1st Annual Estero Kayak Challenge UPDATE 2-28-25 - June 7, 2015

A reminder for people thinking about doing the tournament.

Registered on or before May 1st - T-shirt and a captains bag are included with your registration

Registered after May 1st - No t-shirt included and the Captains bag is not guaranteed. The price also goes up, so register early.

I will try to have a captains bag for all anglers but after May 1st, it is not guaranteed.

This will be the first year of the event and we have some great sponsors coming on board so far. Here is a quick run down on the format but you can visit http://esterobaykayakfishing.blogspot.com/ for more information, registration, and updates. There will also be a great raffle to benefit HOW.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them here or send me a PM. As things happen I'll update the information. Thanks and hope to see some NCKA Brother's and Sister's at the event!

1st Annual Estero Kayak Challenge

a benefit event for

Heroes on the Water

Schedule, Fees, and Rules:


Tournament Schedule:

Captain's Meeting:
Saturday June 6th @ 5:00 pm on the beach, North side of Cayucos Pier.

Tournament Date:
Sunday June 7th, 2015

Location:
Cayucos, CA

Event Times:
Check-in @ 5:45 am
Launch @ 6:30 am
Weigh-in cutoff @ 2:30 pm
Awards and raffle @ 3:30 pm or as near as possible


Tournament Fees:

Registration and Entry Fees: 
See “fee breakdown” below, for an explanation of fees

Early Registration (Registered on or before May 1st, 2015) -

$85.00 per person, includes an event T-shirt and a Captain’s bag

Registration after May 1st, 2015 -

$100 per person (We will try to have Captain’s bags for everyone but for registrations after May 1st, it is not guaranteed)
No T-Shirt included after May 1st.

Last day to register -

May 24th, 2015 at midnight

Fee Breakdown -

$85 for a tournament, WTH! I hear ya, but here is why. This is a cash payout tournament and those payouts come from entry fees. In fact, the purse that the anglers are competing for is entirely dependent on how many people enter the tournament. The more competitors we have the bigger the payouts.

SO TELL YOUR BRO’S!

Here is where your money goes:
˝ of each entry goes to winner payouts, the rest goes to shirts, tournament costs, prizes, and Heroes on the Water (whatever is left over after expenses).
Entry Fee:    $85.00
                                                  -  $40.00  Tournament purse
                                                     $45.00  Tournament costs,
                                                                 event shirts, prizes, and HOW.

Tournament Payouts:

Competitive Divisions:
All paid competitors are automatically entered into all 4 divisions. These divisions are cash payout divisions and payouts will be determined by the number of competitors entered.

All divisions are based on weight -

Division #1 - Heaviest single Lingcod - 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place
Division #2 - Heaviest single Cabezon - 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place
Division #3 - Heaviest single Rockfish - 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place
Division #4 - Tournament Champ - 1st place only

Division #4 - Heaviest combined catch of 2 fish max. Open to any species that is legal at the time of the tournament. Lings, Halibut, Salmon, Cabs, WSB, Monkeyface Eel, Shark, Barracuda, etc. If the CA DFW says they are in season then they are fair game.

Payouts/Winning:

Divisions 1 - 3 will award cash payouts to
1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

1st place  - takes 50% of pot
2nd place - takes 30% of pot
3rd place  - gets the final 20% of pot

Division 4 - The “Tournament Champ” in the 2 fish division is winner take all and will also be awarded a custom trophy.

Total purse and payout is dependent on number of competitors.
Example of purse payouts:

Based on a $500 division purse  Based on a $1000 division purse
(based on 50 anglers)    (based on 100 anglers)
1st - $250                     1st - $500
2nd - $150                    2nd - $300
3rd - $100                     3rd - $200

Good luck:   I will plan on coming down.  I'm one of the coordinators for Nor Cal Chapter, HOW.   
Raydon

That would be great love it when the nor cal folks come to visit.

Good luck:   I will plan on coming down.  I'm one of the coordinators for Nor Cal Chapter, HOW.   
Raydon

Maybe Nor-Cal HOW could put a "team" together to show support...

That would be great guys! I look forward to seeing you there.

How's the fishing near the pier? I'm probably going down on the 4th this year

Typical pier fishing most of the year with the occasional halibut and sole brought in. Some years have seen some great fishing on El Nino years. Heading straight out from the pier towards the buoy you will find kelp beds and start seeing structure. From the pier running north along the coast there is plenty of structure and kelp yielding good catches of rockfish, lingcod, and cabezon. Halibut and WSB can be caught at certain times of year.

I'm in. Signed up as participant No. 9

I Zod Out

How's the fishing near the pier? I'm probably going down on the 4th this year

Lots of jacksmelts around the pier. A little further out in the kelp you will see lots of gophers and black and yellows. Lots of structures going north towards the windmill.

So if 50 people signup, there will be $2000 divided by 3 Divisions (heaviest ling, cab, rockfish) = $333 for first, 200 for second, and 133 for third in each Division? Then Division 4 (heaviest 2 fish combined) gets a trophy. That's cool.
Any idea how much of the $45 tournament costs will go towards HOW? Because that could potentially be a big selling point. I see that there's also going to be a raffle to benefit HOW.

That would be great love it when the nor cal folks come to visit.

I bet you say that about Ricci all the time! 

So if 50 people signup, there will be $2000 divided by 3 Divisions (heaviest ling, cab, rockfish) = $333 for first, 200 for second, and 133 for third in each Division? Then Division 4 (heaviest 2 fish combined) gets a trophy. That's cool.
Any idea how much of the $45 tournament costs will go towards HOW? Because that could potentially be a big selling point. I see that there's also going to be a raffle to benefit HOW.

Using your example of 50 entries: $2000 split between the 4 divisions= $500 purse for each. Divisions 1 - 3 breaks down like this: 1st $250, 2nd $150, 3rd $100 (more entrants = higher purse), division 4 winner (2 fish combined, Tournament Champion) wins the whole pot for that division ($500 in this example) plus gets the trophy. Clear as mud?

I wish I could say how much of the remainder will go to HOW but until I pay all expenses I will not know. Rest assured though that this is NOT a for profit event. Whatever is left over from entry fees along with the entire amount raised from the raffle will go to HOW.

That would be great love it when the nor cal folks come to visit.

I bet you say that about Ricci all the time! 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Ricci if you plan on coming down we have a special division set-up just for you. It involves using only a barbie pole spooled with 2 lb. mono! Lol! Gotta give the rest of us a chance!

That would be great love it when the nor cal folks come to visit.

I bet you say that about Ricci all the time! 

Sure do i even make it a point to stop by his camp every time theyre down. Im no sore loser even if rhyak an i only get 2-3hours to fish before we have to start setting up for the chaos. The dude puts in miles while others fish the kelp we launch in lol.

I think this will be a great event, come on down and make a weekend or a week out of it!

Whats up NCKA?! Added some updated info. and some timeline reminders for the tournament. The weather and the fishing should be sweet this time of year in Cayucos. Hope to see a bunch of you there!

Hey gang!

Its April 1st and that means there is only 1 month left for early registration with the included t-shirt and guaranteed Captain's Bag. Also, after May 1, the price goes up too so get those registrations in!

I also, want to let you know that we will be raffling off the awesome, new Thresher 140 from Wilderness Systems Kayaks! All proceeds from the raffle will go to Heroes on the Water and tickets will be for sale at the Captain's meeting the night before the tournament and all day at the event.

See y'all there!