Gimme Shelter 20th Annual Kayak Fishing Tournament - GSXX - 5/16/26

The forecasts leading up to the GS weekend were unrelenting, with gale force north/NW winds predicted to peak Saturday night.  As the event got closer, I was a bit nervous about making a call of letting the field fish offshore.  First though, I'd have to determine whether me and my group of four guests would be able to launch and pre-fish on Friday, which had just about the same, ugly forecast as tourney day Saturday...

Thursday came, and I was carefully loading my truck for the pilgrimage to the Cove.  For the first time ever, I'd be picking up the hoodies and shirts on my way - instead of two weeks early, with plenty of time to reconcile any deficiencies, like I usually do.  I stopped in at my screen-printer right after noon, and after barely fitting 4 more big boxes in the bed of my truck, I was off to the Cove to spend Thursday afternoon filling tourney bags while at the same time inventorying my gear order.  I am so going to go back to a mid April cutoff for registration!   

I'll take the blame - I laid a lot on my screen-printer with only two weeks to fill the order, so when a few wires got crossed on sizes, and several pieces didn't come through with the order, I was really glad to be hauling a bunch of leftover shirts from the past around.  For a few sizes and styles that were missing in the order, I was able to find high quality substitutes in my collection from past events.  I've had good fortune over the years with my gear orders being largely or completely filled, so I count myself as lucky to have only had a few deficiencies in all these years.

I'm also very thankful for the grace extended my way by the few bros who unexpectedly had their order altered.  Super glad all the hoods were right...

So I get all the gear divided up and laid out, and it was time to prep my kayak, immersion and fishing gear for my Friday trip.  With the wind pretty raspy already, and the forecasts all agreeing that it looked bad, I was weighing whether I would even be able to take my guests out past the harbor on Friday morning.  There was no sense fretting over it though.  Instead, I headed over to Jack and Chadrock's place to drop off some fillets for the Taco Shack and get in on some teriyaki chicken, a cold beer and vital catching up with the clan.  My son Collin and his GF Jess arrived by 1030PM or so, and it was time for me to get a hot tub (love our new VRBO) and hit the sack, hoping for the best for Friday.

I had my alarm set for 6AM, as I had set 7AM as our meeting time at the ramp.  My Friday pre-fish guests were Paul and Ben, who go out with me every year, Steve, who's been out with me once, and Joe, who's been to Gimme Shelter most years that I can remember - like maybe all of them!  All the guys had their own gear:  Paul on a big Jackson pedal kayak; Ben on a tandem Malibu Kayak; Steve, on an Oldtown Epdl; and Joe on an Outback.  We met up at the ramp as planned, and the ocean didn't look bad, right at launch...  Other NCKA bros were prepping up and getting going too, so it looked like we'd all at least be able to go see how bad it was!

Once we were all launched and heading around the corner, we found a sloppy ocean with a short period swell that was sometimes combining to push steep little riffle-tops through, randomly, subjecting any of us at any given time to a little rodeo ride that looked and felt like it could toss even the most stable setup.  I was in busy-mode:  constantly assessing how my guys were doing in the slop, while at the same time getting everybody setup on the gear and bait that I'd planned on us using.  Soon we arrived where I wanted to fish, and it wasn't long before Paul had a lingcod.  I got it netted and bled, and it wasn't too hectic to get it strung and under Paul's burlap or to keep my guys on fresh baits.  For being sloppy and kind of nasty, with a potential to catch someone off guard, the ocean was good enough.  This was true for the other clubmates near us, too.  Some went out a bit further than us, but in the end everyone basically retracted back to the point in front of the lighthouse in about 30-40 feet of water.  Plenty of fish got caught, and the wind was a constant.  At times it would rev up, and I was ready to call it and get us back on the inside, but it would back off a bit, and the bite was good enough to keep us out there.

By late morning we started heading for the inside, where, like several others, we'd pass a chove along the moorings area to see if a Cali might show up.  The water was too cold in there though - 50 to 52 degrees, so it's early yet.  We also didn't want to pull too much bait around where there's been some anchovies near the beach lately - salmon avoidance 101...

