NorCal Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing Zone => Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) => Topic started by: The X Inn Keeper on October 21, 2012, 09:44:27 PM
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Thank you,
To all who attended today, and throughout the year.
This has been the greatest season for me and I can't say enough how glad I am to be part of this great group of people.
What can I say,
The fishing was a little tough today, but who really cared? Today was about friends joining together and enjoying the company of others with like interests ... any fish caught was simply a bonus.
As I talked with people in the crowd, I found many people showing up just to see what was happening. Could you imagine what was going through their heads as they see 105 kayaks taking to the water like a Parade on Thanksgiving morn.
Although it felt more festive, than a serious Fishing Derby, there were quite a few fish measured today, and three came out victorious.
Third Place was conquered by none other than the Striper Killer herself, Ms. Ashley Ratcliffe (20 1/8" Striper)
Second Place was edged in by young Connor Schwartz / Ronnokk (20 1/4" Striper)
First Place was mastered by Kirk Graebe / Little River Man (20 3/8" Striper
And with the most excitement ever, Mrs. Narisa Woolworth took the GRAND PRIZE :smt005
I'm not as clever with words as others, so I will let you all tell the stories of the day for me
It has been my pleasure to bring this kayak fishing series to you for the past 5 years and I hope that we all remember that not everything has to be just a competition, Lets take the time to just have fun and make some great memories.
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A few special moments
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A great group
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The happiest person today at Tiki :smt001
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Wow congrats to the winners and everyone who attended...
I couldn't make it back to Bay Area as I am stuck in El Paso with a busted bird.
Really wanted to see everyone and get in some fishing in.
Thanks Erik and all the sponsors who put these great events together.
Narisa, couldn't be more thrilled for you. Wow what a great baby shower gift!!!!
Daviator
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Thanks for the event Eric and sponsors!! We had a blast.
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Thank you Eric and all the sponsors for another successful year of yakhopper's events. Hope you like our little appreciation artwork from one of our great NCKA's artists.
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Becky and I had a great time.
I didn't even bring a kayak or any fishing gear. Been feeling a little run down and figured it would be better to stay off the water but felt good enough to hang with my NCKA family.
Thank you Eric for another quality gathering and congratulations to everyone who showed up, to Narissa for her great new kayak and to Kirk, Connor and Ash for showing everyone else how it's done. (Great guide service too Naoaki. :smt002 )
Already looking forward to next year.
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Eric thanks to you and FW for sponsoring such a wonderful event. I had a great time. Wow. Congrats Kirk, Connor and Ashley!!! And a real congrats to Narissa. First Kat, then Bunny now Ashley and Narissa. Man the women are kicking our butts. :smt003 :smt003 :smt003 I might have to use secret agents next time. :smt044
It was my first time fishing the delta and it was interesting. I trolled streamers and casted poppers for one small LMB. Haven't fly fished in a year and it was fun to swing those big poppers. Took me awhile to figure out the floating from non-floating vegetation. :smt005 I think I will stick with big blue but that duck was really cool. :smt005
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Must be the Water! Glad to see another Suisunian win the Grand Prize! :smt044 Sorry I couldn't make it but looks like everyone had a great time!
Later
Jimbo
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Sweet! Congratulation to all winners :smt006
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Way to go NCKA, wish I could have been there but was elbo deep in stain, congrats to all the winners and Thanx Eric for putting on a great event!
Linda, another beautiful piece...
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Wow!!!! How did that happen ?
It happened because Fisherman’s Warehouse and Eric put on these great events. It happened because Eric spends a big portion of his spare time making sure everything goes smoothly. It happens because of the support of wonderful companies like Ocean Kayak and Lowrance. Speaking of which, a Lowrance Elite 4 color FF with GPS for First Prize, - Awesome !!!!!
One thing I really liked was the family atmosphere and the NCKA ladies. The ladies have been slipping in and showing us how it’s done for a while now, but this was the first time I’d seen them OTW in such large numbers. Also for the first time I saw a couple NCKA family groups with very young children OTW. Can’t wait to share this with my son !
