13th Annual Mud Marlin Derby — 2014

The 13th Annual Mud Marlin Derby was held at the Berkeley Pier on May 17, 2014 from 6PM until midnight.

Berkeley Pier

The mission was to (1)  catch and release some cute little (or huge monster) mud marlin, aka bat rays; (2)  meet up with some fellow “pier rats” from the “Pier Rat Nation”;  (3) for some – to win the derby and/or raffle prizes. Mission #1 was only accomplished by four people; Mission #2 was largely accomplished, and, as expected, Mission #3 was limited to a several people.

Some halibut had been caught earlier

The official list showed 72 people signed in although we think the actual total was slightly higher since some people did not sign in. Those who signed in (and apologies since some signatures were hard to decipher)—Matthew, Richard Samms, Wa Moua, Nai Moua, Choua Thao. Twan Sysengchanh, Steven Kha, Logan Freda, Dylan Zimmerman (?), Damon Knudson, Orlan Gumban, Christopher Fajardo, Michael Karam, Sargon Tomy, Albert Karam, Chris Karam, Dave Clingman, Bob Griffin, Adam Vanul, Robert Gardner, Cory Ferry, Michael Shephard, Matt Galvin, April Galvin, Richard Vang, Cher Xiong, Abduhl ?, Danity Donohm, Shea Donohm, Justin Looking, Josephine Mayorga, Nick Messer, Ezequiel (Zeg) Fajardo Igor K, Wesley Harris, Juan Duran, Manuel Chavez, Nicolas Chavarria, George Vue, Mason Vue, Xing Vue Mova, Serg Vang, Devonte Fortson, Thomas Graytan, Abe ?, Brian ?, Hans Jones, Hans Jones Jr., Reubin Aguilar, Ashley Mercure, Cole Dunlap, Steve Timbroar, Robert Oakes, Robert Munoz, Anthony Gaspar, Julio Marciel, Richard Velarde, Jonathan Steele, Frank Rasheed, Andy Szostek, Richard McIntosh, Ken Jones, Ignacio Carbajac, Ken Murakami, Alan Kurosawa, Robert Zasta, Daniel Pedrelra, Mark Ervin, Johnny Guinowes, Andrew Lozoya, Leslie Townsend, and Ana Townsend.

Anglers getting ready for the derby

Rods

Some notes: I arrived at the pier about 3:45 and decided to fish for a few minutes by the inshore rocks. Unfortunately the waves were slapping the rocks, conditions just weren’t right for perch, and although I tried under and around the restrooms I failed to get a single bite. However, imagine my surprise when I heard a girl screaming “Oh my God, there’s a stingray in the toilet” as she rushed out of the restroom. Perplexed, I went into the room and sure enough there was a fish, a thornback ray, lodged in the toilet looking up. I took my pliers, removed the fish, and assured the girl she could now safely use the toilet. But really… a fish in the toilet?

Thornback (Toilet) Ray

 Eventually I decided to head out to the derby area. Along the way I was checking for fish and one angler, Marcus (?), had two nice-sized halibut that he had taken earlier. Snapped a picture of the fish and moved on. Out by the third sink area I ran into Matt and Josh and that’s where I decided to set up shop. Relived some old times with Matt including his first fish reports to me back in 1998 and our meeting up at the Pacific Pier that same year (where he had caught a nice striped bass). Met Josh and saw pictures of the two halibut he had caught earlier in the morning. Matt had journeyed down from Reno, Josh from Sacramento, and unfortunately they had only experienced two bites, and had gotten two fish, during the entire time at the pier. Things were slow and when combined with a bone-chilling wind it looked like it might be a long night.

Josh and Matt

 The evening would indeed turn out to be windy and cold and the fish were few. However, the company was good and the time passed quickly. (And, the wind even died down around 10pm.)

• I had a nice chat with Dave Klingman (West Coast Dave) who had brought several people with him from Sacramento. Dave showed me the pictures of (many) pink salmon that he caught at the Dash Point Fishing Pier in Washington last year and expressed sorrow that he had not had a chance to visit GDude in Vancouver during his trip. (And I too missed making the trip north last summer, GDude’s last.) I didn’t realize it until our talk but he and GDude had been the only two people to make it to every Mud Marlin Derby and now, with GDude’s passing, Dave has the lone distinction of being at every MMD

.• One of the pleasures was spending some time with Leslie and Ana Townsend. Ana had never been fishing and her mom had brought her out to the pier expecting a short visit. However, Ana was really interested in fishing so she was set up with a rod and reel (by Matt and Josh) and tried to catch a fish. Unfortunately she did not catch a fish but at least she got to hold up the bat ray that Big Rich caught and hopefully will return for the kid’s fishing derby in June.

Ana and Leslie Townsend

 • Biggest and fanciest carts – I think this honor went to Bob Griffin who’s been making it out to the piers for years. His cart seems to hold everything needed and it even has two rod holders attached to the top. Yes, a true pier rat.

Bob Griffin and his pier cart

• Met a good group of guys that fish the Martinez Pier on a regular basis and heard a little about the sturgeon fishing at the pier. I need to make a trip over there to fish with them and get some tips.

• Food — As always, the food was excellent. Brian did most of the cooking along with a little help from Big Rich, Hans and Matt. Brian was cooking the chili, hot dogs, bratwurst, and hot links, while Hans cooked up some excellent “dog bites” in a BBQ sauce. Finishing up the food was some fresh halibut fillets donated by Matt and Josh. Robert donated water.

Brian Linebarger and Hans Jones cooking

 • The Derby Winners were: 1st—Richard Velarde with a 37-pound (47-inch wingspan) bat ray;

Richard Velarde —1st Place Winner

2nd—Igor Klyashchitsky with a 33-pound (43-inch wingspan) bat ray;

Igor K — 2nd Place Winner

3rd—Richard Vang with a 13-pound (27-inch wingspan) bat ray. Being edged out by Igor’s fish at nearly midnight was Big Rich who had caught the first bat ray of the night, a 4-pound (12-inch wingspan) bat ray.

 

Richard Vang — 3rd Place Winner

• Special thanks to: (1) Brian Linebarger for setting up and hosting the event for the seventh year in a row (as well as the cooking). Brian has now moved north which will limit his time at these events and Hans Jones is scheduled to be next year’s host. (2) Richard McIntosh (Big Rich) for his help in many ways including picking Brian up at the airport, helping Brian get the various supplies, and providing some muscle power to get everything out onto the pier. (3) Hans Jones for rounding up some nice raffle prizes as well as helping with the cooking.

“Big Rich” McIntosh and Ken Jones

Hans Jones and the owner of the Castro Valley Sportsman’s Center

that donated raffle prizes

Thanks also goes to both the Castro Valley Sportsman’s Center and the Berkeley Marina Pro Shop. Included in their donations were an American series Seeker rod, a Daiwa Regal 3500 reel, a Penn Fierce reel, and an Okuma V system reel. In addition there were many smaller prizes. Hans Jones donated three crab snares that he made. The Berkeley shop also had a raffle for people who had purchased bait for the derby through the shop and awarded an Ugly Stik as a prize at the derby.

Raffle Prize Winners

Big Rich and a baby mud marlin (bat ray)

Weighing the bat ray

Ana and Leslie Townsend


 

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One Response to 13th Annual Mud Marlin Derby — 2014

  1. SanClementeEric says:

    Looks like a lot of fun! Can’t wait to participate this year!

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