2010 PFIC/UPSAC SoCal Pierfishing Derby #6, Cabrillo Pier

Date: September 18, 2010 — To: PFIC Message Board — From: kelpangler — Subject: Results: SoCal Pierfishing Derby, Cabrillo Pier, 9/18

Fishing was terribly slow today and the morning would’ve been forgettable had it not been for the great company! We had 28 participants fishing the outgoing tide, which provided very little current. A handful of fish were caught including smelt, lizardfish, perch, croaker, bat ray, and a turbot (sorry I don’t have the specific species names). A few pinhead anchovies found themselves snagged on a couple Sabikis and we all witnessed the crashing birds in the harbor, but the baitfish just didn’t want to make their way to the pier. Rich provided some excitement in the final hour when his rod went bendo and the line started to peel off his reel, but somehow it came unbuttoned (will wait for him to tell the story). Again, fishing was slow but sharing time with friends made this an enjoyable event.

Today’s winners: 1st – Josh W 2nd — Trevor G  — 3rd – Josh G

Overall winners (through 8 events): 1st — Rich G — 2nd Jose M 3rd — Tomas G

All of our sponsors came through for us again, including a few new ones specifically for today’s event: Vons, Sport Chalet, Foothill Optometry, and Avet Reels. Also, a big thank you to gyozadude for continuing to provide his custom wrapped rods paired with Daiwa Exceler reels. Lastly, thanks to Marty Golden of NOAA who provided pamphlets and goody bags for us. If you have a chance, please, please thank our sponsors for supporting us.

Posted by: Illcatchanything2 —Eugene, I would like to offer my most sincere thanks for taking the time out of your busy life to put these together all year long to benefit UPSAC. You have shown selfless dedication to the project. Glad you guys had a great turnout, sorry about the slow fishing, but like you said, sometimes slow fishing can be counterbalanced by good company….  Brian, ICA2

Posted by odogfish — I must say I did have a good time even tho I didn’t catch a thing … but I don’t expect to catch much at such events , I’m there more just to have fun and that I did … was good to meet some new faces … but some of the old faces … damn y’all are still ugly. To Ken and the UPSAC Krew … great job ! !

Ported by Arcadian  I had fun, Great Company you guys Keep. Its Was AWESOME!! Too bad it was the last one I was just getting started.

Posted by Dwight Trash — I had a great time yesterday. It was my first fishing derby, and I couldn’t have been more excited to win. I had a huge smile on my face all day. The turbot that I caught was a diamond turbot btw. Thanks to all for making it happen. I hope to do many more in the future.

The highlight of my day was a long talk with Ken Jones. The icing on the cake was winning his book in the raffle and having him autograph it for me. I just started fishing in June, and have been pier fishing for even less time. I consider Ken Jones to be my mentor.

Posted by gordo grande — We all feel that way. Ken is everyone’s mentor! Wow! Oscar (odogfish) showed up! How cool is that, huh?

Posted by cappo5150  — Oh ya he showed up and made everyone know he was there.

Posted by Mahigeer  — I had no idea how “un-handsome” I am until I saw my picture with Oscar standing next to me.  Because we kind of look alike when he has a full beard.

Posted by — Not every one can pull that look off … ya needs to be a man’s man … plus I gots the b…s to pull it off if ya know wat I mean

Posted by Riplee781 — This was a great time, too bad the fish weren’t there for everybody. Trevor ended up giving me the polarized sunglasses. They are great, i might say! Thanks Trevor. Hopefully this wont be the very last one, at least the last one for awhile. Eugene did a great job as always, I know it’s hard to watch people fish when you cant. Thanks to Eugene for making sure we all had a great time and taking the time out of his schedule for us. Its always good to see Hashem as well. To bad Jellyfish didnt show up, thats what he gets for all his late night partying haha.

Posted by Ken JonesThanks Eugene, I hadn’t had time to resize and post those pics. BTW, you did a GREAT job setting up and running the derby. And, I believe those were $200+ sunglasses so they should work great. 

Posted by Dwight Trash —   Nice pics! But, you got the Josh’s mixed up. I’m Josh W, you have my pic for third place.

Posted by kelpanglerSorry about that—fixed! Nice job on the turbot and bat ray.

 

 

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2008 PFIC/UPSAC Catalina Get Together

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The 2021 “Kids Day on the Pier” — Marin Rod & Gun Club Pier

August 28, 2021 saw the 32nd Annual “Kid’s Day on the Pier” at the Marin Rod & Gun Club pier on San Quentin Point in San Rafael, California. It was also the 8th derby co-sponsored by UPSAC (United Pier and Shore Anglers of California) and PFIC (Pier Fishing In California).