Congrats to Narissa and to the other Tiki winners. I squeezed them out by a fraction of an inch because a slightly larger Striper clone chose my bait. For those of you who want to know what I caught it on – it was a live 4” bluegill, slow trolled on a ½ oz Carolina rig with a 4/0 hook through its upper lip. Something I learned at a previous Tiki event. Maybe I am starting to get the hang of this Kayak Fishing thing. :smt003 :smt003 :smt003
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I couldn't ask for more on my day off than to spend it with a such a friendly group of people. It was my first event and it will definitely not be the last. I have always read about how fun these events/get togethers are, and now I finally know! It was great meeting some of the members and the potluck was just awesome! Thanks to Eric and the NCKA family for making it a wonderful event. Hope to see some of you guys again at the next get together.
Btw, no stripers for me but that seems like it was the story for most folks. I did end up catching 4 largies all on topwater which was fun. Missed some nice blowups that didn't stick as well. Here's a pic of couple of them, nothing big though.
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Congrats to all the winners I had an awsome time and met a bunch of great people. Unfortunatly I woke up sicker than a dog sun morn and only made it till 11:00 before packin up and headin home so I missed the awards never the less I still had a great time. I hope to fish with some of you soon next for me will be rockfishes amador derby hope to see ya there.. :smt006
Eric I took a quick glance at that ultra part pm me and let me know what ya have in mind
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Thank you Eric and Family!
Eric was the first guy I kayak fished with here in California. Before meeting him, and then NCKA, I was always a solo kayaker/canoer. These evnts really help reinforce what a great group of people have come together here in California around kayaks and events like this.
Thanks again for all the work you put into this.
Some pics:
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Looks like a ton of fun!!
Congrats to all!!!!
WTG Kirk!!! :smt003 :smt004 :smt003
And Narissa!! So cool!!
THANK YOU YakHopper for such an awesome series of events!
:smt006
Sincerely,
Jim
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(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/534681_4624204644611_1181660994_n.jpg)
Thank you, Eric, for the good times. We decided to go at the last minute and had a blast until we hit the wall of vegetation coming in late. That stuff had jammed under the bridge tight, and it was quite a chore to work thru it.
Sorry to have missed the festivities.
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Thank you Eric and Fisherman's Warehouse for another great event. Congratulations to the winners!
Martin
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What a fun time at Tiki Lagun!
Thanks Eric, Fisherman's Warehouse, and all the sponsors for an awesome series.
The final event did not disappoint, with lots of food, old and new friends, oh yeah, and some fishing as well.
It was a bit of a tough bite on Sunday with most big Stripers coming on live bait.
Largemouth were willing to play, and I managed to land two small ones using the fly rod.
The fly rod was the only method to work for me, and I know it's cornball but I did fool a LMB on a fly I tied myself!
Once again the food was abundant, Weimarian's cobbler was a fitting desert on Sat. nite after gorging on BBQ chicken, pork, and beef. :smt001
Sunday's buffet Hi-lites, included some sashimi tuna, yellowtail, dorado, and mac salad, followed by a tasty bundt cake and jello shots. :smt003
A big congrats to the winners for outfishing the rest of us!
And huge congrats to Narissa for landing her first kayak fish, a nice LMB!
Also, congrats to Victor for scoring a awesome ocean yak! :smt044
It was good to meet some new yak fishers, the group is getting large, and my memory is getting small, so next time maybe some name tags would be good at the parties! Ha Ha I always hated them in the professional world, but I feel like a dork when I can't remember all the names of the people I have so much fun with. :smt002
See you all at the next yak fishing event!
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I can't wait to get my kayak to join you all out there. Looks like way to much fun. Love seeing all the happy faces.
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I can't wait to get my kayak to join you all out there. Looks like way to much fun. Love seeing all the happy faces.
I've usually got a loaner available when I'm going out.
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Thank you Eric and all the sponsors, We had fun! :smt003 Congrats to all the winners. :smt006
Kiel
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more pics:
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couple more pics:
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Wow! I don’t even know where to start. Lets just say yesterday was an awesome and lucky day. The morning started off with a loud alarm going off at 1:45 in the morning, we awoke to find out it was the carbon monoxide alarm. Quickly we opened all the windows and checked the stove to find out it had been left on and the flame blown out. We stood outside for almost 30 minutes in the cold and were very thankful on of the Carbon Monoxide alarm, without one we may not have woken up.
