Well the weather looked like it was going to hold up for us, but a strong nw wind was forcast for the afternoon.

Getting to the beach at 5:32 am, I was greeted by the stiff flags blowing from the SE. : ( It looked pretty bumpy and chilly, but I was hoping that it was just a morning pre-dawn blow.

We had a great turnout. 17 anglers fish out of float tubes, pontoon floats and single and double kayaks.

The wind never let up, and the water was a cloudy green, just about the right color, but a few degrees too cold.

I fished Plastics and Crankbaits from Goleta Beach all the way into IV, in tight for halibut all the way out to 30+ feet in the kelp. I then paddled back to campus point (upwind) and then bounce-balled all the way to the pipeline off the pier. I then trolled a rapala back to campus point, and fished the high tide in tight for halibut, then bounced balled back to the pipeline and fished plastics for bass. I also drifted dead chovies here and there. I finally bounced balled back to the launch and came in with a flapping stringer, flaping in the wind that is. : )

It was tough fishing for everyone, a total of 3 fish were weighed in. This was a little early to run a tourney, but I think everyone had fun and hope to see them all again at the next one.

Winners:

1 place and Big fish Mark Swinehart 2.5 lb calico $102
2nd place JD 1 lb calico $34
3rd place Jeff Bartholomew 14 oz calico $17

Everyone had a good time, a few people went for a premature swim, but losses were minimal. All par for the course.

I want to thank Paddle Sports in Santa Barbara for their help with cheap rentals for some of the fishermen.

I am going to watch the counts and how I do before putting together the next event. I think that it will be at Haskells beach, the new resort, Bacara, has put in a road right to the beach, so launching is a breeze. The area has lots of area for both bass and halibut as well as some WSB.

I will be putting on a BIG tourney in July, right around the fourth, so get ready guys, this one will be good!!!

I will post the pictures of the winners as soon as they retun from the shop.

Thanks guys!

Marco Farrell
Santa Barbara, CA

What do you mean by premature swim?

Upside down kayaks...
-Brian

Hey Brian--sorry I flaked on you... I got the mail shortly after I spoke with you and found an acceptance letter from UCSB. I partied pretty hard Saturday night and fell asleep on my friends couch. Sorry Bro. Also, I cant find your # now, I think it got thrown away by someone cleaning up, give me a call, I'm going to LA Bay on Thursday...
Sorry Again,
Brandon

Congrats on UCSB bro. I figured you got hammered and didn't feel like getting up at 4am... I'll call you sometime tonight.
-Brian

Thanks Brain,I had an upside down floattube yesterday and it sucked!My first time upside down(I know what your saying ROOKIE!) I guess I'll learn from my mistakes.

It's a little tough to come to any conclusions with so few fish caught but I was just curious. Were the winning fish caught from kayaks or float tubes and were they caught on artificials or bait?

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You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.

Plastic from kayaks in the kelp by the slough. I tried fishing that area, but the swell/wind was just too much. I was kicking more than I was fishing.
-Brian

The winning fish, or actually, the fish! came from 2 kayaks and one pontoon boat. The fish were caught on plastics.

The swell came up something nice on sunday night. I wonder how much this had to do with the lack of catch. I know that with the number of fishermen, the talent that was there, that it was an off day. 17 guys, some fishing 2 rods, that is a lot of territory. I was thinking that the upcoming swell would make things move, and bite, but, alas, I was wrong...... : )

Props go to Luciana, who paddled out there on a tandem with her boyfriend, Dusty. Rumour has it that she was a little green around the gills, but stuck it out regardless. I am bummed that I didn' get a picture of them on the water.

Good to be back on the water none the less.

I will let you guys know when we do our next one.

Marco

Glad to see the fish came on artificials.

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You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.