GS11 - Big Thank You to the Community. Much Love. Reports start on pg. 38

Let the reports flow here if you want - event's still going. 

Made it home a little while ago and just wanted to say thank you to Eric and everyone else for a great event. Even if the ocean didn't cooperate, I had a blast meeting new folks ans familiar phases.

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This was Friday:

This was Saturday after it mellowed out quite a bit

Finally arrived at a space where I am looking at melting in to a couch and not moving much until tomorrow's dive with Ron.  Need to download some photos and will give briefs in the mini captions.

KayakJack's got ribs and chicken rubbed and ready for the BBQ here at The Tides.  The ocean mellowed today and I can hear some of our best out there doing some catching - KayakGreg put a nice California on the boat this morning.

Thanks for being a part of it. 

Though, I didnt get fish, I still had an awesome time. Seeing everyone and meeting new people! It is an honor to be at shuland! My family is asking to come again!

Great to spend time with you and your family!  I am impressed with your son Jericho.  Great job, man. 

Thanks again Eric for the GS experience.  It's my 6th consecutive trip, my buddy Fred, his 3rd and 1st time for our friend Freddie.  We had a blast.  Took home RF's, abs, ate good, and met a lot of great people
Best part was perch fishing very late in the afternoon till evening and landing slabs after slabs.
See you next year bro
Thanks again!

We arrived on Thursday about 3:30pm and set up camp and within minutes, so many folks had already come up to say hi to me.  I feel bad I have trouble remembering names, but no one seemed to mind having to remind me.  THANKS! 
My teammate, John, AKA OldFart, came by with his lovely bride and we made plans for an early prefish on Friday of 5am at my camp to head down to the launch.  On the water about 6am and by 9am I was ready to  go back in!  Not because the water was rough and I was feeling a bit seasick, well, partly, but mostly because I was getting worn out from cranking up so many fish!  I lost count of hauling up lings at 9.  I don't recall how many blacks.  But speaking of Blacks, they were HUGE!  I love how they shake their heads, compared to the strong pull of a ling.  John and I found schools of Blacks that made our fish finders go solid from surface to the bottom, the fish so thick and stacked up, I couldn't drop my double shrimp flies more than 10' down before both would be holding fish.  When we finally drifted off that mass of fish and I did manage to get my shrimp fly to the bottom, it got slammed by my biggest ling of the weekend; 30 1/2".  I was so surprised to catch a ling on a puny shrimp fly.  Up till then, I was catching the lings while trolling for salmon using a herring and a 4oz banana weight. 
The conditions on Friday were a bit rough.  The roughest water I've ever been on and I wouldn't have been out there except there was almost no drift and very little wind.  A mere breeze.  With only wave action to contend with, the seas were manageable  They did lay down as the day wore on but from what reports I heard, the bite was in the morning, so I was glad John convinced me to get up at 4:30 and hit it. 

Saturday had a little more breeze and the promise of flatter seas, but not the case.  There were white caps on the horizon between the green and red cans, so we stayed just North of the green can in a rough a sea as we could safely manage, every once in a while retreating back to 35' waters when we got spooked by a breaking wave that would surprise us.  But by 11am, it was out to the North of the green can and a pinnacle that held enough action, albeit not as much as Friday's action, to land our limit of lings and blacks.  A slow troll back to launch gave John his 3rd and final Black for the day and we were done! 
Out on the water, we could hear all the reports on how the water was tossing folks about so we knew we made the right call to stay in closer than we did the day before. 

Along with the fishing, I want to say thank you to everyone that made me feel like I belonged.  For the first time, I went to Shuland.  Always walked by watching them having a great time and felt a little intimidated, I decided this time I'd check it out and drop off a little something for Dennis I had no use for; a bottle of Jack Daniel's White Rabbit I won at a previous Albion raffle.  I figured he'd know what to do with it. Ha!  No sooner had I walked within shouting distance than I was invited to grab a plate and dig in.  Oh MAN!  I have almost no idea what any of the stuff was, but it was off the charts gooooooood!  Thanks Shuland, for the hospitality.  I love the way you guys roll!

To Ken, AKA, traildad, so sorry you didn't make it.  When I heard you were calling it because of illness, I was really bummed.  It wasn't the same out there on the water without ya, but John and I could feel your good vibes coming our way. 

