It is a good thing we were only paying out 3 places because only 3 cabs were brought in all day. The cool thing, is that all 3 of those cabbies would have been contenders even if more had been caught. Kenny Nakamura, from Roseville, took the win with a fat 6 pound 5 ounce cabby, followed by Dusty McAdon with fatty of his own at 5 pounds 3 ounces. For a while we thought that might be it for the cabs. Then Justin Vermillion, one of the last to come in, brought the final one to the scale. It came in at 4 pounds 10 ounces and secured him third place. Very cool boys!

We saw some nice fish brought in, including a swell shark caught by Carny Stuart-Williams. He rushed the shark to the scale where we took a quick weight then he ran it back down to the water and released it safely. It was awesome to see that beautiful shark and to have it released back into the water. Next year, we will take a look at the 2 fish division and add some restrictions to the allowable species for the sake of conservation.

The raffle for HOW was a great success, we ended up raising more than $2700! All of which will go to our new local chapter. William Platte of Los Osos was the winner of the Thresher 140 from Wilderness Systems. Very happy for you Willy!

Thank you to all who came out and made the event a success and to all the awesome sponsors who donated items to the Heroes on the Water raffle. I am already looking forward to next years event when we can do it again!

Here are the final results:

Division 4 - 2 Fish Tournament Champion

1st Place - Jim Gosciminski   Total 2 lings - 16 lbs 9 oz - $490

2nd - William Platte   12 lbs 7 oz
3rd - Brian Valenzuela   12 lbs 12 oz
4th - Ren Reidel   11 lbs 13 oz
5th - Nick Lana   10 lbs 7 oz
6th - Alan Kupstas   10 lbs 10 oz
7th - Chad Johnson   10 lbs
8th T - Carny Stuart-Williams   9 lbs 7 oz
8th T - Justin Vermillion   9 lbs 7 oz
10th - Bob Joslin   8 lbs 13 oz
11th - Phil Lopez   8 lbs 12 oz
12th - Jason Potts   8 lbs 8 oz
13th - Kenny Nakamura   8 lbs 4 oz
14th - Ricardo Holden   7 lbs 15 oz
15th - Andy O'Brien   7lbs 3 oz
16th T - John Gonzalez   7 lbs 1 oz
16th T - Mason Radke   7 lbs 1 oz
18th - Roy Arnold   7 lbs
19th - Eli Campos   6 lbs

Division 1 - Rockfish

1st Place - Carlos Cantu       3 lbs 14 oz - $245
2nd Place - Billy Hurst             3 lbs 2 oz - $145
3rd Place - Jason Potts         2 lbs 15 oz - $100

4th - Andy O'Brien           2 lbs 14 oz
5th T - Brian Valenzuela   2 lbs 10 oz
5th T - Nick Lana           2 lbs 10 oz
7th T - Corey Hamblin           2 lbs 9 oz
7th T - Ricardo Holden   2 lbs 9 oz
9th T - Chad Johnson           2 lbs 5 oz
9th T - Ren Reidel           2 lbs 5 oz
11th T - Alan Kupstas           2 lbs 4 oz
11th T - Justin Vermillion   2 lbs 4 oz
13th - Eli Campos           2 lbs 2 oz
14th T - Erik Nordholm   2 lbs 1 oz
14th T - Mason Radke           2 lbs 1 oz
16th - Robert Marlow           2 lbs
17th T - Roy Arnold           1 lb 15 oz
17th T - Kenny Nakamura   1 lb 15 oz
19th - John Gonzalez           1 lb 8 oz
20th - Carny Stuart-Williams  1 lb 5 oz   

Division 2 - Cabezon

1st Place - Ken Nakamura           6 lbs 5 oz - $245
2nd Place - Dusty McAdon           5 lbs 3 oz - $145
3rd Place - Justin Vermillion   4 lbs 10 oz - $100

Division 3 - Lingcod

1st Place - Jim Gosciminski          10 lbs 9 oz - $245
2nd Place - Mike Sapp                  9 lbs 10 oz - $145
3rd Place - Ren Reidel                  7 lbs 5 oz - $100

4th - William Platte                  7 lbs 2 oz
5th - Brian Valenzuela                  6 lbs 11 oz
6th - Alan Kupstas                   6 lbs 2 oz
7th - Nick Lana                          5 lbs 14 oz
8th T - Jason Potts                  5 lbs 9 oz
8th T - John Gonzalez           5 lbs 9 oz
10th - Phil Lopez                  5 lbs 8 oz
11th T - Dan Fleming                  5 lbs 6 oz
11th T - Chad Johnson          5 lbs 6 oz
13th - Carny Stuart-Williams      5 lbs 4 oz
14th - Roy Arnold                  5 lbs 1 oz
15th - Mason Radke                  5 lbs
16th - Justin Vermillion          4 lbs 11 oz
17th T - Bob Joslin                  4 lbs 12 oz
17th T - David Chaves          4 lbs 12 oz
19th - Andy O'Brien                  4 lbs 5 oz
20th - Ricardo Holden                  4 lbs 4 oz
21st - Eli Campos                  3 lbs 14 oz
22nd - Doug Browand                  3 lbs 11 oz

Heading up to Pinecrest for some family camping and fishing. I've never stayed there or fished the lake before. Does anyone have any fishing intel from there? We will be bringing the yaks and looking to get into some rainbows. I'll be bringing my standard trout tackle and baits but wondered if anyone had a special rig they use up there. Also, I've heard there are kokanee there too, true? Thanks for the help, cheers!

Has anyone heard the dates for this years derby? I have never ventured up for this event but I am thinking about it this year, depending on the dates. Thanks.