Elk - August 4, 2007

pic1.... veiw from the top lookin down to the destination.

pics 2,3 and 4...on friday, Paul (WON) got a LINGY on the his NEW THINGY! the TRIDENT!
 

Lilly Pennington, the NCKA Princess was checking out the new OK Trident....she really liked the sonar shield....or rather the Porto Potty for kids 

Not much to add, other than another huge round of thanks for the White family for putting on a fantastic tourny. Maggie, James and I had a rough start on getting to Elk due to logistical problems, but by the time we left on Sunday she was already looking forward to next year. 


Yet another reason to wear river boots




I think it liked the low freeboard of the Scupper Classic. It was all over my boat, even snagging my gaff by the tennis ball at one time. I hooked a small blue on a grub, the otter grabbed it, and that was the last I saw of it, after being pestered on and off for about an hour. I'm glad I stuck in the otter zone though, as that is where I landed my 5.5 lb Black, and my 9 lb Ling.






Launching at the north end of the cove. That's cpyak's good side, and I believe PAL's Trident.





Regards,
Scott

Alex / Aliens and Doug / Marmite pimp'n their cooler.....rolleez style  ....that's just how they roll  

Chris /cpyak makes sure Sean / Scwafish is doing a great job on the shower installation 

 * Sean, thanks again for making sure we all got a hot bath You rock 

What a great time! The company was awesome, the food was awesome and the entertainment was as good as it gets.

Guitarzan and Danglin rocked the house!  I'll post pics later.

Congrats to all of the winners and participants.  A great big GRACIAS!!! to all of the people who helped put on such a great event and also to all of the sponsors who donated such a great list of raffle prizes that helped to raise quite a bit of money for a worthy cause.

Can't wait till next year.

A huge THANK YOU to Great White Kayak Company and NCKA for making this event happen, and to the town of Elk for putting up with 63 kayak anglers in their backyard. Hey, and I can't forget RockHopper, who gave up a coveted spot and making my attendance to this known event possible, and Pacifico, who hooked me up with his extra rolleez sand cart. Thanks guys!
I kept a scorecard on deck and recorded 20 fish boated, including 9 short lings, a personal record for dink lings. I got into a hot bite on nice black rockfish, and kept 5 healthy specimens for the cooler. Probably would have had more if I'd had more swimbait bodies, but being from SC I rarely have to deal with catching more than one fish a day so I wasn't used to it.
Water conditions and coastal scenery were awesome, especially the alpenglow effect of the early morning fog & sunrise. Simply amazing stuff. Sadly I forgot my camera, so no pics from me.
Ok, everyone now knows the food was incredible but a lot of us were surprised to hear "dinner is served" after stuffing ourselves with lumpia and fried fish, etc Saturday afternoon. Oh well, I still managed to sample some of the tasties inside. I broke even in the raffle with an NCKA shirt "and a sabiki", both of which were on my wish list of stuff to get "someday".
I had an interesting time hanging with the owner of Force 10, home of "storm sea skiing". I was stoked to see maps with hand written details by Steve Sinclair, a pioneer of the whole west coast surf ski scene, still up on the wall after all these years. Here's a little link to a story on Sinclair and his take on paddling open coast swells, with a dramatic flourish http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0798/todhunter/essay1.html
Hopefully Jason can carry the torch for the place.
Sunday I stopped off at Pepperwood Pottery in Anderson Valley, and had a nice talk with Doug the owner. He has some gorgeous handmade ceramics and his own gallery on a beautiful 8 acres where he's been living for 30 years. If I hadn't had a 4 1/2 hour drive ahead I could  have chatted with him all afternoon.
Thanks to Mooch for providing seemingly endless info on the new Trident, as well as lending his unique charm to the whole event, and to Bill who brought us all together in the first place. There a bunch of other folks out there that combined their efforts to make it a "best ever", kudos to all of you.
Hope to do it all again in '08, and next year I'm bringing a bunch of extra lures!

....Oh, the weather was PERFECT!  if you wanted to be in the FOG? you just walked across the street to the beachside...if you wanted SUN? you kicked it at camp!...shorts all day, sweaters in the eve.

pic1 ~ south-wing Tentsters   Kayote(Ed) , 1crzyind , GTO19 and Alan.

pic2 ~ the foggy side(look closely at all the TINY yaks)

pic3~  lookin towards the cliffs and sun (and da'Mooch)

One of the best parts of the trip was Mooch paying one of the Force 10 girls $20 to haul his kayak up the hill! 

Mooch!...she's doing it without shoes on even?! ....now that's a WOMAN!!  did you lead her up the hill like a fool? or follow cuz you were VERY tierd?   your $20 bucks went to a VERY GOOD cause.  did you ask what she would be doing in about a year from now and if you two could HOOK UP again?  cuz you shoulda

 pics 1&2 ~ launchin on Saturday morn.

 pic 3~ Tien/Tim or Tin (he goes by all three) watchin the BOILERS as he starts his HUNT.

.......the moutain like rocks that emerge from the ocean

pic1 ~ cpkayak doing his thing

pic 2 ~  one of the many rockies I got and later tried to avoid

pic 3 ~ sea creatures of the kelp

Thanks for all of the thanks...GREAT pics Adam!

pic 1 ~ the coastal cliffs in all their glory

pic 2 ~ ohhh that's SCARY

pic 3 ~ the nostrils of the beastly rock

Thanks everyone for another great event at Elk.  The Food was off the hook once again, Brain G's Peach cobbler was incredible, (recipe?) MickFishes Steak da bomb and Leah's Curry Chicken awesome.  I figure it was a 30 course meal but once a year, why not.  Fishing was slow for me, but meeting all the new members and hangin with my bud's is why I always come to these events.

Priceless moments for me --  Listening to Ben and Don jam on the accoustics,  seeing Joel's future wife pull his kayak up the hill ,  watching cpkayak at work tending his tequilla bar,  watching ChuckE prepare his fish fry,  hearing Joel and Andy with their Turkey calls (I think that's what it was?)  and mainly talking with everyone, the vibe is way cool.



See ya all soon

John