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The 2009 Beyond The Breakwater TYD Tournament was held on August 8, 2009. Twelve contestants from all over the Southland fished the offshore waters surrounding San Diego.

A weather front with 25 mph winds and 8 foot/6 second swells passed through the area just days prior to the event, nearly causing the contest to be cancelled. Conditions settled down by Saturday, but the crazy weather wreaked havoc with the fishing. The fish were scattered, and became skittish and unwilling to bite. In the end, only one fish, a 6lb 10oz yellowtail, was submitted for score, giving the win to Team Pacific 1 from Los Angeles. This article has the final results, and discusses the tackle and techniques used by the contestants.

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Summary

Strategery and Tactics

Equipment Notes

Looking Forward

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Looking Forward...

Next year's event will be held in late August - most likely the weekend before Labor Day weekend. This will give us two full months between the 3Bs and the TYD contests. I will be announcing the exact dates soon, but try to leave that weekend open!

We've got some improvements to make on the tagging system for next year. The tags will NOT use adhesive, and will most likely be a printed cable-tie or a snap wrist-band.

We're considering going to a different team scoring process - the team would just submit a single fish in each category for their team score. However, we'll continue with the individual "Big Fish" awards for each type of fish.

We learned from the 3Bs event, and had enough tables and chairs to allow people to sit and eat inside the tournament area for the TYD....Next year we'll mix up the type of food between the 3Bs and the TYD. Phil's is good, but maybe we'll do Mexican and Hawaiian BBQ...

Team Pacific 1
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Some parting thoughts...

Thanks to everyone for participating. Like the 3Bs, it was a historic event for SoCal fly-fishing - the first-ever offshore saltwater fly-fishing only event in Southern California. I truly appreciate the courage and and dedication of every contestant, especially given the poor fishing condition. Hopefully, it was still a lot fun!

It was gratifying to have a number of people involved in this event that did not fish the 3Bs Tournament. This included a couple of conventional tackle fishermen who were giving saltwater fly-fishing a try. Despite the slow fishing, they were impressed with the tournament, and were going to do more saltwater fly-fishing in the future.

Running the tournament is getting easier with each event, although it was still a lot of work. My wife, Carol, her friend Edly Villanueva, and my sons Joel and Joseph continue to be a big help. And a special thanks to Aaron Field, his girlfriend, and Tony Martinez for helping us break down afterwards.

And of course, our sponsors deserve a lot of credit for making this event a success. Their fantastic prizes and support were essential. Please show your support for them by checking out and buying their products, or visiting their stores.

See you next year!