Santa Cruz - Kayak Connection Derby - Sept. 11 '05 (PICS)

Great Picts Joel.  Looks like a fun time.

All Dillion needs now is a car and a driver's license to get to the fishing spots.  

PS, was Mark there?  If so, did anyone ask him about COOL and the MLPA's?

Stuart

Great Picts Joel.  Looks like a fun time.

All Dillion needs now is a car and a driver's license to get to the fishing spots.  

PS, was Mark there?  If so, did anyone ask him about COOL and the MLPA's?

Stuart

I believe Brian G talked to him about it....I was too busy stuffing my face with hotdogs  

Mooch should be promoted to GWS because those great pictures which are worth at least 1000 words each should greatly boost his post count.
Maybe each posted photo should be worth 100 posts or something?

I also think it is great that Dillon won it!

Regarding the jack smelt:

It seems like putting it on a 3 or 4 oz leadhead could catch a good ling?

Can Brian G. expand on the tournaments changing next year?

Regarding the jack smelt:

It seems like putting it on a 3 or 4 oz leadhead could catch a good ling?

yeah - Brian G was telling me to drop it down with some weight added to it but I was just too lazy and not confident about catching anything worth keeping ...it's been driving me mad ever since I started kayak fishing in the Santa Cruz area.....yet,...I continue to fish this place....only because my friends do

Along these general lines...  I stinger rigged a jacksmelt about 12-inches in length with a big ole round sliding sinker rig and dropped it down to the bottom during the tourney.

The 2nd place ling I caught was brought up hanging onto that smelt.  It wasn't hooked or anything -- doing that classic ling thing of gripping the bait until up next to the boat.  Luckily I had a net waiting.

So, YES, you should have used the smelt as bait.

....next time I'll do it ...thanks for the tip Big Red and congratulations on the 2nd place finish  

Thanks for the great pics, Mooch!

 Pat & I were in San Diego, so we had to miss the derby.  Our consolation was a half day trip on a party boat on Sunday.  Pretty slow fishing (a few rocks and whitefish) most of the day.  Toward the end of the trip, a few Yellowtail were hooked (not by me) but the sea lions got every last one of them  

Congratulations to Dillon, Alex and Joel!

Randy

I did talk to Mark about the MLPAs and Kool. He said that he donates to a lot of different organizations with conservation in mind. Whatever he does is with the best of intentions. ( something we should keep in mind is that a business like kayak connection, doesn't have the time to research the many, many organizations that come asking for donations and I am sure a lot of the times they have to make a judgment call, based primarily on the 'angle' that is presented to them )

He agrees that there needs to be something done about the fisheries declining. He is completely pro-fishing, thus why he holds the tournaments. I got a strong impression that he does not support a stance that would have mlpas that close major sections of the coast, rather small localized patches ( this is my interpretation)    His holding of the tournaments is to benefit the fishery and that if people don't want to come because he has donated to an organization that might have a different stance than what some of us have, he's not going to really worry about it. The tournaments will go on.

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In all probability a large shop like his has donated to both sides and thus negated their impact from a financial aspect. I am sorry I don't have more specifics to clarify the situation. If you want more specifics contact the shop or email them. www.kayakconnection.com

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All proceeds from the tournaments go to the Monterrey bay trout and salmon restoration, notice me made our checks out to the MBTS, not kayak connection.
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Mark is talking about having a freshwater tournament as the early tournament (possible San Luis? ) and then after rock cod season opens, the second tournament. This is all tentative at this time. I will try and find out what dates we are talking about for the early tournament and maybe get some suggestions as to locations where we can suggest to have the tourney.

hey brian, i am getting the feeling that you are not concerned with the mlpa, are you confident it will not affect you. this is serious business, these will be permanent closures. a kayak shop that supports the mlpa and then has a fishing tournament is playing both sides of the field.
  you say he does not research to whom he gives money, you should have hit him up yourself.  but if he was truly ignorant of the intentions of COOL perhaps he is now willing to dissolve the relationship between them and kayak connection.
   if you  believe that kayak connection has supported both sides of this issue, they are still doing us a disservice. if you have information that demonstrates kayak connection supporting anglers who oppose the mlpa, either politically or financially, please present it now.
  i know little about the MBTS so i have only one comment. this time last year there was a discussion about the irony of holding a fishing tournament to support an organization that is not pro-fishing. is the MBTS pro-fishing or are they preservationists? i will try to find this answer.
  all in all we only have two weapons with which we can effectively oppose upcoming closures and water diversions, our votes and our spending, i am saddened that you have chosen to blunt our economic power.

