Oregon Coast Derby-Epilogue

A wonderful weekend! Nice weather. Good fishing. And best of all, meeting new friends!

More to come, and photos too!

Dave

Glad you had a good time Dave. Can't wait to seee some pics and reports.

It was great meeting you Dave!  I wish I'd had more time to talk with everyone this weekend.  Seems there's never enough time when you're wrangling kids though.

Was that you I kept seeing with camera in hand?

Here's a pic to get the ball rolling:


-Mark-

I guess no lings were caught, or at least keeper lings? Nice pic, what depth did you catch that vermie at? out in the open like that or near rocks?

Brian picked up a nice ~26" keeper ling and fat ~10lb toad of a cabezon.  I picked up a couple of underlings.  I thought he might have me beat with the ling.

We were fishing a reef that varied between 50 and 100ft.  Big red was hanging along the wall of a trench where my ff showed a drop from 50' to 70'.  I thought I had a big ling on because of all the head shaking and line stripping. 

I managed to catch the longest fish, the only keeper ling, and a 24", 10 lb Cab that I had to release.  Then Spot shows up with a toad of a 7 1/4 lb vermilion that's a half pound bigger than my ling.  I didn't even think it was possible to catch a vermilion on the Oregon coast that big.  Oh well. Congratulations Mark, I hope you enjoy your new Ocean Kayak Trident 13. 

As for myself, I'm very excited to test out my new 2nd place prize paddle, an Adventure Technology Xception Fishstix.

http://www.atpaddle.com/Sporting/Sporting.html

It's got some crazy high tech features I don't fully understand because I've been using an $50 aluminum paddle for years now.  I'm expecting it actually paddle my kayak for me.

Anyway, it was great to meet everyone.  This will just get better and better every year and I can't wait until next year.

Brian

On a little aside note...

There was another derby on Saturday down in Santa Cruz that NCKA particpates in.  The winning fish there was a 24" lingcod.  Our derby did better!

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,14784.0/topicseen.html

Brian

Had a great time at the event but wish there was a couple more days meet and talk with everyone more.  Congrats on the win Spot, you definately deserved it with that beaty of a fish that you caught.

Scott

I totally agree.. great time was had by all.. Hats off to Polepole and others for their work making an event like this possible.  I too can't wait for next year... Conditions were great and the only thing I would wish for is more time to sit around and chew the fat about fishing and yaks. Heres to more events like this on the Oregon Coast!!  Sorry, no pics from me, was working to hard to catch fish to remember to take any

What a great place for a tournament! Well the fishing wasn't as hot as we'd have liked it but you couldn't complain about the location. Great campground close to the beach w/ a coffee shop next door, a market, and a restaurant all within walking distance. The weather was phenomenal and the surf was an easy launch.

Pole and I got there on Friday, threw camp together and got out on the water. The launch was a touch challenging but we got out there w/ less than a few cups of water inside the yak. Pumped it out, set the yaks up and set out to the grounds. We started off pretty slow and the first catch was Pole w/ a black. He said, "karma" and threw back his first catch. I followed with a black and thought, sure why not, and threw it back for karma as well... then we realized that at the time Pole didn't even have an AOTY rockfish and I've only got a tiny one... DOH!! There were plenty more to be had so no worries there. A bit later there was a fish messing with me. Got on, then off. On again, then off again. Pole looks at me and goes "what the hell?" She comes back one more time and I was going to make sure I'd hook it. I swing for the fences, not once, not two, but three times almost falling out of the yak in the process. She's on for a bit longer and then off..... WTF!!!??  Finally one more time and she's hooked. A really nice fight which I was sure was a ling but when it came to the surface turned out to be a ch-unky cabezon at 23". Since the season had shut for 'em back to the depths but not before Pole got a few glory photos. We got a few more blacks and called it a day. Pole ended with a 20"er and myself with a 19"er.

Tourney day turned out to have even better weather and the seas had even calmed down more. Absolutely perfect day for a tourney!!





Easy launch followed by whale sightings and some sea lions busting. Black rockfish boils on surface followed by large groups of jellyfish flowing by. Beauty of a day to say the least.



I started my day with a decent china followed by a decent black.





I finally got a ling to the yak only to have 'em be 1/2" short of legal.



Almost had an AOTY ling... Bagged a few more blacks and the fishing died off and called it a day. Weighed out my best black which came in at 3 3/4#'s which actually got me tied for third w/ pelagic paddler.

Congrats to Spot for pulling an incredible Verm from his you know where. Enjoy that shiny new yak. Bsteves for getting that nice 26" ling for second, and Plagic Paddler for getting my fish's twin out there.

As always, great to see all the regular faces and even better getting to see some new one's. Thanks to everyone for coming out. Looking forward to next year's event!!

Z

First off, I would like to thank everyone involved in the planning, preparing, and execution of this great event. I have had many memorable fishing experiences over the 52 years I have been catching fish, but Saturday in Pacific City is at the top of the list. Catching my first rockfish from the kayak, the beautiful ocean, having a whale breach just off of the stern, and then again just off the bow, and the constant stream of graceful jelly fish just feet below me, are just a few of the memories that made this day special.

It was so nice meeting everyone, and finally being able to put faces to the names. I would personally like to offer special thanks to PolePole, for without his forethought and organizational skills, this event wouldn't have happened. Neither would the tasty fried fish that was served at the pot luck. Thanks also go to Brian for the savory ribs. My wife, Kim, also had a wonderful time meeting everyone, and Annie also loved all the attention.

I sincerely hope the Oregon Kayak Classic will be an ongoing event, and will someday become one of the most prestigious fishing tournaments on the west coast. It was an honor being able to participate in the first one, and also an honor to be able to share the experience with so many nice people.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, most of which were taken by Kim!

Goldendog Dave

great meeting ya'll this weekend! I should have pictures up this evening.


Brian

Neat pix, ocean looks glassy-smooth!  And seeing a whale is really the frosting on the cake...

Nice pics Dave!  I think you have a new avatar.   

Let me know how those Chinas eat.  I haven't gotten any of those before.

Personally, I think chinas eat quite nicely.  They're more of a bottom fish then say a black and consequently are full of crabs and other bottom dwellers and I think that changes the flavor a bit.  However, they're not as easy to clean as a black, generally a bit smaller (although Dave's were nice) and with their larger head you generally don't get quite as big of fillets off of them.