We then headed to Tiki and upon arrival it was great again to see all the NCKA crew. Narisa and I headed out on the waters with Jason at about 7 and headed to the bridge drifting blue gill for no luck. I then switched it up to minnows and about a half hour late caught a little striper at about 10” and let him go. It had me hoping for a bigger one. Towards the way in I get another hit but can tell it’s a small one, out of the waters comes a small bass. Still can’t complain, beats being skunked. At this point Narisa is a little frustrated and wishes she would catch something. Well at about 12:45 I see Narisa about 30 yards away with her rod bendo, and ask her if she is snagged, I couldn’t get a response so I reeled in my gear and headed to her. I knew this wasn’t a snag because the rod was still bendo and was turning her kayak just a little. Then it seemed like a snag but she kept at it and pulled in a nice LMB that had gotten caught up under a lily pad, she had just caught her first kayak fish and had the biggest smile on her face. The fish measured in at a little over 16”. She was done and we paddled in.
It was great to come in and get some lunch after being on the water all morning. Narisa was one of the lucky ones to get a goody bag filled with all kinds of cool fishing stuff, she was most happy about the Rod Floats.
And then it was time for the Grand Prize, I decided to record Eric pulling the number because I figured everyone else was taking photos. When the winner was called I didn’t even realize that it was my wife Narisa who had won, it took a few seconds for it to sink in. I was so happy for her.
It was truly an amazing day for us. First of all it couldn’t have been possible without all the work that Eric and his family put into these events. This has always been our favorite series to fish. We were lucky this year to attend 3 of the 4. It’s also important to thank all the sponsors who make all this happen as well. NCKA is such a great family to be a part of, and we look forward to the next events.
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Some Photos:
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more photos:
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Narisa sure was excited, literally jumping for joy. Last time I saw that kind of vertical leap was at an NBA game. :smt002 :smt003
Congrats on the new yak.
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I had a great time kind of hard not too with this gang. Thanks Eric and family for all you do for this sport you guys are great :smt007. here's a pic of my big catch of the day.
Thanks again and hope to see you all out on the water. :smt006
PatR
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Looks like an awesome time. Congrats to the winners and to all participants.
What's with that white duck? Was that a pet or something? Wildlife gone quacky!!
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I had fun
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As usual, it was another great event. A special thanks to Eric and his family for all the time that goes into putting on one of these events.
CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley (girl power), Connor and Kirk.
Narisa, I am so excited for you being the grand prize winner.
Also, thanks to all the folks that contributed to Eric's appreciation gift. I knew how much he liked the picture Linda had painted earlier this year of Clearlake, so I felt he would really like a Clearlake painting; so I commissioned Linda to create us another one of her master pieces, boy did she come through. With all the contributions, after we paid for the painting, I was also able to give Eric a check. Boy, talking about having family support, you all rock!
Thanks to all for sharing great pictures.
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Thank you Bunny for organized this "appreciation" gift .
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Great job out there NCKA representing a great group of people in fne style! I had fun, despite searching everywhere for a big striper with topwater baits without any luck. Congrats to the winners. Well done once again Eric.
Riley enjoyed the advernture too.
(http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad196/aquabluehobie/Riley%20the%20Border%20Collie/SANY0006_zps01205f69.jpg) (This is a picture of Riley from a couple weeks ago.)
HB
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Eric,
Thanks for all your hard work and time putting this together. I paddled my butt off for schoolies to 17.5" and would do it all again tomorrow. I loved how you made it rain tackle, but to the kind woman with good aim I must say- thanks for the Okuma hat. :smt002
The potluck was great-thank you to the contributors. That bundt cake rocked!
Beautiful day, good vibes, good people. Couldn't ask for more. I am looking forward to next year.
Oh yeah,
OTW BBQ skewers?-That is strong work Sir. :smt001
Congrats to the winners. See you next year.
Aaron
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I can't thank all of you enough for your support over the years.
The event this weekend brought joy to my hart to see so many fellow Kayak anglers and family/friends come together.
I can't believe it has been five years since I shared the idea of a free fishing series. Who would have thought it would grow from 12 anglers at the first event to 105 that showed up this weekend.
These events are successful because of all of you and your involvement in this fine group .... Thank You All !!!
You Mean The World To Me :)
See Ya Soon,
Eric / Yakhopper
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Eric - you are a fine person and a great angler. I never catch much at your events but enjoy the challenge and hanging with the NCKA family. Your YT and YFT sashimi was No Ka Oi! Thanks for sharing. Special thanks to Fisherman's Warehouse. We are the snowboarders of fishing but we buy a lot of tackle and glad some companies value our patronage. Can you guys open a store in Oakland? Me and the loose screws need a new store to hang out in. :smt005
Scott
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Due to work and family I could only make one tournament this year but I wanted to tip my hat to you Eric - appreciate the effort and fun events!
