Albion Open 2015 Official tourney thread

,Fish  & O2B cranking down on my rod 
Bent a drive arm upriver on a relic redwood stump. Da Man not only had a spare rod, he helped me fine tune the drive afterward. Thanks!

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LRM happy to help get your Mirage Drive repaired. A year doesn't go by when someone needs assistance with their "rod", break a cable, or needs a little tuning. Happy to help.. I was surprised that Raydon didn't need assistance. ...he is a frequent flier....haha.

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Nice pics Kirk!

Just realized I never posted the few pics I took.

damn you took the pic of me squatting on the table 

Awards & Raffle

Despite only having fished since I moved to California from North Carolina four years ago, winning the Albion Open rapidly became a paramount goal of mine and, well, the third time was a charm! Granted the home court advantage did not hurt, nor did the frequency in which I've had the privilege to fish these cold coastal waters the past four years, but I do hope that some burgeoning kayak angler can see that with proper preparation this is anyone's game on any given day. While it was some local boys, the then forthcoming NCKA member Josh Tsuji (kayakhogger) amongst them, that got me started bottom fishing, it was the NCKA forum that truly helped me refine my approach and expand my target species. I recall hooking my first king salmon a few seasons back and feeling almost indebted to then-strangers LoletaEric and matanaska, whose reports I had picked apart like a curious child until I found success. I'm still looking for my first tourney day salmon, in time I'm sure it will come, but what I am saying in a roundabout way is that old cliche that we are all winners. It truly is a remarkable community to be a part of, the encouragement, all of the give and take, the freedom of knowledge, and of course the steady flow of food and spirits. Without further ado, here is my tourney day fishing report:

I got a late start this year. I wasn't on the water until almost 6 this year. My first year I was to Mendocino Bay by daybreak and last year I was by the Albion buoy by at least five,  but as usual I was well rested because I took advantage of living local and stayed in a quiet bed. As much as I would love to whoop it up in Shuland all night, I know it would do me no favors come game time. Kayakhogger and I paddled out north of the buoy and did some quick drops to read our drift. We both hit some fish quickly, lots of olives and I had a nice sized copper and decent lingcod right off the bat. I noticed my mirage drive pulley wheel had more or less shattered on the way out through all the bump, not the best omen but it was still functioning so despite that little setback and in lieu of the forecasted winds I decided to stick with the initial plan to head south.

Bull Rock is no big secret. The locals work it pretty hard. Still I usually manage to pull a nice average 30"ish ling and tourney day was no exception. I was mooching for rockfish as I usually do, when I hooked a tiny rockfish and a better than decent hitchhiker. She was fat and even though I knew she was probably not fat enough I felt like I was on the way to having a nice stringer to weigh in. By this time a half dozen other boys were on the reef so I pushed in tighter looking for a cabezone, which eluded me for quite some hours although the kayakhogger did very well there. I pushed further south and more shallow, fishing alongside Cameron briefly and then making the call to push further south, much further south. I knew it was a gamble with the conditions and the timetable and the mirage drive malfunction but I had a premonition about a new spot and went for it.

I was drifting by the new spot when I had a big takedown and it did not stick. It was the only one all day that did not stick in fact. I pulled up a mangled rockfish and repeated the drift with it. I tried the drift two more times with a herring and then an anchovy. Finally I was dead sticking it and rigging my other pole with a tried and true artificial jig when my reel started peeling. I grabbed the rod and calmly worked my personal best 37" 19.5lb lingcod up and into my net. The front hook of my double snell was in the mouth of a small black and the back hook totally lodged in the lingcod's throat. She  never really had a chance.

I check the time and despite being in some very exciting new fishing holes I know that I need to get back and round out my bag with a cabezone or greenling still. I also cover a couple of stretches trolling for salmon with no luck. I tucked back in tight and tried my cabbie hole once more with no luck. I lost my favorite cabbie lure and radioed Kayakhogger to hold up before he headed in and after I ill-advisedly came busting out of the rock pile behind Bull Rock, he was kind enough to leave me with the cabbie slayer jig. Time was really getting tight now and I tucked in tight between Salmon Creek and Albion Cove. It had been a busy day and I had burned all of my bait by this time (a bag of chovis, a tray of herring, and a box of squid) so I was alternating Kayakhogger's cabbie jig, which popped two cabezones in a row, and a double pink squid which produced my second vermillion on the day. Ironically, the vermillion sized out my big copper so two of my three fish I weighed in came in the final minutes of the competition.

Again, time was short. In all three of my Albion Open competitions I came in with less than ten minutes to spare. This time it paid off. I once again ill-advisedly came plowing through the inside of the rock piles outside of the cove, fish and tackle piled in the center of the boat for stability as I hugged the coast to make the cut off. We all know the rest. It was my lucky day. Despite the victory I still can't help but envy that big 40" lingcod that Marcos nabbed and I can't help but lament that I didn't give Steve's lone salmon a little company, but hey, thats fishing for ya! In summary, congratulations to everyone on their personal victories, both small and large, those fulfilled and those yet to be realized! Until next time, tight lines...

A+ Report! Thank you

Big congrats on your win bro. Thanks for the report and pictures.

Jedmo