I just want to add; I met a whole lot of new friends and I'll forget your names by next year as well as all the old friends.  Thanks for coming up to say hi and introducing yourselves.  I enjoyed everyone's company tremendously. 

Eric, you are one class act. Thank you for all your hard work.  Recently my 85 year-old dad came to live with me.  He has Alzheimer's and it's been a labor of love to take care of him.  I didn't think I'd be able to make GS this year because I won't leave him with anyone who doesn't care for him like family.  At the last minute, my sister-in-law, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery, convinced me she could cover for me at my house and I could make it.  I didn't realize how much I needed the respite until I walked over to the Tides Inn and you came out with a BIG grin, greeted me and handed me my  t-shirt.  Most folks never know it's the little things like a simple recognition of another that can make their whole weekend, and that's what your hello did for me.  Cheers!

Got diverted from being able to melt into this couch...

Eric, you are one class act. Thank you for all your hard work.  Recently my 85 year-old dad came to live with me.  He has Alzheimer's and it's been a labor of love to take care of him.  I didn't think I'd be able to make GS this year because I won't leave him with anyone who doesn't care for him like family.  At the last minute, my sister-in-law, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery, convinced me she could cover for me at my house and I could make it.  I didn't realize how much I needed the respite until I walked over to the Tides Inn and you came out with a BIG grin, greeted me and handed me my  t-shirt.  Most folks never know it's the little things like a simple recognition of another that can make their whole weekend, and that's what your hello did for me.  Cheers!

Thank you, Jerry.  Brought a tear to my eye.  That's what GS is all about, buddy.  See you next year. 

Oh man what a blast thanks everyone for getting me there. Eric you are the man. I got my bag by the way lol. Special thanks to big Jim and Jason str8fishing for motivating and sponsoring me to go. I can't wait for the next event. I got sick tournament morning had to go back. Little to much booze at shuland night before but Sunday managed a healthy stringer of lings blacks and reds thanks to Wil, john, tyfish, Dylan,brooks, and Lauren, you're hospitality was amazing five star. Everyone at the cove was amazing. I loved every minute of it.


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NCKA,

Huge thanks.  Eric and Eric, Jacks Taco Shack, the folks at Shuland, anyone who donated, the sponsors and everyone that helped make this years event happen. 

To all my friends, old and new-I can't wait to see you all next year.  Oh yeah- and you all Rock!  The generosity of this group makes me proud to be a member.

Thanks,
Aaron

Thanks for the nice writeup, Jerry.
I had a great time visiting, fishing, and just enjoying the vibe.  This was my first time at the Tides Inn.  Eric, Verna, and the gang were welcoming and gracious and made us feel right at home among new acquaintances.
GS is such an amazing event, everyone is family.  Several times there were tears in my eyes as Eric expressed the love and community that is GS and NCKA during the pot luck.
In order to take in the experience more I chose not to carry my camera around but I did take a few pics while relaxing at the Tides.

Awesome, what a great event GS is!
Great photos everyone!

GS11 Reflections:

That is such great news to hear that Steph is on her way back to recovering and getting better. The NCKA community sent Steph a lot of good energy at the GS11. One of our NCKA Bruddahs took a video of GS11 crowd at the Potluck doing the wave and hooting it up for Steph on Saturday evening. What is your name and can you post the video? Mahalo!
Saturday one of the most brutal kayak fishing adventures that I've through. The huge swells coming in from the North were constant once we paddled out beyond the Cove. Fishing there for only the first time, I made a not wise decision to go father out, thinking that the swells would be less father out to sea. Wrong, I had my older brother out with me in the Oasis Tandem and the front Mirage Drive broke as we were heading out. When that happened, I should have turned around and headed back to the Cove. I felt that my chances were pretty good with the AMA outriggers mounted and thinking that somehow I was in the wrong area, as I was not seeing fish on my FF and not getting even a nibble, I kept paddling out.  The ocean conditions turned brutal in the later morning and by the time, I decided to head in, they were huge swells coming in from the North, one after another. As we were coming in the same direction as the waves, you could see how big the swells were when they passed through, it was scary!!!
With only one Mirage drive, I was doing all the paddling and when we landed, I could hardly stand up as my legs were cramping up and locking. As we were hauling the kayaks up the hill, my thighs totally locked up with cramps and I couldn’t stand up and nor push the big heavy kayak up the hill.

