SC - 9th annual Wilderness Systems kayak Fishing Contest

pretty lackluster day out there, but it was nice weather etc...

 First place went to a Firefighter from Palo Alto, Kool Guy with a 27" Ling....

 Good story there,   3rd time fishing this tournament, has a 12 y/o son who fishes with him but his son's

 kayak is a wide stable slow thing that he was just getting ready to upgrade....

 Even kooler,  he got his choice of the Tarpon or a Prowler 13.... No brainier...

 He went with the Prowler 13...

 2nd place was a " Ringer " with another smaller ling who had previously won this on a

   SurfBoard....   Young stud of a fisherman that will be schooling all of us soon ....

 3rd could have been our own Janice, not sure of the story there,

 My only unsuccess was a 23.5 ling that I should have stepped on 

 Thanks Bsteves for the last minute Regs

Signed waiver and got my Hot Dog from the Beauty  @ the Dog Shack without a Hitch...

 That's about it........ High point for me... Beauty @ the Dog Shack ....... Danglin

High point for me... Beauty @ the Dog Shack  ....... Danglin

Pics? 

Ditto to all above, the fish pretty much took the day off. A few of us even made the long haul down to try the area off Natural Bridges and then drifted past Long Marine Lab. The area off there has been more productive for me and Slowmo than the usual spots out of the harbor soo when things looked to be slow off the lighthouse we said what the heck. Long paddle and I'm a bit sore for the effort today.I didn't catch a thing all day and broke the tip off one of my poles to boot (stupid!). Slowmo did catch a nice black that Fuzzy Tom caught the twin to and then gave it to Slowmo, soo we did have a nice dinner.
All and all just a good day to be on the water.
Steve

nothing for us Bodega crew too... 
I got home 3am & left home 3:30am, got there around 6:30am (of course got lost alil).  Everybody started going out w/out sign of Mark guy...  Weather was nice & saw famous SC boardwalk that was it.   
the highest of that day was the hot hot dog girl.  she was smoking!!!

High point for me... Beauty @ the Dog Shack  ....... Danglin

Pics? 

Hey Mooch, is she the one that you reported from 2 yrs ago!? but sorry no pics...

Pretty slow day for me and my son Mike but had a good time fishing and ended up with 5 decent rockies with 2 released. Mike and I both had heavy take downs but no love on the hook set.  As always, my son out-fished me, but there is some satisfaction in that.   It was good to have some company and conversation on the drive which I have missed since he went away to college. Hooked up with Etienne for the first 2-3 hours for an unsuccessful hali hunt on the hali hill. Had a good time with the sabiki catching assorted bait fish. Ran into a school of lizard fish which we used for bait which was fun. nice to see old NCKA friends and meet Danglin for the first time. All in all a great day. Congrats to those who did better.

scott

3rd could have been our own Janice, not sure of the story there,...

I should be so lucky! Thanks for the vote of confidence, though, Danglin! No, Mark was ready to award me 1st place in the women's division, but, rather than bringing in my catch (a kingfish), I sent it back down for bait. Even that didn't work! I did have lots of bites so now I just have to master hooking the fish.

As always, it was great to be on the water and to see everyone and meet new faces. NCKA rocks!

Janice aka "Big J"

Was really hoping to bag a legal hallie or ling.  I've gotta say that I was disappointed, but not surprised, having fished Santa Cruz a significant number of times this year.

Weather.com showed sunrise at 0645, so at 0645 I shoved off from the dock and paddled out of the lane.  Knowing that the bay was chock full of bait, I didn't go buy any live bait, but I brought some frozen chovies.  Was kind of dumb not buy live bait, strategy-wise, since my plan was to head north and I would need all the paddling time I could use.

Still kind of dark from the early morning fog.



This boat came out of the jaws at the same time and was going over to the wharf to observe the swim leg of the triathlon.



I headed straight out of the jaws toward the mile buoy.  My plan was to hit the buoy and troll a flasher release with 12 oz of lead dragging an anchovy on a #4 barbless circle hook.  Got to the buoy, got my bearings, stretched, and drank a little H20.  I was one of the first out the jaws but I was suprised to see someone in a green prowler already out there when I arrived.

Hung a right turn due north with ultimate destination being the Long Aquarium.  I'd done decent there earlier in the summer potholing the kelp so I knew that I would not get skunked if I made the paddle/peddle.  Peddled into a slight headwind, dragging that friggin' lead all the while.  Just as I came even with Steamer Lane, I got hit, but it didn't stick.  Then I started losing lead and baits like crazy so i switched to a blue and white hoochie.  I dragged that north till just past Mitchell Cove and picked up a blue.

By Natural Bridges, I was really quite tired and I had to stretch out the legs.  I tied up to some kelp and started dunking a swimbait.  It was FAC with almost no wind/swell.



It was about 0850 by the time I made the Aquarium.  There were still boats running to Ano at that time.  Sandbaggers...



I picked away at some dinkers, all released.  Figured I'd go back to trolling and working my way back south. 

I saw about five or six other derby entrants who made the paddle to the area.  One of them was the chap who ended up with the winning ling.  I thought I took a pic of him but guess not.

This gent was on a steady pick of rockcod in the same area where the winning fish came from.  here he is going bendo.  Located right around NB, there's a big hump that comes up out of nowhere in about 70 feet of water.  Lost my entire trolling rig on it, but at least I know its there now.



Peddled back to the harbor with nothing to weigh in, but it was a helluva nice day to be out on the water.

Shout outs to:
1) Kayak Connection.  A little disorganized in the morning, with everyone wondering about parking and whether/ when the gentlemen's sunrise start began.  But really I'm thankful they held the derby at all, and with a head count of 32 entrants, I'd rate it as a successful turnout.  Golden is a true pimp when it comes to interfacing with Hobie on behalf of a customer.  Next time I'm in the market for a boat, I'll be sure to ask for KC and Golden.

2) Big J.  Thanks for coming to say hi and introducing yourself while I was racking my new boat.  Wish to have hung around and chatted but us standing in the middle of the street like that wasn't the safest thing.  Let's fish together soon.

3) Danglin.  Thanks for hauling my new outback home for me.  You've got some crazy stories, ace.

4) Hot-ass Hot Dog Girl.  Thanks for finessing my dog into such a straight orientation between the buns. 

3) Danglin.  Thanks for hauling my new outback home for me.  You've got some crazy stories, ace

 Could entertain for a lifetime  ...... Your Welcome