Registration — Pat Jones, Ann Marie Melanephy, and Rita Magdamo (MR&G club member and UPSAC/PFIC member)

The day would see 69 “official” participants in the age 6-15 event as well as about a dozen “unofficial,” ages 5 and under newbie anglers. When combined with the parents, friends, and workers, the crowd was close to 180 people, one of the largest in recent memory. Given the warm weather, low tide conditions, and somewhat “dirty” air, the large numbers were somewhat surprising to some.

Although local towns produced most of the participants, a total of 25 towns were represented in the derby—Albany, Antioch, Berkeley, Brentwood, Corte Madera, Danville, Davis, Fairfax, Fremont, Kentfield, Mill Valley, Novato, Greenbrae, Larkspur, Oakland, Pacifica, Petaluma, Pittsburg, Richmond, San Anselmo, San Jose, San Mateo, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, and Sonoma.

The first fish — a baby leopard shark

The DeJong Family

Danika Wren and a small brown smoothhound shark

The Marin Rod and Gun Club and United Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC) brought free loaner tackle and people to help out at the event while the club provided the free bait. Assistance for the (often) newbie anglers was available as needed.

 Luckily, the fish gods cooperated and the youngsters caught both a good number and good variety of fish. The various species were led by the sharay contingent (sharks and rays) —22 leopard sharks, 11 bat rays (including one reported at approximately 70 pounds), and 5 brown smoothhound sharks. Rounding out the action were 13 jacksmelt, 2 California halibut, 1 sardine and 1 crab. The action resulted in a lot of happy, smiling faces and excitement when large fish were hooked.

One notable moment occurred when a large bat ray had been hooked but was tangled on a piling. The fish was visible to the crowd of youth looking straight down through the cracks between the surface boards, which prompted the memorable shout—“Oh my God, a humongous fungus!” Not exactly correct terminology but it got the point across that it was something big.

Jacksmelt

Leopard Shark

Bat Ray (Mud Marlin) — Adam Gorczycki

Al Petrocelli and Family

It’s never too young to start fishing.

Once the fishing was completed, every youngster received a free hot dog lunch courtesy of the club, and new rods and reels from the club and UPSAC.

Rita Magdamo

In addition, each individual age group winner received a 1st Place trophy, an autographed copy of Pier Fishing in California by Ken Jones, and a rod and reel.

Age Group Winners: 6-year-old Vinny Podesta

7-year-old Sebastian Garcia 

8-year-old Parker Brock

9-year-old Shayda Citarrella

10-year-old (tie) Sean McConedough

10-year-old (tie) Dustavo Pretta

11-year-old Vincent DeJong

12-year-old Adam Gorczycki

13-year-old Ryan Etter

14-year-old Danika Wren

15-year-old Thomas DeJong.

Spearheading the efforts of the Marin Rod and Gun Club this year was Al Petrocelli assisted by many, many members of the club who performed a plethora of duties—serving as judges on the pier, cleaning and fixing rods and reels for the derby, cooking the hot dog lunches, and setting up and cleaning the auditorium and kitchen. A special thanks to Ann Marie Melanephy who helped with the registration of participants.

Representing UPSAC was president Ken Jones (who helped organize the event, took pictures, handed out individual awards, and announced raffle winners), Pat Jones (who helped at the registration table), Rita Magdamo (a club member and UPSAC/PFIC member who helped at the registration table and helped handing out awards, Robert Gardner (who helped rig the equipment and filmed the awards), and Kyle Pease (who helped with the equipment and worked as a judge).

The biggest thanks of course goes to the Marin Rod and Gun Club itself that has sponsored this event for 32 years but all of the various organizations and volunteers deserve a round of applause.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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“Old Ben” and Avalon

Dear Old Ben — Famous  Seal At Catalina

Takes Fish Out Of Hand As Would A Pet Dog

Depends on Friendly Fishermen for Food and Waxes Fat on Albacore. Eats immense Quantities of Fish and Roams Seas as Patriarch of the Isolated Tribe

If you have visited Avalon on beautiful Catalina Island you have probably seen the statue to “Old Ben” that sits on the path from the ferry landing to the center of town. Here’s an old story that tells about “Old Ben.”

“Old Ben,” the famous old seal of Avalon, is still in his old haunts among the row boats and launches that dot the little harbor. He has been there for thirty-five years and in that time become as tame as the seals which are confined in parks and aquariums. He is as wise as the trained seals of Ringling’s circus, and were he to be captured and put with them, he would cost his keepers a tidy fortune, for he has the biggest appetite of any of his kind ever known.

