NorCal Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing Zone => Fishing Tournaments and Events => Topic started by: BigJim on January 19, 2014, 06:55:08 AM
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Yesterday a group of divers came from all over NorCal to celebrate the life of a young man, Connor Cockerham, who passed away from Melanoma 10 days ago... :smt009
We also came to send out positive energy to e2g's wife Robin who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day in the water and there were some really nice fish shot! :smt007
My young buddy Jesse also cruised down to 45 feet and stoned his very first LingCod...so proud of him!! :smt004
We raised ~$550 that I will be giving to Connor's Mom Tracy.
My good friend Nathan shark_bait Tsuji who I dove with all day won the mini-PIF (Pay It Forward) Diver Of The Day competition, and the prize piece of art donated by Amadeo Bachar, with a massive fatboy Lingcod, big Grass Rockfish and nice Cabezon. :smt003 :smt004 :smt003
It was super fitting for Nathan to win since he knew Connor, and his mom Robin also has stage 4 melanoma...
When we all gathered back at the beach I talked a little bit about Connor and Robin and Melanoma...then we did a moment of silence for Connor...then to send positive energy to Robin we all yelled her name out as loud as we could... :smt008
Very grateful to all who came to show their support and love for Connor and Robin. Proud to call you all my friends.
Then we switched gears and went into the 2013 DOTY awards. Had an EXCELLENT array of prizes for the top ten thanks to our sponsors FreediveShop, Neptonics, Austin's Diving Center, Amadeo Bachar, PacificNalu Dive Co, CharlesLaKamp.com, and Matt Michie of CALDFW.
Ruthless Rye IPA Sierra Nevada was the BigFish beer for 2013. :smt003
Very proud of my AWESOME Piscean DOTY Champion plaque!!! :smt007 :smt007
Will post pics as I gather them...if you were there and took any pics please post them here.
Thank you!!
:smt006
Sincerely,
Jim
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Great pics, great post, and all for a greater cause!!! Congrats on your award, it looks awesome. :smt007
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Nicw work champ, whos the skinny GQ modle with your plaque though?
Nice work on dedicating this to Connor and Robin, very cool..
Congrats bro, you deserve it!
Hope you celebrated with a beer and some hardcore ---
:)
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Super job! Indeed, a well deserved award for an inspired, hard working freediver, Big Jim - Congratulations!
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Well done fellas!!
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Thanks Jim
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Looks like youa ll had a great time. Way to go in keeping the PIF alive and well and helping out those in need. Great job on the spearing in 2013 as well :)
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The award looks super sweet. Piscean is the man!
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Way to go, to all involved. Excellent energy and spirit. You're a good man, Jim Russell. :smt001
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Thank you Jim for all your hard work making DOTY a success I know I am a much better spear fisherman as a result of this awesome competition! Congrats on your win! well deserved!! Looking forward to 2014.
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Way to go, fellas. That's what it's all about. Wish I could've made it down for the chillin'. :smt008
*Added to NCKA tournament archives sticky.
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You did a great job Jim!
Congrats on the DOTY too!
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Thanks fellas!
Few pics of the prize table, and shark_bait's Ling that helped him win the mini-Pay It Forward Diver Of The Day comp.
THICK fish and you can see the scar on her back where some spearo failed where Nathan succeeded! :smt003
Awesome prizes donated by Freedive Shop, Neptonic Systems, Amadeo Bachar, Abachar Illustration, Austin's Diving Center, Pacific Nalu Dive Co.
All the top ten divers left with a great prize, a killer t-shirt and a fish ID chart or book donated by one of our CAL DFW friends and NCKA member Matt Michie!!
HUGE thanks to our very generous sponsors for the awesome prizes!!!
All the DOTY players are very grateful for your continued support!!!!!
:smt006
Sincerely,
Jim
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Few pics of the group.
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WTG.
Congrats to Jim and the other winners.
What a beautiful day you guys had out there.
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Awesome job Jim.
When Nathan showed us the print he won, we were blown away, it is SO BEAUTIFUL :smt007
And I loved the shout. I kept picturing a golf tournament, "and putting for par, silence please...ROBIN!!!!" We all laughed our asses off. Sweet medicine that is :smt004
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Well Done My Friend. While the DOTY kudos and prizes were cool and well deserved, the Most Meaningful for me was the tribute to Conner and the Shout Out For Robin.
Awesome job Jim.
When Nathan showed us the print he won, we were blown away, it is SO BEAUTIFUL :smt007
And I loved the shout. I kept picturing a golf tournament, "and putting for par, silence please...ROBIN!!!!" We all laughed our asses off. Sweet medicine that is :smt004
After the Shout Out I thought about that too....kinda laughed at the thought. My personal opinion, sometimes there are more important things than putting for par and the Shout Out For Robins is and was more important than any putt. :smt004
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Sweet! Jim's spirit is something for all of us to aspire too!
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Thank you Jim for a great job well done! I worked late the night before so I left Santa Clara around 8am, stopped by Lee to get a box of Lee's sandwiches to share and got there around 10am. Fished for a couple hours and caught a bunch of RF's (released of course :smt003). Finally caught my beautiful Perch so I came back to shore to hang out with the guys. Here are some pictures of the day...
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Some more pictures...
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Thanks for coming down and for the great pics Sonny!!!
:smt006
Sincerely,
Jim
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Sent off a check for $550 to Connor's Mom Tracy this morning.
For you guys not on Facebook, I though you might like to check out the comments below...
Thanks again guys.
:smt008
:smt006
Sincerely,
Jim
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Those are some great pics sailfish!