After taking a shower, I stopped by to talk to 2 NCKA Bruddahs who were camped out in the same row as us. I mentioned that I had broken a part of my Mirage Drive and Otobepelagic-Alan? told me to stop by later and he might be able to repair my drive. I tracked down Alan, later and he reached in a box and matched the broken mirage drive part and repaired it in minutes. I told Alan (Otobepelagic) that I wanted to make a donation, but he told me that he has been doing this at NCKA Tournaments because if you break a drive or need parts, you are not going to be able to get one out in the wilderness. He was going this out the goodness of his heart to help NCKA'ers. Mahalo Alan, you made my day!!! After that it was all up hill. Ran into the DR. Dr. Habanero, who was camped out almost directly across us and he gave me a grilled skewer that was delicious. Tasty and the right amount of heat. I told the Doctor that never meeting him before and I imagined him as a Latino guy who like hot sauce. Mahalo Doc, now I know where the Habanero comes from!!

Oh, Shout to Oyster Boy for taking orders and bringing all the Kumos and Pacifics. On our first night, Friday, we slurped down 3 dozen super delicious Humbolt Bay Kumos. Those were the tastiest Kumos I've ever eaten. Mahalo Oyster boy!!!

After grilling my lemon grass, ginger, kefir lime leaves, curry/turmeric chicken; we headed down to the potluck and I was just blown away off the bat, by all the great food and happy people!!!
Shout out to the NCKA Bruddah with the straw hat with the Jack Daniels hanging around your neck. What is your name? Anyway, he was going around with a tray of small shot glasses all night long. When I sat down for dinner, I talked with 2 NCKAer's from Ventura County who drove all the way up here to come to the GS11. I was amazed to learn how far some of our NCKA Bruddahs traveled to come to Eric's GS Tournaments!!
After Eric led us with the GS11 WAVE for Steph's recovery and healing, the energy at the pavilion was just amazing and rocking. Then I hear my fishing partner's name Lingading/Herb Ng's being called up as the raffle prize winner for the Wilderness Systems Radar kayak!!! At that point it was all unreal/surreal!!!Hey Herb, you owe me bigtime for a dinner at your favorite Chinese restaurant in south city for dragging your ass up to and for doing all the provisioning for food at our campsite!!! Mahalo to Eric/his entire family and the NCKA crew who helped to make the GS11 possible. I don't know all of you but Mahalo to Big Jim, RacinBob, Kayakjack and his Fish Taco stand, Gotaku Girl?, and many more I know who helped out!!
We were camped next to HighTide/Allan and his 2 fishing buddies (Fred and ?)from North Bay/Vallejo/Fairfield area. Hey Allan, thanks for the great stories about how you got your Toyota pickup and the AI trailer and for "talking story” with a complete fisherman. I couldn't believe it when you showed me your ice chest; abalone uni. crab, the biggest red tailed Perch that I had ever seen. I'm going up to Timber Cove with Allan and his gang, next time they head to Timber Cove and the Salmon run at HMB!!!Great to meet some new NCKA friends from the North Bay!!
I got to spend some time talking with Dry Bones (Steve Takagi)later Saturday night with the Shuland gang at the motel and he showed and shared with me his fishing tackle and the things he had fabricated on his PA. He showed me this homemade live well that I first thought he had bought and he told me how he made it, I was blown away. Arigato Steve for the great conversations and I really appreciated you sharing your kayak fishing knowledge with me.
Shout out to our NCKA Bruddahs who helped rescue fellow Bruddahs who flipped their kayaks on Saturday and especially to the tall Bruddah with the beard, who was part of helping Lingading after he flipped my REVO on a big swell. What is your name? Hey Herb, you went from hell to heaven in one day. Congats for being the Grand Prize winner. You owe me a great dinner at the restaurant that serves 3 Ways Ling Cod, for hauling your ass up to SC and provisioning for camping out at the GS11!!!!
Shout and thank you for the great memories at GS11!! I came for the fish, but in the end was hooked on the NCKA Community. Kindness, having fun, helping each other when in need, sharing, are is in short supply these days when our world and country is reeling and divided. Back in Oakland and reflecting on the weekend, I realize that I had been part of something special, I will carry this warm feeling for a long time, my body is still aching a little, but my heart is full!!

Mahalo nui loa,

Da Bruddah
Michael