“Old Ben” feasts on the big fish brought in by the hundreds of anglers that visit Catalina each summer. At each meal he will consume a half-dozen big albacore or skipjacks, aggregating 125 pounds in weight. When he is hungry he swims up near the boat landing, where his favorite befriender, Charles Tompkins, has his boat stand. After a glance at the fish rack, he sets to barking and diving about until he has attracted the attention of those on the pier. He will crawl clean up on the float after food, but even when extremely hungry he cannot be induced to remain there. As soon as he has seized his fish, he dives back into the bay, rising to the surface now and then to give his food a vicious toss as he tears out mouthfuls of flesh. At these times he is often followed by other smaller seals which are too timid to approach the landing. Gulls also pursue the old sea lion and seize the morsels, which are torn loose from the fish as it s being consumed.

This old pet of the bay has attained a great weight from the constant easy supply of food within his reach. He has never been on a scales, but estimates of his weight, made by causing him to cross planks up to a size that would no longer break, give it close to 1400 pounds. His sleek, gray-brown back is often seen dashing between the bathers, who scatter in wild commotion whenever he appears. He has an utter disregard for people and things, and roams about the bay whatever place suits his fancy.

Before Catalina was made a resort, “Old Ben” is supposed to have been the chief of the colony on Seal Rocks. Presumably he was vanquished by some younger rival, and now leads the life of an outcast. He seem to find this entirely agreeable, however, he has succeeded in coaxing several others of the colony into the bay with him. His face is scarred with the marks of many battles, and he has lost the sight of his right eye, but he rules his little band of in the bay as supremely as his successor on the rocks governs the colony.  — Los Angeles Times, August 18, 1918

 

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2019 Trinidad Pier Youth Fishing Derby

Saturday, October 5, 2019 saw youth assemble at the Trinidad Pier in the beautiful redwoods north of Eureka to participate in the 6th Annual Trinidad Pier Youth Fishing Derby.

Free loaner rods and reels, free terminal tackle, free bait, free hot dog lunches and drinks, raffle prizes, and a winner in each age group helped generate excitement.

Although the wind picked up a little in the afternoon, the day’s overall weather was gorgeous and the 40 young anglers and the crowd estimated at about a hundred people agreed it was a fun day at the pier.

Ruby Broese with a small cabezon

Of course catching some fish also helps and though the fishing was a little slower than the prior year (no lingcod this time), the mix still included kelp greenling, cabezon, buffalo sculpin, brown rockfish, walleye surfperch and jacksmelt. When a nice school of jacksmelt showed out at the end of the pier toward the end of the day, it provided a nice finishing touch to the tournament.

Ruby Broese with a kelp greenling

David Shigematsu with a small brown rockfish

Buffalo sculpin

Joe Polos, a retired member of the USFWS, set up a touch tank with specimens he collected before the tourney, and put a couple of fish in the tanks for the kids to look at.

Jonathan Pitcher with a buffalo sculpin

Jack Broese with a kelp greenling

What is this?

Is it a starfish? No, a sea star.

A baby cabezon

A little larger kelp greenling

CDFW Wildlife Officer Norris 

Everybody ready for some hot dogs?

There was a fundraiser for the custom rod made by Daniel Troxel of “Bass Man Dan’s Custom Fishing Rods”

Dan Troxel and a rod

Next up was the announcement of the individual age group winners.

Ed Roberts of the CFGD and some of the prizes for the winners

The 6-year-old (and under) winner was Ruby Broese, of Eureka who caught two kelp greenling and a cabezon.

The 7-year-old winner was Taylor Holt of Arcata.   

 The 8-year-old winner was Mannie Guerrero of Trinidad. 

 The 9-year-old winner was Daniel Galan of Arcata. 

The 10-year-old winner was Lucie Bertrand of Arcata. 

 The 11-year-old winner was Jovani Galan of Arcata. 

The 12-year-old winner was Kieryn Wolfe of Trinidad. 

The 13-year-old winner was David Shigematsu of Davis who caught a kelp greenling, buffalo sculpin, brown rockfish, large walleye surfperch, and three jacksmelt. David was the overall winner of the tournament, and this is his third victory in a row.

The 14-year-old winner was Jonathan Pitcher of Arcata who caught a buffalo sculpin.

Last but not least was the raffle with prizes for all contestants.

The sponsors of the derby were the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers, Pacific Outfitters, the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), United Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC), Pier Fishing In California (pierfishing.com) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The main organizer was Edgar W. Roberts of the CDFW (California Fish and Wildlife Department). Volunteers included CDFW’s Natural Resource Volunteers John “Grondo” Grondalski and Patricia Figeroa, and from HASA (Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers) Joe Polos. Other volunteers: Daniel Troxel, Russell Janak, Lucas Janak, and Daniel Roberts. CDFW Wildlife Officer Norris kept watch over the proceedings.

Special thanks goes to Grant Roden of the Rancheria, Scott McBain and Joe Polos of HASA, Daniel Troxel of “Bass Man Dan’s Custom Fishing Rods,” and Aaron Ostrom of Pacific Outfitters for making this happen.

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