MBTS is pro fishing, but also stream restoration and such. They release salmon from the santa cruz harbor, knowing that those fish will never spawn, they are just trying increase the salmon population in the local fishing waters. To be pro-fishing you have to be a preservationist in a way. What you (not you personally, referring to groups in general) don't have to be is extremist and unreasonable.   I am sure you heard of the killing off of the steelhead fingerlings they were raising for release in to the san lorenzo and other coastal streams? Some one when to their hatchery and added bleach to the water to kill the steelhead that would have been put back in to local waters.

I am concerning with the MLPAs because I love to fish big sur. I only get a couple trips a year, but I would not give them up for the world.

I would be more than happy to swing some supporters but I don't have the knowledge base on KOOL and the MLPAs to effectively educate and teach people. I have a larger concern of the water exports in my backyard.

This is the reason I asked one of the knowledgable people in this issue to show up.  

I am sorry that you feel my donation to a program that puts more salmon and steelhead in to the waters I fish is blunting the economic sword that we are using to fight the permant closures and MLPAs.


-Brian

I think we are mixing issues here:

1. MBTS project is a great bunch of people.

2. Mark from Kayak Connection is a cool guy.

3. The people that run COOL do not seem so cool when it comes to kayak fishing.

4. It appears Kayak Connection donated funds to COOL, therefore supporting the Uncool implementation of the MLPA.

5. MBTS project has nothing to do with our fight against the MLPA, they do not have a position on it (at least publicly that I can find) nor will any funds given to MBTS project help us fight the MLPA.

6. By running an event the gives money to MBTS project no help is given to fight the MLPA.

7. Mark needs to understand who he is donating money to and what they support. Ignorance is not an excuse. Having more derbies that give more money to MBTS project does not help anyone fight the MLPA. Kayak Connection has not donated to "both sides" on this issue.

8. You do not have to participate in the derby to give money to the MBTS project, just go to there web site (http://www.mbstp.org/help.html) and send them money. I will be sending them money on behalf of NCKA.

9. Being pro-fishing and pro-COOL MLPA implementation does not compute.

10. Giving money to MBTS project does not blunt the sword, giving Kayak Connection a pass because they are cool/pro fishing/ignorant of who they donated to, does blunt the sword.

I am sorry I was not able to make it over the hill to speak with Mark about the issue Sunday. I am sorry I sound like an angry nut case as well   Mark sounds like he had a pretty "I don't really care what others think" response which, while cool in a punk rock sorta way, does not really help him nor MBTS project.

My impression is that Mark's current passion is kayak surfing.  However, his tournaments demonstrate he "supports" kayak fishing.  His tournaments increase our numbers and the positive community interactions that we all enjoy.  
Do we have a specific action that we would like to see Mark implement?  
Should we, NCKA, make our own poster and promotion touting our interests and ask Mark and others to post it?
Pat

I would be happy to see Mark,

1. Not donate more money to COOL

2. Donate the proceeds from a tournament to Coastside as they are leading the fight on the MLPA.

Thanks for the simple response, Bill.  It is good to have a "best approach" in mind if I have a chance to visit with one of these folks.
Pat

I protested the Derby by not attending, but it was a close call. Went all the way down w/ my yak but at the very end, decided to go on a skiff w/ some friends.
I've been attending all of the SC Kayak Derbies because it was the ONLY NorCal Derby and is the oldest at the time, but the idea of contributing money to someone who also donates to a group that can adversly affect my fishing rights stinks.
Sure, I'll write to congressmen when asked to by Coastside, it's the very least I can do.
I realized that w/ this issue on the line, that there may not be as many entries, thus the chance of "winning" a kayak is greater, but at what price?
What's the point of raising money for fisheries if you can't fish for them?
If we wrote to each manufacturer to raise our objections, I'm sure there'll be no more free kayaks for future SC Derbies!
Why don't we hold our own derby? Why do we need MarK? I'm sure we could find another kayak dealer to front a derby to support our interests.
k, nuff ranting...