Hey brian,

I am a little bummed, as the reason that I had emailed you privately about the tournaments was that I wanted to keep it between a few people and not involve the whole internet.

I have no problem as to releasing fish, as a deckhand in the 80's, I was urging the release of calicos and other fish way before it became the "in" thing to do. I have released dozens of legal lingcod that I caught at San Miguel while dead-heading to try to help the local population. I along with a few other friends released many, many legal bass in the anchorage at certain key spots, and returned many times to fish them successfully in the late 80's and early 90's. I do believe in the merit of C&R fishing.

BUT (here comes the kicker)

I have a problem with the criminalization of keeping legal fish! I know that this is going to piss some people off, but the fact is that I, very occasionally do enjoy shooting a nice calico ( under 6 lbs) I do have some personal standards. I have on several occasions had perfect shots on BIG bass, some upwards of 8 to 10 lbs, that I have not taken. It is a great thrill to successfully stalk a great fish of this size, and not shoot it. Having said this, what I wanted to avoid, was to create a bunch of hoopla about the tournaments, some of which may be unnecessarily negative. Now that this is out here, lets talk about it.

My original idea was to have a 3 fish limit of 3 species, Bass, Halibut and WSB. I want to keep these tournaments as easy and fun as possible. The fact is that if people want to fish in the tourney and keep bass alive, great! Part of the fun of these things is the weigh in and seeing what everybody catches. If I wanted to see a number written on a board, I would read the Week Old News. I do understand that bass may die because of the tournaments that I am promoting. THIS IS A FACT THAT I CAN LIVE WITH - Provided that people will take the fish home and eat it. The fact of the matter is that I do not expect 100's of participants (though it would be great), I would like to see anywhere from 10-30 or 40 kayakers who want to go out and have fun, catch some fish, meet some new friends, and maybe learn some new techniques. I would hope that they would be honest fishermen (isn't that an ozxymoron?) that wouldn't cheat to win a little bit of prize money. Common guys, with 20 participants, at $10, that is $100 dollars for 1st place. I am not going to have lie detector tests for the winners. I hope that you can have enough integrity to not let a dead fish drop to the bottom in the hopes of winning.

Having motorboats running around, picking up fish and weighing them, is a great idea, but at this point, too much for me to think about. Just the liability of having a motorboat, sanctioned by the tourney, I can hear the lawyers smacking their lips already. At this time it will not happen. I want for us to all go out there and have fun, catch a few fish, maybe win a little $ and have a BBQ at the end. Nothing illegal or immoral.

If there were hundreds of participants, then I would definatly consider the merits of a C&R weigh boat or other ideas, but as it stands now, it will be a 3 fish limit of Calico or Sand Bass, 3 White Sea Bass and 5 halibut. 1 point per fish, 1 point per pound. I hope that we can all go out there and enjoy a day of fun competition, good fishing and comeraderie. This is a fishing tournament for not only those on this site, but many other sites, as well as local fishermen.

This is a optional tournament. If you don't want to do it, it is up to you. If you want to concentrate on halibut (where the winners will probably come from) than do that. If you want to come out and keep a couple of calicos, great! I will even help you with some killer recipies if you want. They are a very tasty fish. You will be expected to fish within the laws of the F&G, and the rules of the torunament. No culling fish, if you want to keep them alive, and release them, great! Go for it. I will do anything I can to help you. But I will not criminalize, or shun those who keep a few for personal consumption.

Having said this, our first tournament will take place at Goleta Beach, on Sunday, March 25th, weather permitting. This area holds a lot of fish, a lot of different structure and different fishing zones near the launch point. The final copy of the rules, times and places will follow by tomorrow.

Respectfully,

Marco Farrell AKA MoonDoggie


Hey brian,

I am a little bummed, as the reason that I had emailed you privately about the tournaments was that I wanted to keep it between a few people and not involve the whole internet.

I have no problem as to releasing fish, as a deckhand I was urging the release of calicos and other fish way before it became the "in" thing to do. I have released dozens of legal lingcod that I caught at San Miguel while dead-heading to try to help the local population. I along with a few other friends released many, many legal bass in the anchorage at certain key spots, and returned many times to fish them successfully in the late 80's and early 90's. I do believe in the merit of C&R fishing.

BUT (here comes the kicker)

I have a problem with the criminalization of keeping legal fish! I know that this is going to piss some people off, but the fact is that I, very occasionally do enjoy shooting a nice calico ( under 6 lbs) I do have some personal standards. I have on several occasions had perfect shots on BIG bass, some upwards of 8 to 10 lbs, that I have not taken. It is a great thrill to successfully stalk a great fish of this size, and not shoot it. Having said this, what I wanted to avoid, was to create a bunch of hoopla about the tournaments, some of which may be unnecessarily negative. Now that this is out here, lets talk about it.

My original idea was to have a 3 fish limit of 3 species, Bass, Halibut and WSB. I want to keep these tournaments as easy and fun as possible. The fact is that if people want to fish in the tourney and keep bass alive, great! Part of the fun of these things is the weigh in and seeing what everybody catches. If I wanted to see a number written on a board, I would read the Week Old News. I do understand that bass may die because of the tournaments that I am promoting. THIS IS A FACT THAT I CAN LIVE WITH - Provided that people will take the fish home and eat it. The fact of the matter is that I do not expect 100's of participants (though it would be great), I would like to see anywhere from 10-30 or 40 kayakers who want to go out and have fun, catch some fish, meet some new friends, and maybe learn some new techniques. I would hope that they would be honest fishermen (isn't that an ozxymoron?) that wouldn't cheat to win a little bit of prize money. Common guys, with 20 participants, at $10, that is $100 dollars for 1st place. (big fish %30, 1st - 30%, 2nd - %20, 3rd - 10%) I am not going to have lie detector tests for the winners. I hope that you can have enough integrity to not let a dead fish drop to the bottom in the hopes of winning.

These will be kayakers, not highly specialized speedboats with top of the line electronics for pinpointing individual stones. In reality, it is pretty much a crapshoot as to who will win.

Having motorboats running around, picking up fish and weighing them, is a great idea, but at this point, too much for me to think about. Just the liability of having a motorboat, sanctioned by the tourney, I can hear the lawyers smacking their lips already. At this time it will not happen. I want for us to all go out there and have fun, catch a few fish, maybe win a little $ and have a BBQ at the end. Nothing illegal or immoral.

If there were hundreds of participants, then I would definatly consider the merits of a C&R weigh boat or other ideas, but as it stands now, it will be a 3 fish limit of Calico or Sand Bass, 3 White Sea Bass and 5 halibut. 1 point per fish, 1 point per pound. I hope that we can all go out there and enjoy a day of fun competition, good fishing and comeraderie.

This is a optional tournament. If you don't want to do it, it is up to you. If you want to concentrate on halibut (where the winners will probably come from) than do that. If you want to come out and keep a couple of calicos, great! I will even help you with some killer recipies if you want. They are a very tasty fish. You will be expected to fish within the laws of the F&G, and the rules of the torunament. No culling fish, if you want to keep them alive, and release them, great! Go for it. I will do anything I can to help you. But I will not criminalize, or shun those who keep a few for personal consumption.

Having said this, our first tournament will take place at Goleta Beach, on Sunday 25th, weather permitting. This area holds a lot of fish, a lot of different structure and different fishing zones near the launch point. The final copy of the rules, times and places will follow by tomorrow.


Marco Farrell AKA MoonDoggie


>
> These are just thoughts, I would love to hear your
> opinions, an any
> potential problems that could come up. I don't want
> to put it out to too
> many people to discuss, we could be here for a year
> trying to please everyone.
>