2008 Perch Tournament

It was an honor to fish in the 4th Annual Sand Crab Classic perch tournament yesterday. A BIG Thanks to Allen for his contributions to make this tourney happen. NCKA was well represented but none of us placed in the top 3.

I fished with Fish Flogger and his friend Lars. We hit Manresa and Rio Del Mar. I only caught 4 barred surfperch. Biggest was maybe 11 inches. Caught all of my perch on those Gulp sandworms they gave away to the contestants. Tried various grubs for no love.
The weather was manageable, with wind and waves increasing throughout the morning. The rain held off until the weigh-in at 2 in the SC Yacht Club. Lunch was great. The raffle prizes were plentiful.
The winning perch was a monster BSP. Biggest one I've seen. And now I know what people mean when they refer to big BSPs as "hubcaps"!

I stopped by Marina beach on my way home to check the waves. And to my surprise, they were really small. And the wind was minimal. There was even a guy loading up his Scrambler after a day of playing in the surf....and I thought I was crazy?!!

So I went back to Marina beach today to try for stripers. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot it was obvious that I wasn't fishing today: the waves were HUGE! Maybe the biggest I've seen at Reservation Rd. They were forming way offshore and coming in strong.
Took a few pics of the big waves. They were much bigger than they look in these pics. Note that I was standing on a sand dune about 75ft above the water.
PK

I heard Alex / Aliens took 4th place 

Great report, PK.  Sounds like a good time.  Cool swell shots - you're right that it's hard to capture the power and size with stills.

I heard Alex / Aliens took 4th place 

Congratulations Alex that's pretty good for only fishing once a year

Thanks for the report PK, maybe next year I'll join sooner. (Which may mean way earlier than when i tried this year ). 
damian

ps: does anyone know where to get some ghost shrimp down by Monterey/Salinas area?

Congrats Alex! I was bummed I could not make it this year, it is always a first class event.

Next year Alex, you will break the top 3!!

Those waves look tasty!  Hey, why isn't John Airey surfin those bad boys???  Congrats Alex on your 4th place finish.  I know alot of guys who are certified bad asses of grubbin.  I suppose your one of them.   JTF..

Well, Allen and Mike put on another great tournament. I had an awesome time fishing with Sin Coast and my buddy Lars. I only managed 2 small-medium sized perch for the day but had a great time anyway. The weather managed to hold off until we were done fishing which was nice. I can't wait for next years SCC.

-FF

Those waves look tasty!  Hey, why isn't John Airey surfin those bad boys???  Congrats Alex on your 4th place finish.  I know alot of guys who are certified bad asses of grubbin.  I suppose your one of them.   JTF..

love to hear the story from alex of his day!

so the gulp sandworms are beating out the grub? I have not tried the sandworms. do you fish them just like the grub?

as for surfing that T.O.A.D. (Take Off And Die) weather, maybe in the protected regions of santa cruz it might be reasonable, but I was actually up at Kirkwood near Tahoe introducing my two boys to snow that day (gosh, it's colder than it looks in the pics, Dad!).

Alright, now I'm thread-jacking my own post LOL.
I saw this report on the news last night. The first story about the surfer and the waverunner looks a LOT like the Coral St launch. I'm about 99% positive it is. I didn't even know it could break that far out at this spot.
http://www.kcba.com/mediacenter/[email protected]&navCatId=8

Thanks for the report fellas. 

J.M.- I fish the 2" gulp sandworms in camo with great results, I seem to do better w/ them than any other grub/lure. you fish them just like you would a grub

This was my first time using the sand worms and I was pleasantly surprised. I usually use the kalins MORF grubs but after fishing them for about 3 hours without a nibble I had to try the sand worms and they were the only thing that got me fish on Saturday. I'll probably pack both from now on and try fishing them together to see what gets more hits. I don't think the perch are too picky. They'll grab pretty much whatever you put in front of them. I think I was just having problems finding the fish on Saturday. Again, I had tons of fun and just getting out there and getting my line wet made for an awesome day for me. I can't wait for the time change so I can start doing more trips to the beach after work.

-FF

great report and way to rep!  thanks for the wave porn too. I know the cam can never really capture the power of those hydrolics, unless youre in there, but still good shape shots.
The Scrambler is actually a great choice for surfing on a SOT. It always felt like a stretch Frenzy to me and that boat can ride. Looks like perfect mini-x terrain.
thanks again for the inspiration

Where's the picture of the Hubcap that won ??????

First of all... big KUDOS to Allen Bushnell and the organizers of the Sand Crab Classic. 

It was truly a first class event complete with tasty pastries for the 7AM check-in, a great steak fajita lunch, lots of raffle prizes, free Berkeley Gulp bait and a cool t-shirt for all contestants.

Frankfishing and I met up with Doug "Marmite" and Alex "Alien" Velasco.  As most of you guys know, Alex wrote our "Surf Perching" article and is always a favorite to win.  I think he tied for 3rd place last year.  We started off at one of Alex's favorite spots down south and work our way up.

Things started off pretty good.  No rain, no wind and right away, I landed 3 rainbow perch around 11 inches, then Frank catches one.  Doug catches one and Alex catches a couple with his biggest being over 13".  They were too small to be contenders.  We needed perch in at least in 14 to 15" range, so we moved north near Potero Beach.  The wind had picked up and became horrendous.  I estimated over 40 mph.  Waves were crashing and it made fishing tough.  The 4 of us caught nothing.  We ended up splitting up and driving to Moss Landing near the jetties for shelter from the wind.  No luck for us there either.

It was cool to see lots of kids in the derby having fun and winning prizes at the raffle.  The boy who won 1st place in his division had 13+ inch fish.  That was definitely bigger than mine.

It was a good time!