Re: Oceanside Results
This is going to be a LONG post folks.
First of all I want to thank the organizers and the weigh boat captains and crew for a FANTASTIC tournament. I sincerely want to thank you all for your efforts as I believe many times this is all taken for granted; in short, I heart felt THANKS.
Congratulations to the top finishers and especially those that went a LONG ways to catch their limits: AWESOME.
Al and I worked a series of rock piles that were about 100 yards off the marked reefs. The bite was wide open for the first hour in the morning and I caught my limit in twenty minutes; problem was these fish were defective....tail too close to their head. Throughout the day we would work and area and then let it rest. Rarely were Al and I on the same spot at the same time. At the very end of the tournament Al found another separate rock pile that gave him his last 2.something lb. fish. It was HARD WORK as we had to go through many small fish to find a good one.
We used Berkley Gulp shads on 2 oz. lead heads and Al's trick hair jig combo that actually produced his biggest fish. Our Dobyns 736C and 735C rods were simply the best rods I've ever used and I've fished with Powell in fresh water; they are EXTREMELY sensitive and light. Later in the day the bite was an imperceptible "tic" in 80 ft of water. Without these rods I doubt we would have caught some of the fish we caught.
We wish to thank Southwind Kayak for their sponsorship and confidence in our abilities. They have been instrumental in getting us pieces of equipment we used in this tournament.
A short note on kayaks. Al and I compared the relative speed of his Outback with my Revolution. In the morning "sprint" to our first rock pile, my Revo outdistanced him by 20 minutes. That's 20 minutes in approximately 3.2 miles as the crow flies. Same cadence on the pedalling and the Revo gradually pulled away from the Outback. He was also much more tired. Conclusion for the kayak angler: if you are headed into competitive angling out on the ocean, get a Hobie Revolution.
Sorry for the long-winded post but I'm still pumped from yesterday. These tournaments are just fantastic and the people involved could not be nicer.
Take care all,
Angel Figueras
PS: I took a bunch of images. As soon as I get them reduced in size I'll post them.
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