First time fishing this tourney.... and it was a blast!!
Short version....
We fished the tourney, we tied and we had a great time....!!
Slightly longer version.
The fishing was tough. Four Carp C&R, one Swordie baited, a number of Mako's and lot's of Alien fins with funny tubular bodies. No... this wasn't our count... it was the count for the entire tourney and quite a bit different than some of the outstanding results in some of the other tourneys, including just one week prior. We tied all right... we tied with the majority of the fleet who didn't hook a single Marlin. We got ripped a few times all right and we caught a few Mako's, but no cigar.
The long version.
I've always wanted to fish the Pesky, so this year the plan was to bring together a top-notch crew with top gear and fish S. California's top Marlin tourney.
Having fished the week before on the Pescaholic in the BAC Masters Tourney and looking at the hook-up ratio, we were pretty excited about our chances. The crew consisted of Bill (Wideopen), Rob (Aloharob), Yutaka (Yutaka) and Christy (Fishchk). Bill and Rob headed to the island on the Magellen earlier on Thursday and made 50 killer pieces of perfect Macks.
We set out later that evening and meet up with the Magellan @ 10pm that night in Avalon, transferred the bait and headed to the mooring to make our plans for the following morning.
If you haven't fished the Pesky before, you're in for either a surprise.... or a treat as there are quite a few rules that need close attention or you'll loose out on maximizing the points for your final standing. Unfortunately... for those who don't pay attention or simply miss the captains meeting.... the rules can change and change often for some of the crew. One way to earn lots of bonus points is buying the optional, infamous 'bucket of crap' that seems to have more uses you can shake a stick at.
No you really don't have to wear all that crap from the bucket to bed.... but Rob did earn bonus points from the crew for trying.....
We made plans to head down the ridge early in the morning and fish the 277, down to the 209. It seems the rest of the boats followed pretty much the same game plan.
The conditions as we worked down the ridge looked great once we got past the 277. The seas were calm, water started warming up to a nice purple and bait was seen everywhere.
The morning started out great.... we were treated to a few knockdowns, the crew was right on top of things with bait in the water before the macs knew what stuck them,
Yutaka was at the helm, Christy disappeared and surprised us with a full-fledged breakfast.
And then Christy stepped out to wind in the first strike of the day....
It's a good thing those E.A.L.s are cheap.... as those toothy things seemed to really like those lures.... :-)
We covered a lot of ground that first day, but aside from Mako's and spotting those funny Alien PVC fins and a few mystery knockdowns... it was pretty tough fishing... Lot's of bait, the water conditions were good, but I guess the back to back tourney's over the last four weeks combined with the Thunderstorm earlier in the week..., the fish either had sore jaws or were simply sulking a bit deeper.
That evening we headed back to Avalon to go over the game plan for the next morning and get a few tips from the regulars. We did learn one tip from one of the winners of last years tourney... Rob E. and it's a sneaky one....
He wasn't too talkative about it, but from what I can see for the days where the fishing gets tough and Mohammed won't come to the mountain....., you bring the mountain to Mohammed...., now I haven't seen this camo gear at Anglers center before, so maybe he's buying it on-line, but it's a novel idea.... stealth fishing. Hmmm, I bet he has squid and sardine stickers on the bottom of the hull as well.... :-)
In the meantime, Yutaka kept busy and before we knew it he had barbequed a great Tri-tip and chicken dinner, with a side of Lasagna thrown in....
We went into Avalon that night (courtesy of Rob's Shore Boat Excursions) and checked out the local nightlife. Curfew had everyone back on board early and after a short movie, we were hitting the sack in order to do the drill all over again the following morning.
Morning came early and once again, the drill was to run down the ridge. However, this morning it was decidedly cooler all the way down and the 277 looked pretty ugly. Looking green, so it was down to the 209. Yesterday was pretty tough on the crew, so we were really amped up to get a fish today, but things were looking tough. We deployed the spotters and soon we came across another one of those Alien PVC fins... figuring it was time to put that bucket of crap to good use.... we quickly bagled the critter and then released her unharmed.
This critter turned out to be a little tougher to bagle than first thought. She ran through our spread several times and tangled the lines into pretty nice mess. I'm not exactly sure what happened there.... but that little bugger was fast... and slippery too... :-)
Soon, it we were back in the saddle again with spotters in place and anticipation high. However, it just wasn't to be.... Lot's of bait, the ocean remained calm, we spotted nothing from the bridge and calling down to the pit spotter and the spotter on the bow, they said it was the same as the morning..... they saw nothing... :-)
Nothing in the stern....
Nothing on the bow....
But, things change quickly on the water and Yutaka signals he spots one...
At least that's what I thought he was signaling..... I couldn't exactly figure out where he was pointing... a flying fish perhaps??? Disgusted I missed the signal, he was soon back in the gyros and back on the stick.
Soon it was another knock down and baits were in the water faster than you could blink.
But alas, just more Mako's and the water conditions started cooling as we headed up the ridge to close up the tourney.
While conditions looked good, it was tough on the water for just about everyone. Unfortunately for us, the tourney has a time limit and a requirement that lines are out in time for the awards dinner. Too bad too as we spotted a sleeper in the harbor and before you knew it.... the bucket of crap got a full workout... :-)
The awards dinner was a blast.... Lot's of good friends, good food and more prizes than you could shake a stick at.
Beautiful women were plentiful.... (just gotta watch out for their bodyguards) :-)
And the Swordfish was to die for....
So, the long version of the tourney.... Well, it was my first Pesky's... but it sure won't be the last..... This tourney was a blast. Tourney style fishing without the stress. Lot's of fun, laughter and good humor all the way though. My thanks to those that went through the effort to pull it together. My crew and I had a blast and we'll be there next year with bells on... or is that hats.... :-)
Cheers, Bill
P.S. Maybe the hat award should go to Steve Bledsoe.....
1..2...pick me up Mick???
P.S.S. Ride of the tourney goes to Afishinando.... Man, that's a cool little truck... :-)
“If your not part of the solution... you're part of the problem"
... I'm not sure either team knows what their in for, but it would be a riot!! 
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