Slightly overcast weather and hungry fish greeted the 75 entrants and a crowd of approximately 200 people at the Ninth Annual Young Anglers Tournament held July 6, 2013 at Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara. The tournament, started and hosted by John Henigin and his Fish Talk Radio, and joined this year by co-sponsors IGFA (International Game Fish Association) and UPSAC (United Pier and Shore Anglers of California), produced happy faces and an introduction to fishing for a group of young anglers whose homes ranged from San Francisco to Los Angeles (and even Florida).
It’s all about the kids having a good time
Of course once the kids started to catch fish, it was even more fun. Luckily most of the kids did catch fish, even if the majority of the fish were small. Most of the fish that were caught were California lizardfish but a variety of fish were caught including perch, white croaker, cabezon, an unusual onespot fringehead, a spider crab, and several octopus.
The judges were ready to measure the fish
Amanda Liu and a small bocaccio rockfish
Elaine Liu with a small rockfish
She’s got a second fish and this time it’s a rockfish
That’s a little one, a baby sculpin (scorpionfish) but be careful because they can still give you a nasty sting.
Sometimes a little help is needed. UPSAC’s Santa (Mike Spence) helping out a mother
Two is sometimes better than one
A gnarly-looking masking (spider) crab
Following the fishing, “Goody Bags” were handed out, there was a raffle, and age-group winners were announced. “Goody Bags” were donated by West Marine, bait was provided by Stearns Wharf Bait and Tackle, and raffle prizes were donated by a variety of sources including West Marine, Cisco’s Sport Fishing, Stardust, Condor Express, KTMS AM 990 and McConnell’s Ice Cream.
All the kids were ready for the raffle
Last but not least was the announcement of the age-group winners. The winners were provided certificates from the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), trophies were donated by United Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC), and signed copies of Pier Fishing in California were provided by Ken Jones (pierfishing.com).
Winners were: (1) Ages 6 and under – 1st place, Sarah Monroy (Santa Barbara); 2nd Place, Brian Palacios (Santa Barbara); 3rd Place, Douglas Gentile (Santa Barbara); (2) Ages 7-11 – 1st Place, Jesse Osterhage (Goleta); 2nd Place, Kevin Mantano (Santa Barbara); 3rd Place. Emily McMaster (Menlo Park); (3) Ages 12-15 – 1st Place, Maria Ascencio (Santa Barbara), 2nd Place, Nassim Ghaffari (Gainesville, FL); 3rd Place, Fabio Montes (Santa Barbara).
Helping out at the tournament were John Henigin from Fish Talk Radio; Nancy Farr from West Marine; Frank Drew from Stearns Wharf Bait and Tackle; Bob Semerau and wife Chris from Western Outdoor News; James Liu, Mike Spence, Hashim Nahid, Eugene Kim, Brian Linebarger, and Ken Jones from UPSAC; and Mike Moropoulos.
Bob Semerau from Western Outdoor News
UPSAC’s Brian Linebarger and UPSAC’s leading family, the Lius — Warren, Amanda, James and Elaine
John Henigin of Fish Talk Radio and long time outdoor writer for the Santa Barbara newspaper, Mike Moropoulos
Once the derby was over and everything was cleaned and put away, there was a little time for fishing.