Well a lot has happened since I was last able to post any reports so this is kind of a high light report.

A while back I paddled from Dana Pt. up past Monarch in hopes of boiler fishing. Turned out the swell was too big and the water was horrid. I did the paddle using my fish finder to guide by as the fog was really dense (less than a 100yd visibility). I just stayed in 40' and kept paddling. High point of the day came when I heard a wave rolling behind me and as I was in about 40' I was thinking I had stumbled on the high spot inside of the Cross. Not 30 sec. later 2 whales popped up not 40' away. It was quite a sight and they stayed that close for probably 10 min., then the fog lifted a bit and they slowly moved away. Awesome is the only word for that experience. And while I didn't get a single boiler fish I did manage to pick off some 6 legal calicoes and some shorts in that 7 mile round trip paddle. Turned out I had out-fished both morning 1/2 day boats combined. Good day.

I've done a lot of pre-fishing for tourneys over the last 3 months or so also. Mostly for the 2 Mission Bay tourneys on the Plastic Navy circuit. Best thing about the 8 or so times I fished there is that I now feel confident there. This is no small feat since I have always hated that place. It'll always be a fickle place, but at least I know I can catch a fish there. A big help in this change of mind was my new M.B. confidence bait. The jig (i.e. pig n' jig). I got some Assalt Cobra heads and started playing w/a lot of skirt colors, trailers, and presentations. Mostly, firetiger or chart/white skirts with a clear/red flake Assalt 5" grub or 5" Kalin chart. hologram grub. Lots of other combos work great too, but these 2 are my first ones to throw. Plus, they work great in Newport too. 3 weeks ago I pre-fished La Jolla for the P.N. tourney 3 days ago. That day went really well w/ 4 fish over 3lbs, a 2.5 and lots of cookie cutters (tourney limit was 14"). 6" Big Hammers in scrambled egg and prizm blue 'chovy, 6" Kalin magumbos in clear/red flake, and 5" Blams in clear/red flake were the hot baits.

Finally, here's what's been happening with me on the tournament trail. As many of you will know, I have been working hard to become as good a fishing competitor in a kayak as I was in a float-tube. I won't re-hash all my thoughts on that but will break down the 1st 4 tourneys on the trail and quickly review what I did wrong and right and what I've learned.

Event # 1 Kayaksportfishing.com Tournament @ Dana Pt.
This one I figured would be a decent one for me to put up some points. Well, I only weighed on fish @ .88lbs. I was planning on tossing out one of my Mission Bay scores, not this. I wasn't happy at all. Mistake #1, I had a plan and based on reports from the day before on the area I planned to hit, I went the other way. Big mistake. Mistake #2, I assumed that since it was still winter their wouldn't be any fish on the boilers. There was and those who hit them did well, really well.

Event # 2 Sand Diego Sailing Center Tournament (Mission Bay)
This was one I figured would be dropped out of my year total. I weighed 2 fish for a total of 2.66lbs. Sadly, this was my best finish for Mission Bay. Both fish were on the Amish Cobra Jig in the colors I mentioned above. I wasn't thrilled at the end of the day, but I knew the tide had turned for me and my attitude concerning that fishery. That was good. My big mistake this day was an old problem of mine. I had a bait that I knew could catch fish and tried to force the fish too want it. Well, that didn't work. I did do a lot of pre-fishing though and that's how I got on that bait to begin with, so over-all not such a bad tourney.

Event # 3 Fastlane Kayak Fishing Frenzy (Mission Bay)
Pre-fished 2 or 3 times for this event and the jig was on for all three trips. Yee-haw. Well, the day of the tournament the wouldn't touch it. But, I didn't try to force it. In fact I didn't force any bait, I just changed up until one was getting bit, worked it until it wasn't then changed up again. I stuck to my game plan though as far as where I fished and what baits to try most. It worked...2 fish trolling a firetiger Rappala Tail Dancer, 1 on a 1 1/4oz. white Revenge blade w/white skirt and chart. trailer, 1 on a t-rigged Assalt Ringerworm in watermelon/redflake and 1 on a t-rigged 5" Assalt Salt Shaker in watermelon/redflake. The jig got one short 'butt and nothing else. What was the end result of actually following a sound game plan based on pre-fishing and not trying to force the fish to bite what I wanted them too? 10th place, my first top 10 in a kayak fishing event. 8th and 9th had the same weight as me (8.88lbs) but I had the smallest big fish). I was truly stoked. I set a goal before the trail started to place at least once, and to stay in the top 50th percentile. So far so good.

Event #4 Plastic Navy Calico Chaos @ La Jolla
This event I had my game plan set since the trail locations were first announced. Stay tight to shore if at all possible and only head for the big kelp if I had to. Well, it paid off. I tossed Hammers and the Kalin Magumbo and some soft jerkbaits (both on Owner Slead Heads) until the fish showed me the jerkbait was a good thing to stick with. I end up staying inside of 40' for the majority of the time. I did end up outside in the big kelp and got one keeper. The other 3 came on the inside with a nice 4.96lb calico for a kicker. Never did find number 5 though and might have won the event if I had. But, I did get 3rd. Wow. And all I've done is make a point to stick to a flexible game plan and not try and force the fish to eat my favorite bait.

Well needless to say, I've stayed in the top 50th and have placed twice. Only 3 events left and I'm sitting in 5th with only 6lbs between me and number one. I hope I can continue to do well. I haven't won any big prizes, no fanfare, but personally I couldn't be happier. Tournaments for me are a way to make myself a better angler and to meet lots of new people and catch up with folks I don't see too often. I can't ask for more.

Finally, a special thanks to all the people at Plastic Navy and all the tournament sponsors for making such an amazing year long tournament trail. I know it's a lot of hard work, but I hope you guys do it again next year.

If you made it this far, you must be nuts like me, but thanks for reading this long ramble.
Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!