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Board Fishing derby filled with tales
By Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 21, 2003
The 16th annual Windansea Board Fishing Tournament had 147 fish stories, but the adventures with two white seabass topped them all.
The winning fish, a 25-pound white seabass, was caught by Eric Brown of Clairemont. The other white seabass was caught by Blair Krueger of La Jolla but was stolen and eaten by a rogue sea lion.
Brown's catch easily won the grand prize and loot that included a marlin painting on a surfboard by artist Greg Gutierrez. Joe Grant of Cardiff was second with an 11-pound halibut and Troy Kinton was a distant third with a 5.5-pound sheephead.
About the white seabass that was caught ...
"I was soaking a half-dead sardine when it hit," said Brown, who was joined later on the beach by his wife, Kristin, and sons, Toby, 5, and Jason, 9. "I was lucky a kayaker came by and lent me his gaff to land it. There's no way it was going to fit in my net."
Brown landed his fish at 8:30 a.m. and quickly paddled more than two miles back to the beach to get it weighed for the contest.
About the white seabass that was lost ...
Krueger would have been right behind Brown had he not encountered a bull sea lion just before 10 a.m. Krueger hooked into a "3-to 4-foot white seabass" that may not have beaten Brown's bass, but it "was definitely a contender," Krueger said.
"I had it 20 feet from my board when the sea lion popped up from out of nowhere," Krueger said. "He looked at me, looked at the white seabass and said, 'Yeah, I'm king of the beach,' and just ate my fish right in front of me."
Krueger said he had the line taut when the bull lion grabbed the fish and the line, and then he tumbled off his board when the line snapped.
"I had to laugh," he said. "It was funny. He even came back up after he ate it, swam right under my board and stuck his head up to show me he was boss."
The 16th version of this unique tournament that features the purest form of fishing – from a surfboard – was successful for many reasons, starting with founder and organizer Allen Repashy. Once again Repashy organized a tournament support crew that scored high marks for a well-run, incident-free event.
Repashy's inner circle of volunteers such as Jake Laws, Mark Frapwell, Todd Gwynn and Don and Tom Boyer checked in anglers beginning at 4:30 a.m., weighed fish throughout the morning, sold T-shirts and hats, cooked food, supervised the awards and more.
Paul Duffy, one of the cooks in Marc and Margaret Muller's Zenbu barbecue tent, said he cooked 660 tortillas, enough to feed the contestants, their families and most of the neighbors and passersby at Windansea. Other cooks and helpers included Kevin Carter, Tom Ruben (who also filleted all the fish – everything caught is put on the barbecue) and Andy Howard.
Pat and Mike Bessie of Pacifically Landscape once again donated $500 to the wild Dash For Cash that closes every tournament. They were presented with a Gutierrez painting for their 16 years of tournament sponsorship.
Mark Scales, 50, nudging Bill Decker, the godfather of board fishing, for being the most seasoned competitor, won $500 in the Dash For Cash. He caught and released a 131/2-inch calico bass in 20 minutes to edge Jamie Kendall, owner of Seaside Carpets, who won $300 for the second calico bass in the Dash. Cory Johnson of Carlsbad paddled madly back to the beach with the largest fish in the Dash, also a calico, but it was third, earning him $200. It was the first time three anglers paddled in with fish during the Dash.
Grant, the second-place angler with the 11-pound halibut, took the award for the most honest angler. "I was taking a nap when I caught it," he said.
Jill Nakano of San Diego won the Diva Award, given each year to the top woman surfboard angler. She fished with her brother, John Nakano, and landed a 1.4-pound calico bass.
Rex Bruntsch, 15, won the junior division with a stringer of fish totaling 6.6 pounds, all fooled with MC Swimbaits, Catalina 'Chovy pattern. Drew Woodworth, 15, was second, and Richie Cravey, 14, was third among the 25 juniors entered.
Frank Ingrande of Point Loma took the largest stringer award with a mix of 10 fish that included a sand shark. Jeff Davidson was second and writer-photographer Paul Gallegos of La Jolla's Village Voice was third.
Richard Rios' 4.4-pound calico was the top bass. Sean Turchek of Charleston, W. Va., took the award for the angler who traveled the farthest to fish in the tournament.
Repashy said there were a record 25 fishermen under age 16. "The future looks bright for board fishing," Repashy said.
By Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 21, 2003
The 16th annual Windansea Board Fishing Tournament had 147 fish stories, but the adventures with two white seabass topped them all.
The winning fish, a 25-pound white seabass, was caught by Eric Brown of Clairemont. The other white seabass was caught by Blair Krueger of La Jolla but was stolen and eaten by a rogue sea lion.
Brown's catch easily won the grand prize and loot that included a marlin painting on a surfboard by artist Greg Gutierrez. Joe Grant of Cardiff was second with an 11-pound halibut and Troy Kinton was a distant third with a 5.5-pound sheephead.
About the white seabass that was caught ...
"I was soaking a half-dead sardine when it hit," said Brown, who was joined later on the beach by his wife, Kristin, and sons, Toby, 5, and Jason, 9. "I was lucky a kayaker came by and lent me his gaff to land it. There's no way it was going to fit in my net."
Brown landed his fish at 8:30 a.m. and quickly paddled more than two miles back to the beach to get it weighed for the contest.
About the white seabass that was lost ...
Krueger would have been right behind Brown had he not encountered a bull sea lion just before 10 a.m. Krueger hooked into a "3-to 4-foot white seabass" that may not have beaten Brown's bass, but it "was definitely a contender," Krueger said.
"I had it 20 feet from my board when the sea lion popped up from out of nowhere," Krueger said. "He looked at me, looked at the white seabass and said, 'Yeah, I'm king of the beach,' and just ate my fish right in front of me."
Krueger said he had the line taut when the bull lion grabbed the fish and the line, and then he tumbled off his board when the line snapped.
"I had to laugh," he said. "It was funny. He even came back up after he ate it, swam right under my board and stuck his head up to show me he was boss."
The 16th version of this unique tournament that features the purest form of fishing – from a surfboard – was successful for many reasons, starting with founder and organizer Allen Repashy. Once again Repashy organized a tournament support crew that scored high marks for a well-run, incident-free event.
Repashy's inner circle of volunteers such as Jake Laws, Mark Frapwell, Todd Gwynn and Don and Tom Boyer checked in anglers beginning at 4:30 a.m., weighed fish throughout the morning, sold T-shirts and hats, cooked food, supervised the awards and more.
Paul Duffy, one of the cooks in Marc and Margaret Muller's Zenbu barbecue tent, said he cooked 660 tortillas, enough to feed the contestants, their families and most of the neighbors and passersby at Windansea. Other cooks and helpers included Kevin Carter, Tom Ruben (who also filleted all the fish – everything caught is put on the barbecue) and Andy Howard.
Pat and Mike Bessie of Pacifically Landscape once again donated $500 to the wild Dash For Cash that closes every tournament. They were presented with a Gutierrez painting for their 16 years of tournament sponsorship.
Mark Scales, 50, nudging Bill Decker, the godfather of board fishing, for being the most seasoned competitor, won $500 in the Dash For Cash. He caught and released a 131/2-inch calico bass in 20 minutes to edge Jamie Kendall, owner of Seaside Carpets, who won $300 for the second calico bass in the Dash. Cory Johnson of Carlsbad paddled madly back to the beach with the largest fish in the Dash, also a calico, but it was third, earning him $200. It was the first time three anglers paddled in with fish during the Dash.
Grant, the second-place angler with the 11-pound halibut, took the award for the most honest angler. "I was taking a nap when I caught it," he said.
Jill Nakano of San Diego won the Diva Award, given each year to the top woman surfboard angler. She fished with her brother, John Nakano, and landed a 1.4-pound calico bass.
Rex Bruntsch, 15, won the junior division with a stringer of fish totaling 6.6 pounds, all fooled with MC Swimbaits, Catalina 'Chovy pattern. Drew Woodworth, 15, was second, and Richie Cravey, 14, was third among the 25 juniors entered.
Frank Ingrande of Point Loma took the largest stringer award with a mix of 10 fish that included a sand shark. Jeff Davidson was second and writer-photographer Paul Gallegos of La Jolla's Village Voice was third.
Richard Rios' 4.4-pound calico was the top bass. Sean Turchek of Charleston, W. Va., took the award for the angler who traveled the farthest to fish in the tournament.
Repashy said there were a record 25 fishermen under age 16. "The future looks bright for board fishing," Repashy said.