So the wind suddenly escalates, we land, celebrate the day's good fishing, get the traditional stringer display shot done, I fillet up the catch, and the "half-day trip" is over by like 2PM!  I was thrilled.  Not just for having gotten my guys on a good bite when it looked iffy to even be able to boat past the harbor, but for the fact that it looked like I would be safe allowing the tournament field to fish on the slightly worse Saturday forecast.

At the safety meeting Friday evening, I got a bunch of shirts and schwag handed out and determined that just over 2/3 of the 74 registered anglers were present.  This was very heartening, as I'd informed everyone that the forecast was shitty (as if anyone didn't know?...), so having over 50 people and family and friends show up even on the shitty forecast had me stoked.  I announced to the group that we'd done well at the point that morning, and that Saturday's forecast was just a little worse than Friday's.  While we all gathered for the safety meeting, there'd been 100's of pelicans and other birds working bait along the beach from around the harbor southeast to No-Pass.  The entire tournament field was viewing this spectacle as I got to talking, so early on, after reviewing the forecast and how I don't want anyone going out to the buoys or even past the lighthouse point, I added on that everyone is to avoid the birds.  Just don't go around them.  For as many years as I've chased salmon on my kayaks, I have some very good strategies, so it's a no-brainer to reverse them for when the fish are off-limits.  Avoiding active birds that are working bait is the number one way to not get bit!

With Friday's fishing a success, the safety meeting now done, and the thrill of over 50 competitors and their own guests filling fun spaces throughout the Cove, I was ready to get the rest of my family settled in the VRBO, get some hot dinner, a hot tub, and crash out to rest up for a long tourney day.

I just wish I could sleep on command, like when I was young!

I got a few hours sleep, and before I knew it 5AM had arrived.  It was time to head for the launch to monitor the conditions, see how well people were going to adapt to the latest version of the slop, and to witness how things played out for the field - who would get a lingcod and a rockfish?  who would maybe find a halibut?  how would the ocean be by mid morning?...

I put the drone up to get some tourney morning shots, and then I was off to deliver the Gyotaku supplies to Brandi and the crew she was mobilizing earlier than planned - if the wind was going to blow us off early, the Gyotaku was going to get going early - I love it!

I greeted a couple dozen competitors - my brothers and sisters! - saw a few more who decided to skip it due to conditions, and saw that I'd better get the fish measuring station going earlier than planned, as the field was looking like it would start trickling in by like 9AM...  Got the art supplies to Brandi's camp, and I was heading down to the ramp with the measuring troughs and scoreboards, when I saw Jon/Shoprat at camp.  He'd gotten off the water just a bit earlier than planned, due to a rudder issue, but he had fish to measure.  I was like, "I'm heading down now to set up..."  I could see the look in his eye, like, "do I really need to walk these fish all the way back down there?..."  So I whipped out a trough and got his lingcod and cabezon measured - 26 and 22 inches, respectively - a respectable entry for sure!

I drove off and before I could get the scoreboards setup down at the ramp, I found that I felt unsure about whether his ling was 26 or 24...  Shit!  I shouldn't have compromised my M.O.!

I texted Jon and asked that he tell me the length of his lingcod, but I think he was busy with his gear, because I didn't hear back right away...  Meanwhile, I start recording scores.  I established a leader, and then others would take the lead, but there weren't any scores above the low 40's.  I really needed to hear back from Jon, because he was in first - even if his ling was only 24!

Several people didn't enter any fish - it was tough out there.  But quite a few people did enter fish.  As most of the field had already come ashore by about 10AM, there were 3 guys still at it and looking like they'd stick it out.  It was Adam and Trevor, who'd just recently competed in a US Nationals Qualifier down at San Diego, and Kyle, a past GS Champ and owner of Kayak Fish Sonoma. 

