Huge Lingcod and Halibut Top Who’s Your Daddy Tournament   By: Dan Bacher October 9, 2006 More Articles by Dan

Passengers aboard three boats from the Monterey Bay Area – the Velocity from Santa Cruz, the Kahuna from Moss Landing and the Sur Randy - competed for prizes and trophies in the fourth annual “Who’s Your Daddy” Big Ling Tournament out of the Santa Cruz Harbor on Sunday September 17.

Although anglers aboard each boat caught limits of rockfish and good numbers of lingcod along the scenic Santa Cruz County Coast near Ano Nuevo Island, the fishermen on the Sur Randy swept the competition by catching the largest lingcod, second largest lingcod and the largest non-lingcod. Captain Brian Cutting won the “Battle of the Bay” trophy for Randy’s Fishing Trips.

Greg Oswald of Campbell took first place with a 25.15 lb. lingcod, taking home $300 and a trophy. He caught the monster lingcod on a lure given to him by Bob Strickland, president of United Anglers of California.

Tim Marinello bagged the second biggest lingcod, a 12 lb. 9 oz. beauty, while fishing a red 5 inch Senorita Swim Bait aboard the Sur Randy. He won $200 and a trophy for his fine catch.

Chris Lencione landed the largest non-lingcod, a 26 lb. halibut, while fishing a whole squid. He took home $100 and a trophy.

The Sur Randy ended up with a total of 14 lingcod, 2 cabezon, 1 halibut and limits of rockfish for the 28 passengers. “We caught most of our fish in 100 feet of water off Ano Nuevo,” said Cutting. “We had over a dozen vermilions.”

The 21 anglers aboard the Kahuna out of Tom’s Sportfishing also experienced great fishing, ending up with 11 keeper lingcod and limits of rockfish.

“I caught a real nice sack of rockfish using 2-1/2 ounce Fish Traps,” commented Bill Rawson, former manager of Shamrock Charters, who fished aboard the Kahuna. “I landed two big reds, a 5 lb. grass rockfish and one gopher cod. The rest of the fish were big blues.”

I fished aboard the Velocity with Captain Kenny Stagnaro and was very impressed by the quality of fish that we bagged. The 38 anglers aboard the boat caught 17 lingcod, including many over 10 pounds, and limits of rockfish.

Brad Schultz of Boulder Creek won the jackpot aboard the Velocity with a 12.5 lb. lingcod. He also nailed a 12 lb. lingcod and his limit of rockfish while tossing out 8 oz. bars. Kathy Starling of Boulder Creek bagged two huge vermilion rockfish while using shrimp flies and whole squid.

Other notable fish taken aboard the boat were the 12 lb. cabezon landed by Neilson Jumawan and the 8 lb. vermilion taken by Ron Waltrip. Shaine Waltrip of Santa Cruz, the fiancé of Art Helgueros, nailed an 11 lb. lingcod.

Jimmy Ray of Santa Cruz, Randy Kasdorf of Scotts Valley, Matt Kasdorf, Casey Chung all landed quality lingcod while using a variety of methods. Chad Goodwin traveled all of the way from Colville, Washington to fish aboard the Velocity. Although he didn’t land a lingcod, he bagged a hefty vermilion while using a sanddab.

I used a variety of bars and jigs, including Gibbs Minnows, Mega Baits and Pucci lures, to nail a mixed limit of blue, gopher, yellowtail and vermilion rockfish. I didn’t hook any lingcod while using the bars, so I switched to a whole sardine on halibut rig and caught a keeper lingcod on the day’s second to last drift.

The weather was great, with a smooth ride on the boat up the coast from Santa Cruz. The wind didn’t begin to blow until around 1 p.m.

After everybody got off the boats and had their fish weighed and cleaned, Walter Nash and Art Helgueros, the organizers of the derby, were there with the barbecue team putting the final touches to the feast of barbecue chicken and tri-tip, along with plenty of potato and green salad.

After Nash gave out the big fish awards and raffle prizes, he handed $1520 in cash, the entire proceeds of the raffle, to Bob Strickland to support the conservation efforts of United Anglers of California. Sponsors of the event included Reed’s Sport Shop, Fisherman’s Warehouse in San Jose, Okuma, Boater’s World, Bayside Marine and S & L Home Loans.

It was a great, fun event and I plan to participate in next year’s “Who’s Your Daddy” Big Ling Tournament. For more information, call Walter Nash at (831) 239-6417.

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