MBK Derby a success!! Now with Anita's PIX ADDED!!

I had a great time Saturday, arrived about 5:30 a.m. Met up with Patt (Soulhigh831), Ernie (Superfin19), and Joe (from Stockton). At first tried drifting for halis down the beach, jigged up some live bait and saved it for a little later. I caught a black on a crankbait near Chase Reef, Ernie landed a nice size copper, next thing you know I hear Patt yelling fish on! Turned out being an under-ling, 1/2" short. Around that time I hear someone hollering near the shore break, I thought someone got into some stripers, turned out being Sin Coast and his hali. After a bit, Ernie and I headed towards the CG Pier. Dropped the live mackerel down to the bottom in about 20' of water and after about a minute Fish On! Cranked to the surface a nice 4.4 lb. cabezon. I really enjoyed this event, had a great time BSing with everyone. I heard about three or four times "Oh, so you're Calbear." Good to see familiar faces and very cool to meet people I felt like I already knew. Congrats to Baret, Vic, and Sin Coast. Thanks to Allen, Aaron, and the MBK staff and crew along with all who put this event together. Ended up fishing with Ernie till night fall, all in all another perfect day on the Monterey Bay. Forgot my camera so I only have a few shots of the cabbie

#1:  Barret Pruden, 15-pound ling, caught with whole squid near the Cannery Row Kelp.
#2:  Vik Kumar, 12-pound Blue ling, from the Coast Guard Jetty area with a whole squid.
#3:  Patrick Kuhl, 9.5-pound halibut from the condo area caught on a live sardine.

Congrats to all the winners!
It was nice being out today. The water was calmer by MBK but once we headed out near the condos the swells where to much for me so I headed back to flatter waves...Thanx to the whole organizing crew!

Damian.

Thanks to MBK what a great day Saturday.  This was my first Kayak derby and I had a Great time.  I caught a few rock fish, but turned them lose as I knew they would not compete with the monster lings and halibut I was hearing about on the radio.  Me and my buddy decided to make a day trip out of it which meant leaving Stockton at 3:00am.  It made for a long day, but worth it.

It was a long weekend but well worth it.
Launched out of MBK to FAC conditions, paddled around the break wall ad out past the reserve to lovers point where there was a light bite and a bigger swell. After a while with no great success decided to make my way back and try by the aquarium, still not what i was looking for so I decided to call it a day and heat back. Along the way decided to try a small rock pile I found during last years event and got hammered on the first drop, unfortunately still not the quality for a contender so back he went and to MBK for some man dogs and great company.
Thanks to MBK and Allan for hosting a great event for a great cause,
Eric

That was a blast!!! I had a great time out there. Thanks to SCAllen and everyone else who had a hand in making this happen.

I only ended with 4 small rock fish and a couple dabs. I may have only ended up with dinner but it was a great time fishing with you guys and I can't wait to do it again next year.

Congrats to the winners and especially Sin Coast for catching his first yak halibut. You sounded like a kid at Christmas unwrapping his first bike over the radio dude  

-FF

Sounds like you all had a blast! Wish I could have made it..

Nice job Pat!!

Congrats to the winners and a safe day!

What happened to the davenport contest, did it go down?

so doug, it was your boat he was riding in.  i talked to barrett a little yesterday but i didn't know it was YOUR boat.  he did a good job out there, too bad you didn't make it though. 

my wife and i had fun, we went out for a little while but didn't catch any fish other than some baby bocaccio.  i didn't venture out too far and really took my time in the morning getting out.

we had a nice day in monterey taking a walk around and enjoying the sites.  mad props to fishfarmer for letting us stay with him.

Hi Bear:

            Way to go!
                              Sea-ya
                              Ernie

so doug, it was your boat he was riding in.  i talked to barrett a little yesterday but i didn't know it was YOUR boat.  he did a good job out there, too bad you didn't make it though

The Little Kayak that Could:  I retired my Tarpon 140 partly because everyone complained about how heavy it was whenever they helped me carry it.  I guess my poor, orphaned kayak feels a little vindicated now.  

Because  I'd removed the rudder pedals, I was worried Bear might have difficulty power paddling and I almost switched him over to my P15.  But at the last minute we went with the T140 because its flat, rigid bottom would be easier to secure to his rackless car roof.

Ben, I do wish I could have been there to witness the exhilaration on Ben's face when he landed the brute. I really wanted to be there, but my hands are still healing from Albion and I want to be able to enjoy my upcoming Almanor trip in a few weeks.  

It does make me wonder if I let Bear have the fish that was designated for me...but then I wouldn't have used the T140 anyway.  Besides, I'm really happy that a first-time derby entrant, with a little kayak that could, brought home the bacon!

doug, sorry to hear your hands are still not up to paddling yet.  when i was talking to "bear" yesterday i was wondering if it was your boat, but i never asked because i thought it was a stupid question.  the t140 he was riding on looked nothing like yours, but i guess it makes sense now since you had taken most of the stuff off it.

The venue for the MBK derby is so nice, I took wife and dog along to enjoy the day and see what our derbies are all about.  Needless to say, it was a great day with or without a fishing rod.

Kudos and thanks to Aaron, Allen, and the MBK staff for a fun derby.  I expect they'll break 100 participants for the next one.

Congrats to Barret, Vic, and Patrick.  Barret's story is epic proof of newbie karma, and it's so nice to see Patrick's redemption hali land him on the podium.

Pic 1:  Barret on the beach with his winning fish
Pic 2:  Ben with his solid stringer
Pic 3:  Aki and Mercy on seal patrol

Congrat to the derby winners.  Sorrry I couldn't make it this year.  Thank you all for the reports and pictures.

And the other pix I could not fit into my first edit haha

Anita's "pretty colors" shot looks like a postcard, doesn't it?

Thanks again, all!

Allen

Dude that pic of Bear hoisting up the HogLing in victory is awesome! 

Bear is awesome!

I might start a poll.

LOL

Allen