1st: Team Pacific 1 (Steve Petit, Rocky Tussey, Mike Forrest, Dave Wratchford) - Team Score: 26, Team Slams: 0
2nd: Team Tuna Kahuna (Floyd Sparks, Mike Seymour) - Team Score/Slams: 0/0
3rd: Team Katsuo (Rob Baldwin, Grant Wagemaker) - Team Score/Slams: 0/0

If you haven’t guessed from the scores, fishing was extremely tough. Only one fish, a 6lb, 10oz yellowtail, was weighed in, by Team Pacific 1. Steve Petit caught the fish off a kelp paddy early in the day. 2nd and 3rd place was determined by random drawing.

The tournament was almost rescheduled, because on Monday 8’+, 6 second interval swells, and 20-25 knots winds churned up offshore waters. The weather conditions calmed some by Wednesday, and the forecast called for fishable conditions (4-5’ swells, 13 sec interval, 10-13 knot winds) for Saturday, so the decision was made to proceed with the event.

The fishing for everyone working the offshore areas, conventional or not, was slow. Contestants found fish under kelp paddies, or came upon beaking tuna schools, but the fish were skittish and either sank out, or ignored most offerings.

For the TYD teams, a few fish (dorado, yellowtail, bonito) were caught trolling or on conventional gear while trying to locate the fish, or get them to hit the fly, but Steve’s yellowtail was the only one to make a fatal mistake.

At least the awards ceremony was fun, and the BBQ from Phil’s was great. Believe it or not, Mike Forrest, who won the 3Bs drawing for the Abel Super 7/8 QC in Yellowfin Tuna finish , also won the drawing for the Able Super 11 in Dorado. If my math is right, Mike beat 300:1 odds to win both reels!

Thanks again to everyone who entered. Offshore fishing can be feast or famine, we’ll get them next year.

Hope you all had a good time otherwise! More detailed information to follow shortly…