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THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!!
Over 100 anglers had a fantastic day
chasing the feisty little gamefish, then gathered to enjoy
a posh BBQ ,Prize Ceremony, and a raffle chock-full of fishing
goodies. Read below for Dan Bacher's report from The Fish
Sniffer.
Check
out our photo GALLERY
for more pictures from the 2007 Sand Crab Classic Perch
Tournament
The 100 anglers participating in the Third Annual
“Sandcrab Classic” Perch Tournament in Santa
Cruz on March 3 enjoyed sunny and warm weather and flat
calm ocean conditions, but experienced slower fishing than
during the previous two derbies.
“The weather was too beautiful,” said Allen
Bushnell, co-host of The Let’s Go Fishing Radio Show
with Mike Baxter. “There was not much surf and the
perch bite is usually better when the surf is relatively
high. In spite of low numbers of fish brought in compared
to previous years, anglers weighed in some big, quality
perch.”
A total of 22 anglers brought in perch to the “measure-in.”
The rest either caught fish that they believed were too
small to qualify or didn’t bag any fish at all. Anglers
competed in the adult and junior divisions for the longest
perch, with all entry ticket and raffle proceeds going to
fund the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project.
David Hernandez of Salinas won the adult division of the
classic by capturing a 14 inch rainbow perch near Carmel.
Like many anglers during the derby, he used live grass shrimp
to tempt his fish.
Another successful derby participant, his fishing partner,
Gualberto Ponce, took second place with a 13-7/8 inch perch,
also a rainbow, caught off Carmel. Ponce reported nailing
a total of five perch during the event. Gino Lazzerini,
also a teammate of Hernandez and Ponce, captured third place
with a 13-3/14 inch perch. “I used shrimp, bloodworms
and grubs for the perch I caught throughout the day,”
he stated.
The anglers took home trophies to celebrate their victory,
as well as fishing rod/reel combos and laminated perch prints.
Kris Patterson easily crushed all competition in the Junior
Division with a 13-9/16 inch barred perch while fishing
with his dad, Chris. Although the son was reluctant to reveal
where he had caught the fish, only saying that he had caught
it on “bait,” his dad disclosed his secrets.
“We caught a total of 14 perch, ranging from 7 inches
to the big one, in Monterey Bay off Pleasure Point,”
said Kris. “We gathered mussels and hooked all of
the fish while using them for bait. The best fishing was
on the incoming tide. My son found the hot spot and caught
four big perch right in a row.” Kris won a trophy,
rod/reel combination and a laminated perch print. He also
won first place in the junior division in 2006.
Justin Morris placed second in the junior division
with a 12 inch perch, while Anthony (who didn’t leave
a last name), captured third place with an 11-5/8 inch barred
perch. Morris brought in one of the more unusual bags of
fish of the day. Besides his giant barred perch, he also
nailed 1 kelp rockfish, one black perch and one senoritas
while fishing the rocks off Pacific Grove.
Other successful anglers include Jeff Tonelli and Ian Hodgson,
who kept 8 perch while fishing the beaches up north of Pigeon
Point. Gabriel McClain, James Williams of Capitola and his
dad, Dan Williams of Capitola, caught a total of 4 black
perch at off the mouth of Santa Cruz Harbor. Abe Patino,
Dave Lopes, Jacob Rose, Jay Cretcher and Dan Berkley teamed
up to catch 50 perch, the majority released, off Scotts
Creek, while using Berkley Gulp Baits. Although they didn’t
nail any big ones, they had a lot of fun hooking the scrappy
barred perch.
This year, for the first time, Carson and Bushnell decided
to create a new “double secret” prize for the
“true sportsman” doing something different,
such as releasing a big striped bass. Bob Hirsch, who won
first place in the tournament in 2005, almost won this award
by catching a striper. However, he decided to take the fish
home for dinner, preventing him from winning the award.
Instead, Bushnell and Carson decided to give the award to
Mike Baxter for his outstanding efforts in keeping the derby
going. I agree entirely with them giving this award to Baxter.
Baxter, the former captain of the Wild Wave, is now working
in the insurance industry, although he occasionally still
skippers boats in Monterey Bay. I have fished with Baxter
in Monterey Bay many times for rockfish, lingcod and salmon
and consider one of the finest skippers to ever fish California
waters.
He is a big advocate of restoring our fisheries and protecting
fishing rights, being a strong supporter of the Monterey
Bay Salmon and Trout Project and United Anglers of California.
The “Sand Crab Classic” wouldn’t have
taken place without him.
To highlight the opportunities that perch fishing provides
in the Monterey Bay area during a time of increasing angling
restrictions, Baxter and Bill Rawson came up with the idea
of sponsoring an annual perch tournament in January 2005
to benefit the fishery restoration programs of the Monterey
Bay Salmon and Trout Project. Bushnell and Steve Carson
of Penn Fishing University helped Baxter coordinate the
events over the past two years, while Walter Nash was weighmaster.
The inaugural event was a huge success, drawing 155 anglers
from throughout northern California to catch lots of surfperch.
The classic was limited to 100 anglers only this year and
last because of space constraints at the Santa Cruz Yacht
Club where the awards ceremony was held.
“We don’t award cash prizes in the tournament
in order keep the event fun and to provide more of a sportsmen’s
atmosphere for participants,” noted Baxter.
Sponsors of the event included Raymarine, Berkley Gulp Baits,
Ace Linehauler, Fisherman’s Warehouse, Angler’s
Choice, Fishworks Clothing, Penn Fishing Reels, Bayside
Marine and the Fish Sniffer.
Contact us for more info: scruzfishing@yahoo.com
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