I love hanging at the Sac FW - but if you can't get to one of the FWs, their online service is top-notch too!
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Andie, Sam the Pug and I had a great time. Thank you so much for a fun weekend! :smt006
Al
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More fun!
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More..
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The duck enjoyed a ride on my kayak.
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We camped at Turner Cut. The campground was nice, but our neighbors were a little creepy.
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Thanks Fishermans wearhouse. I brought my daughter and granddaughter I had a great time and didn't catch one fish but had the wonderful experience of watching my granddaughter catch her first fish ever a 14 inch large mouth with on a batman pole that I got at Del Valle fish and chill some years back.
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Here is the video of Narisa winning the Grand Prize. Really cool that I was able to capture it. The only bummer was I filmed myself while she did the NBA jump.
Yakhopper 2012 Grand Prize (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcxpiljGVZc#)
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Great Video.
:smt001
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It was a great day to be out on the water along with hanging out with friends afterwards! Thanks again Eric, F.W., and the other sponsors for the event. Congrats to the winners.
Here are a couple pictures
1st & 2nd early morning launch
3rd-the plants that kept trying to take me out.
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The only bummer was I filmed myself while she did the NBA jump.
You can see most of them at about 36 seconds. The camera or cameraman gets shaky :smt002 :smt005
At the risk of a threadjack
We are the snowboarders of fishing but we buy a lot of tackle and glad some companies value our patronage. Can you guys open a store in Oakland? Me and the loose screws need a new store to hang out in.
Scott
+ 100 but in Fremont. With OPS on top of the closing of Tri City a few years ago, the East Bay is seriously hurting for a well stocked fishing store
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Victor, it was great you captured such a special moment. Congrats Narisa.
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Thank you to all of you who made this event possible. My first NCKA outing was a blast!
I'm still trying to figure out how to post pics from my Flickr account. So here's the link to the pictures for now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49723127@N06/sets/72157631835276328/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49723127@N06/sets/72157631835276328/)
Great pictures Jefrox. Really captured the event.
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great video Victor..
brought a big smile to my face..
good things happen to good people, truly.. I am so happy for you guys..
threadjack continued.......
Special thanks to Fisherman's Warehouse. We are the snowboarders of fishing but we buy a lot of tackle and glad some companies value our patronage. Can you guys open a store in Oakland? Me and the loose screws need a new store to hang out in.
+ 100 but in Fremont. With OPS on top of the closing of Tri City a few years ago, the East Bay is seriously hurting for a well stocked fishing store
ok so its settled.... Erik is to open&run a FW in the closed Barnes Noble bookstore opposite of CCK. 20% discount to NCKA members in good standing.....perfect
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Al I love your "Hobieque" that's classic! Maybe add a full bar next time? A big congrats to the ladies! WTG! Eric, your efforts are well apprciated. I couldn't make this, one due too many things to wrap up before the rains. Looked like a great time as per usual NCKA gatherings.
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Boy, that really was quite a fun day! Probably the most fun I've had all year :smt044 I'm glad everyone like the Hobie AI-BBQ Edition :smt005 Yes, I did have plans to serve drinks as well (Lemondade, not booze :smt044) and forgot that stuff along with my Mirage Drive and Seat :smt009 Roger came to my rescue and gave me his drive for the day, what a guy!!! Although I only fished for maybe 20mins, I got to have plenty of fun peddling around and offering chicken satay skewers to anyone that passed by.
After arriving at around 5AM on Saturday, I was greeted by a rather odd fellow in the camprgound... The Duck. That quack was one of the most entertaining things about the whole day for me! It's like it wanted to join NCKA! :smt044 The duck was hanging with everyone at the launch and when we all took off to go fishing, 30 mins later I hear the quacking and the duck had followed all the way out to our group fishing past the bridge! The duck took to Asheley and Naoki and when Ashley got that striper, the duck was there to cheer her on! I scooped it up after that and gave it a ride on the AI for a little while until it fell off the edge while pruning itself. :smt044 After that Alfredo took over and gave the duck a ride back to the launch. :smt003 It spent the rest of the event in a little girl's arms and seemed very happy. :smt002
Dan and Jason, you guys really moved me by saving those two pups! I hope Tiki and the other are doing well! I cant wait to see them again! Hope they stay small enough to keep kayaking with you too! :smt003
Eric, cant thank you enough for hosting the Yakhopper Serries for the past 5 years! I hope you will keep doing it for another five awesome years! :smt002
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:smt003
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Omg, forgot to mention that fried bluegill!!! That stuff was off the hook!!!! :smt044 Kiet, the dude from Oregon made them and they were totally awesome! He stayed at my place last night, and I cooked him up some WSB for dinner. I made him register for the site, he picked the name Fried Bluegill :smt005 Look for his first post soon!
