Kayak Fishing Classic I Report

The day started off perfectly - no one forgot anything, only one guy locked his keys in his car and the beer was on ice before 7am. Weather called for low clouds and fog in the AM clearing in the afternoon and that's exactly what happened. The incoming tide was absolutely ripping and fishing was hot from the launch until around 11am. Not surprisingly that's when the tide had stopped and we were in the slack period. We weighed a lot of fish up until then and everyone got a chance to breathe a bit.

Overcast skies dominated until about 12:30 and then the sun broke through and put some life in the water. As soon as the sun hit and the outgoing tide started up the fishing picked up again and more large fish were coming in. Arvin Reyes and Pete Weintraub were playing leepfrog on the score sheets the whole day and it came down to the very last fish they caught.

Arvin turned in a fantastic performance with over 19 lbs (13 fish) weighed in his 6 hours of targeting the bass of Mission Bay. His heaviest five fish limit went 8.82 lbs with his single largest fish making up 1.92 lbs of the total.

Hot on his heels was Pete Weintraub who finished just half a pound behind Arvin with 8.38 lbs. with a beefy 1.94 spottie leading his bag. Pete took home a rod and reel combo consisting of a new Avet SX 5.1 lever drag reel and a Shimano Saragaso rod. Fasha Goss weighed the most fish today, 14 total legals, and found himself in 3rd place. Greg Knab of Big Waters Edge fame landed 4th and Rich Debevec was only .16 lbs. behind him with 5th.

Ed Whited (surprise!) showed up with the biggest fish - an even 2.0# that garnered him a $290 jackpot. Not a bad afternoon's work.

Congratulations to all of our winners and everyone who participated. The raffle was a great success including our grand prize winner, Chris Baugh, who took home a brand new Ocean Kayak Drifter after having borrowed a boat (the Fishing Caper!) to fish this event.

There are pictures of the day in our Photos section.

This day could not have happened without the support of many people. Paul and Drew would like to thank their wives, first and foremost, who supported them through the entire planning of this event (4 months!) and provided the fantastic food for all of the anglers. Ocean Kayak and Allen's Kayaks really went to bat for the kayak angler this year and donated both of the boats that we gave away today. Cannon provided paddles and Surf to Summit had a brand new seat for each boat. SR Plastics was with us from the beginning and made great contributions to the day. Maxima Fishing Line, Bill Schaefer and his guide services, Rhynobar, Buck Knives, Boss Bait and Tackle, Lakeside Tackle, Angler's Arsenal, Angler's Edge, SQC Corp, Dana Landing, West Marine and many, many more. Paul Sharman deserves special recognition for his fine contribution of a framed Gyotaku spotted bay bass print - it was magnificent.

The food was great, the company was outstanding and fishing wasn't too bad. We weighed over 160 fish that totaled 210#!

Thanks again to my partner in crime, Paul "Bassact" Weintraub and his better half Janette. Mark Olsen from Ocean Kayak and of course Allen who was busy selling boats and missed most of the fun!

Full stats linked below

Full score sheet for the day (all fish, all anglers) click here...