We all pretty much knew it was going to be a tough game. Yellows seemed to have abandoned their LJ home, at least for right now. The chances of finding one during the tourney were slim to none.
Big halibut looked like the ticket. But you know how it works with dang halibut – you can never count on it.
Attempt to make live squid was unsuccessful, so were my efforts to stock up my bait tank with greenies. It was slim pickings for all of us around the Pier. I managed 2 pieces before Dan unselfishly shared lil’ piece of squid to tip my sabiki. That helped for 3 more, than ventured out deeper in front of the pier to look for the beaver. Dan and I have this special bond – we caught our first yellers from kayak on the same day. It almost happened with WSB too… if damn keys didn’t get locked out inside of his car… It happened within a couple of days though. Thanks Dan!!! BTW - that squid was definitely loaded with some karma. I gave a little piece I had left to Sterling; I saw later he later won a kayak in a raffle! 8)
I started fishing figuring I was going to go back to the pier to load some more bait when the crowds thin out… I never did. Those 5 pieces were all it took. 2 of them were brought back alive in my bait tank. I handed them off to the guy who was launching for the PM shift. I wonder how he did…
I combed the sand in front of the Pier trying to decide whether to fish North or South. It was a tough call. Roughly about once an hour, I
was getting bit by the right kind. They just left their toothmarks an inch or two above the tail of my 10” greenie, waaaay below the treble hook I rigged up. That is what kept me in the area.
I mostly worked the drop off + making rounds in shallower water, 30’-50’ depth. I managed 1 right kind of a wrong size (short halibut), and 1 wrong kind of the right size - something heavy picked up my bait around 8:30 AM. It fought weird; it took off from the bottom as I hooked it and almost surfaced about 50 feet away from the kayak. I did have that happen with halibut (caught in real shallow water though), so despite it didn’t fell like what I was looking for, my heart raced when I caught a glimpse of a lot of brown under my kayak. That quickly vanished as I saw the wings and the tail. When I brought it to surface, I realized I lost my pliers – must have fallen out of my pocket. :roll: Ken came to rescue letting me borrow his, and I was able to take the hook out of his mouth. Big ray swam away unharmed. Thanks Ken!!!
It was 11:40 AM when I checked the time on my GPS. I figured it’s a 20 minutes paddle back to the launch…So I thought that was it as far as the tourney. I decided to stay and fish maybe an hour more. Since I’ve put so much time and effort into it, it just felt like it ought to pay back.
Finally, the tip of my rod bounced twice… I grabbed it and pulled – nothing. I let some more line out and waited 2-3 secs, and got picked up again. Another swing - I was on.
I felt lots of weight and unmistakable headshakes. I knew it was halibut. I knew it was sizeble. I knew for a tiny chance of making it back to weigh-in station by the cut off time (noon), I had to make a quick work out of that fish. I tightened up my drag, the opposite what I always do when suspecting I may be pulling up a flat kind… As soon as it surfaced by my kayak, in one swift motion I ran a gaff through it’s stomach; pulled her on board and ran my game clip through her gills. I made that final “game over” snap on my clip (on a rope already tied to my yak) as she started violently thrashing on the side of my kayak. The hook came out of her mouth. I grabbed the knife with my right hand but then instinctively pulled out his gills with the bare left hand fingers. Todd and Randy took a quick picture; I put the fish between my legs and started paddling like a mofo. I heard them yelling behind me – go, go, paddle…
I think that was the fastest paddle in kayak history. People that watched it from the beach must have though I was being chased by GW or something. I made it maybe 70-80 yards North from where we usually land when I checked the time – 11:58AM. Still not comfortable with my landing in the surf skills, I always stash my rods inside of my eX. There was no time for that. The matter of fact, I didn’t even snap the leashes on my rods… I saw Brad running towards me and started making left turn for landing… I lost all the speed and momentum doing that turn, bad news…
I managed to stay afloat on the 1st small breaker, then jumped out in waist deep water before 2nd way caught up to me… I heard the “One more minute…” announcement as I struggled to unclip the fish. Brad grabbed my kayak and I started running towards the scale with 26 pounds of halilamb on my back…
I felt like competing in those first Olympics in ancient Greece. As I put that halibut on the scale, I realized how much I really put myself in overdrive… I immediately felt sick, all dizzy, and almost threw up… It was just too much…
I was late at the ceremony as it took me a while to put myself together. I guess all that insane paddling was well worth it.
I would like to thank WCW & OEX for putting together a great tourney. Brent, his family and the rest of the crew did a hell (not a hack, finally got that
) of a job. Not having to stand in line at the launch, having hot coffee, having Brent walking around offering help and keeping everyone informed was awesome.
I would like to thank everyone who was there to support the event. Kayakers are just great group of people. It was great to meet all the new folks – I wish I had a chance to meet every single one of you in person.
I’d like to thank Brad for spreading his insane fishing drive as well as helping me out on the beach. Those may have been precious seconds that could have worked me out of the money. Though sometimes too much of a smart ass, so intelligent that he has the ability to argue pretty much anything on any base, Brad has a big heart and is hell (not hack
) of a guy and fisherman.
What a drama...
I never won a fishing tournament before. As I’m on my mission to let the whole world know, what better way then to post it on BD?!?
Good fishing to all
LJ 10/07/06 AMs - BWE / WCW / OEX Kayak Fishing Tournament 
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