More Pics!!!
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Looks like a great event!!!!! Sorry I missed this one since this was near my old stomping grounds of The Delta. Next year!
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+100 people coming to the event I thought it was going to be rough, but it was actually better. Cool stuff like everyone mentioned earlier. Food, animals, fish fried/raw/stewed and caught, too much good food, tons of sponsored giveaways, great fisherpeople winning just rewards, and an appreciative winner of the grand prize (congrats). I wish Als AI had a mulcher attachment that could clear the hydrilla. Other than that big thanks Fishermans Warehouse and Eric + family helpers.
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Omg, forgot to mention that fried bluegill!!! That stuff was off the hook!!!! :smt044 Kiet, the dude from Oregon made them and they were totally awesome!
I forgot about that as well. First time trying bluegill and it was freaking amazing! Thanks Kiet for making them, and thanks Sledge for passing them around! :smt003
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Great event, awesome people, cool duck, what more could you ask for? I caught a few fish and had a blast as well...
Al's floating BBQ, I couldn't stand to see you confined to the launch area, it also gave me some needed exercise. almost forgot how to paddle since I've had the hobie... then I met up with dry bones, who had an extra mirage drive because he has a fancy trolling motor for his pro angler! thanks steve! it all worked out in the end. :smt001
yakhopper, thanks for all your time and effort, we all appreciate it!
roger
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Great event, it was awesome to see everyone. Thanks to Bryan for fishing with me. Rog, great to see you too, hopefully you will be able to get out with me at least once this winter for some Lafayette Trout. I think I may have caught the smallest striper of the day. My smallest ever, that's for sure. Thank you Eric for running the show. I'll be sure to do business with the companies who sponsored the series.
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A bit of a late report, I managed to get the flu on Monday night. :smt013 Anyway, I had a lot of fun at the Tiki tournament. Me and SeaChumm (Aaron) headed to the Delta early Saturday and we worked Paradise Point area all day with some success. We were catching fish, but all small LM and small Stripers. I think the best fish of my weekend was a 11.25” Blue Gill I caught on my ultra light rod. I was very excited since I never catch panfish! On Sunday, we had about the same luck as everyone else, little LM and little stripers. And like everyone else we had a great time. It was pretty cool showing up at the awards and everyone was in a great mood, smiling and joking around. And when Eric started throwing out the free gear and everyone was fighting over it, all I could think was “adult piñata.” I laughed my butt off. :hello2:
Thanks again to Eric, Fisherman’s Warehouse, Ocean Kayak, Lowrance and all the other sponsors that contribute to these fun events. I’m going to try to make them all next year. We didn’t get many great pics, but here’s a few from this weekend.
Scott
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Holy smokes, what did you catch that monster Bluegill on??
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Let's see if this works...(been trying to get pics posted for days...keep getting the message "files too big"...at first I thought it said "fish too big" and I was like whaaaaaat? :smt044)
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Holy smokes, what did you catch that monster Bluegill on??
Shad colored Rapala on 6 lb test. Here's another shot of him. I sent him back down to get bigger after the pictures.
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Finally some computer time. Thanks again Eric and to the generous sponsors for another awesome event. Congrats Kirk, Connor, and Ashley on placing in the top three. So stoked for Narissa on winning the grand prize of the year. I still can't believe how high she leaped from joy and being pregnant and all didn't face her at all. :smt003 I can't wait to see you all again soon.
Jedmo
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I said it once and ill say it again, I love these events. It was fun seeing so much plastic. Everywhere and seeing all the homies! Congrats to all the winners it was well deserved. Awesome day otw and I had fun. Thanks Eric, your the man.
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Congrats to all!...from Win, to Place, to Show.
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Congrats to all the winners.. I'm still hoping that one of these events will have the top three as females (working in a tackle store where most men don't think women fish, it's a highlight to see woman win).
Also I would like to say Thank you to Eric for making these events possible, they are truly some of the best highlights of living in California. (no offense to other tournament coordinators I love all events but Eric has 4)