Kayak Connection - Moss Landing Derby - 08.10.06

Dillon wins again!! 

Dillon proved to be a fine young fisherman....despite the tough bite, he managed to catch a starry flounder that took him to another First place finish  He was on his Tarpon 140 - the one that he won last year when he caught the heaviest ling at the Kayak Connection at Santa Cruz. THis time, he's going home with another WS Tarpon, but a 160 instead.  CONGRATS AGAIN DILLON 

The conditions were good but the fishing was tough...the sand dabs and king fish were getting in EVERYBODY'S way  But the company was hard to beat  Newbies and veterans were present and we had some great fishing stories during the BBQ. Thanks again to Mark and Kayak Connection for hosting the derby and many thanks to the guys from Wilderness Systems (I think it's great that the winner gets to pick the kayak of his or her choice = GREAT JOB WILDERNESS SYSTEMS ) - In the end, the money went to a great cause (Trout & Salmon Restoration Project of Santa Cruz) so technically, everyone WON 

Pics to follow.....


Derby results from last year:
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/bb/index.php?topic=1683.0

the morning line-up...

I fished the "swirl" to no avail.....bait fish popping, birds diving and pesky sea otters kept me company ...but no "predators of choice" around 

....while I was busy getting the annoying sand dabs out of my rig , a local tried to board my ship  I told him "No!" repeatedly as he swam around my bow...trying to get a free ride.....what a mooch 

...after my encounter with the deadly rabid sea otter ( ), I found my fellow "hella asian" bro, Alex/Aliens making friends with another local......(this pelican took advantage of a squid that just happend to be pinned on Alex's hook  It was released unharmed.....Steve Irwin aka the Crocodile Hunter would have been proud 

well Thanks to everyone who attended.   Dillion is quite the young gun out there

I learned a ton, seeing as it was my first derby, and my first day of saltwater kayak fishing!  I'm really excited to get out to the ocean again soon.   The sand dabs and kingfish might be a nuisance to most yall,  but I was stoked to catch anything.  although I was workin up all the newbie luck one could muster, but eventually,  just mustered up my morning coffee             (its a good thing Demany did not have a camera).

thanks,
Greg Didriksen
Wilderness Systems Kayaks

-and as always, nice pics Joel!

....the birds were going nuts around 40 ft. of water on the South side of the jaws...I quickly rigged a 5 inch magnum mackerel rapala and trolled along the bombing pelicans...once again, to no avail  I marked bait balls at the lenght of a football field and it seemed that the pelicans were the only ones doing carnage

......and the picture that you were all waiting for.......THE CHAMP and his winning starry flounder 

Love at first sight by the otter!     really amazing account and great pics. thx for report,  mooch.

...ooops, I forgot to mention my "Whale Hunt"....there was a humpback hanging along Moss Coast....I've always been wanting to get close enough to one for a camera shot and so I spent a few hours paddling/trolling hoping to get a closer encounter of the cool kind  Everytime she went up for air, I did the Hawaii Five - O    but always got to the spot a little too late  She must have surfaced half a dozen times but never close enough to the mooch  BUT, she did fancy Doug/marmite  and she surfaced RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS BOW  I paddled towards him to see if he got a shot...he simply said "No".....and said "I thought you guys see whales on a regular basis"....as much as I wanted to  Doug, I held on to my sanity and paddled away....disappointed  Doug........you're killing me 

Great report Mooch- the sea otter is too cute!

I guess Otters like spam I didn't know Mooch had joined the Otters Big Bruddah program 

Mooch, thanks for the pictures. I had great time and it was my first launch from Moss Landing. Congrats to Dylan (sp?) on his repeat win. One more and he's got a dynasty going. And thanks to Mark of KC and Demany, Doug and the others from Wilderness Systems as well at the Elkhorn Yacht Club for providing the venue for the tasty lunch mark served afterwards. As Mooch said, it was all for a good cause. But I jsut couldn't bring myself to eating the left-over squid off the 'Barbie'.

Maybe he saw your feet and got confused he does look sorta lonely

Joel, it was photo day (seriously) for the otters.  He was just cooperating!  Congrats to  Dillon.  Randy REALLY wants a starry.  Where'd that one get found?

Pat, I'll give you my take as Mooch might just dissemble a bit since he doesn't want to give away the secret of success. While most of us first went to fish the drop offs at the canyon edge first a bit South out past the 'Mile Buoy' and then drift in the flats North for Godot, otherwise known in those parts as Halibut, the best we can tell Mooch and (now we know) Dylan stayed South and tighter to shore . Clever rascals  Judging from Mooch's Otter pictures I'd say they were in tight. It didn't matter much--except for that Flounder--it was all Sand Dabs and Croaker no matter if we were in 50 or 90 or 150 or over 200 feet of water  . Still great to be out there anyway