I finally heard back from Jon - his lingcod was 26 inches, like I knew, but I just had to doubt myself since I got out of my practice!  So I fill in Jon's numbers, and it was like I'd snuck a new leader on there!  I felt self-conscious and immediately realized that I must always stick to my guns and make everyone measure their fish right at the designated time and place.  It's not a big deal, but when you run these kind of events, you realize sometimes how a little thing CAN be a big deal.

So everyone's in but Adam, Trevor and Kyle, and I'm keeping in touch with them on the VHF.  They have until 1PM - and they indicate they may stick it out.  I'm good with that, as I'm glad to see them eager to fish as much as they can.  I knew that Adam and Trevor would be hot to fish hard, as that San Diego qualifier has them in tourney mode!  And Kyle's a past champ and guide - can't stop the dude!   

When the guys finally throw in the towel, they've been on the water 2 hours longer than any other competitor.  Coupled with the fact that these three guys are really skilled, I figured they had a very good chance of winning the event, just due to time at it.  After all, the entire field consists of highly skilled and well tooled kayak anglers.

The guys get in, and Trevor and Kyle have both got videos to show me - they've used the catch and release bonus that I brought back to GS this year!  Each of them released a 14 inch rockfish, and each of them turned in a 29 inch ling.  There's a 2 inch bonus per release, so Trevor and Kyle were now tied for 2nd with 45 inches - they'd turned in duplicate scores!  Then Adam puts his down, and he's got 46 inches - he's now in 2nd, and Trevor and Kyle tie for 3rd. 

Jon, as the first guy to measure any fish, gets Angler of the Day, with 48 inches and easily the largest rockfish in his 22 inch cab.

It was now time to move on to the Gyotaku fish printing event.  Brandi and her army of volunteers really knocked it out of the park this year - as always!  I can't say enough about how special that part of the weekend is.  Big thanks to the volunteers, and Brandi is Gyotaku Queen.   

By about 5PM we got the potluck and Taco Shack going, and the raffle, prizes for the kids, trophies and celebrations rounded out the next 3 hours.  Jon was awarded the AOTD traditional trophies - the OG redwood Trophy Trough and a mini, ceramic trough, and of course the ten inch ab with custom ceramic tag.  He also gets two seats on Cap'n Jake's Sea Hawk Charter!

Abalone of appreciation were handed out to Kayak Jack for his Taco Shack contributions, Uncle Allen Leepin for his Shack duty and Gyotaku volunteer devotion, Chadrock and Sarah for their Shack tenure, Brandi for her strong work on the Gyo, and Captain Jake for his efforts in helping with the raffle for his 3rd year running.

In the end, the tourney went off great.  The Gyotaku was outstanding.  The potluck and Taco Shack were epic.  The raffle was a blast.  And hooking the Gyotaku kids up with prizes was as special as ever.

I was totally burnt after the event, and my 3rd night in a row in the VRBO hot tub was crucial!

Sunday was minus tide exploration morning, hanging at the beach with the kids, sending my people on their way back down 101, and getting a quiet night in the VRBO before the big cleanup and checkout on Monday.

What a great gift it is, to be a part of this club.   

I'll try to load some photos later - I'm toast!   

Time for my home hot tub.   

Good read, Congrats Eric and all that participated !

sucks.  i ended up working friday to solve a problem that a problem employee created.  this employee doesnt even talk to me, thinking he is better.  hahah..

total moron.  i wish i was being blown around in a tent trying to sleep, instead of having a Contractor yelling at me, all the moron stories.

bleech...  72 more days,  double middle fingering this place.  the guy that hired him and passed this guy on probation, became my new boss, and wants me to handle it.  makes me want to vomit.

i am sorry i missed this event.   sick about it.

i am sorry i missed this event.   sick about it.

Keep your eye on next year, Cliff.     And if you want to get a taste for the Cove hit me up for a date and we'll spend a long day together. 

Good read, Congrats Eric and all that participated !

Thanks, Vic.  You should keep your eye on next year too.   

Good read, Congrats Eric and all that participated !

Thanks, Vic.  You should keep your eye on next year too.   
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Funny you wrote that. My wife was saying similar things ,lol