* Cash Prizes * Maximum 250 Anglers * 4 fish limit per day per team -- Brown & Rainbow Trout Only *$ 150 entry fee includes dinner , no host bar and Derby Shirt
16 Sept . 15 - 30 , 2017 FRESHWATER VOL . 36 • ISS . 20
GONE FISHING continued from page 1
It was bad enough that Dave had taken the title last year , but now he was trying to psych me out . By chance I ’ d met him in Grass Valley the previous week and he told me that he hadn ’ t been lingcod fishing and that he hadn ’ t even had time to catch any bait , yet he ’ d shown up on derby day with a cooler full chrome bright jacksmelt and other exotic offerings .
Moving to the front of the boat , we had JP Gano . JP was the deckhand on the legendary Happy Hooker for many years and he ’ s a deadly swimbait tosser . He was accompanied by Vince Borges of Phenix Rods . When Vince isn ’ t promoting Phenix , he ’ s a pro guide . Vince is another guy that can fish circles around most when it comes to working jigs and swimbaits .
Larry “ The Legend ” Nelson , my good friend and personal nemesis , was absent from this year ’ s contest . Larry is the only angler to have won our derby twice and he ’ s more than happy to point that out to me every chance he gets . He was fishing in Alaska and I was glad for his absence ! When Captain James Smith arrived aboard at 5:30 he announced that the seas were calm and that after a fuel stop in San Francisco we ’ d be heading for a deep shelf beyond the Farallon Islands at Fanny Shoal .
“ The spot I ’ m thinking of is rarely fished and I think the bite will be excellent ,” he announced before going over the rules .
Every keeper lingcod caught during the contest would go into the box . The outcome would be based on the heaviest two lingcod limit . It was up to the angler to designated which fish he wanted to tag at the time of catching them .
If you tagged out on two medium size fish and then hooked a monster , you ’ d be out of luck and the big fish would simply join the rest in the box . Likewise , if you played cat and mouse too long you might end up not tagging a pair of fish before limits hit the deck and the contest was called .
In addition to the lingcod segment of the contest , there was also a side pot for the biggest 10 fish rockfish limit .
By 6 o ’ clock we ’ d left the Berkeley Marina and by 7 we were beyond the Golden Gate and headed offshore on greasy flat seas .
While fishing a reef at Fanny Shoal the anglers participating in the 2017 High Rollers Lingcod Derby bagged 66 lingcod in about an hour !
Photo courtesy of CALIFORNIA DAWN SPORTFISHING , Berkeley .
When we arrived at Fanny Shoal , James took a few minutes lining the boat up over a shelf in 230 feet of water and told us to drop our lines .
Like most guys on the boat , I had a cooler full of frozen mackerel and sardines , but these were my emergency baits . My plan was to drop some small shrimp flies in order to catch a medium size live rockfish to use for bait .
I dropped my flies and got ready to reel in a rockfish . One minute passed , two , then three … no bites , no rockfish . Yells and shouts broke out here , there and everywhere and big lingcod started coming over the rail .
Clearly with all the big lings sitting on the shelf below there were no rockfish in the neighborhood so I quickly abandoned the idea of catching bait .
I grabbed my heavy rod and dropped a frozen mackerel to the bottom . I felt the sinker thump , turned the reel once or twice and I felt a fish take the bait . After letting the fish maul the bait for a few seconds I set the hook and immediately felt heavy weight . When the fish started pulling drag I knew it was really big .
Several minutes later James gaffed my 25 plus pound monster . I had the biggest ling on the boat . I figured if I could add a second fish over 15 the title would be mine .
Both Richard and Dave Gault were struggling with small fish and tangles … I felt good !
On my next drop , I got into a tangle and on the drop . After that I landed a 11 pounder and put it into the box without tagging it , opting to try for something bigger . Right then James called a halt to fishing and my heart almost stopped .
“ Guys the fish box is full and we are close to limits ,” Capt . Smith said . “ We are going to do a count . When we reach 66 keepers we are done lingcod fishing .”
When deckhand Mike Verrone started tossing lings onto the deck it was clear that we were very close ...
“ 54 , 55 , 56 ,” Mike counted off the final three fish .
“ Okay guys I ’ m going to line up for one more drift . Some guys are tagged out . When 10 more fish hit the deck it ’ s over . If you ’ ve got a big fish hanging after that it ’ s going back in , so crank them up quick ,” exclaimed Smith .
I was in a panic . I ’ d just boxed an 11 pounder without tagging it that might have put me into the money . Now I faced a situated where I might not get a second fish before we limited .
When James told us to drop our lines , I put down the biggest mackerel I had . It got hit instantly . I hooked the fish and lost it . Lings were now coming over the rail and James was counting down .
I dropped another mackerel and hooked up again . I could tell it wasn ’ t a monster , but I cranked for all I was worth . When my fish , a 12 pounder , came into the boat we only needed two more and then the contest was over .
In a little over an hour we ’ d put full limits of 66 lingcod into the boat and the vast majority of them
Chuck Brooks ( Center ) ended up in taking second place in the 2017 High Rollers Lingcod Derby with a pair of husky lings .
Photo courtesy of CALIFORNIA DAWN SPORTFISHING , Berkeley .
were over 10 pounds . It was the most epic California lingcod fishing most of us had ever experienced .
Next , we turned our attention to filling out rockfish limits , which took about an hour . Then it was time to start the run back to the bay and find out who had won .
An angler that was fishing up near the starboard bow took the top spot in the lingcod division with a pair of fish near 20 pounds each and he ’ d also taken the money on the rockfish side . That was a first . We ’ ve never had anyone win both the lingcod and rockfish pots .
Unfortunately , I ’ m going to have to call the winner , the “ Man With No Name ” because I lost his name and we haven ’ t been able to figure out who the heck he was . You might see him , he ’ s about 6 ’ 1 ”, chiseled features with two big lingcod in one hand , a sack of huge rockfish in the other and a wallet fat with $ 2,750 in total winnings !
Chuck Brooks and I were head to head for the second place lingcod prize of $ 1,000 , but Chuck took me by the razor thin margin of a few ounces . Congrats Chuck , this year you ’ re the first LOSER , which pays a lot better than being the second LOSER !
Big fish , big money and big fun …. It was a High Roller Derby to remember !
Don ’ t Miss the Fun at the FALL TROUT DERBY !
17th Annual
Saturday & Sunday , October 14 & 15 , 2017
$ 250 for big fish on Saturday & Sunday
* Cash Prizes * Maximum 250 Anglers * 4 fish limit per day per team -- Brown & Rainbow Trout Only *$ 150 entry fee includes dinner , no host bar and Derby Shirt
3519