MBMC President’s Message – April 2021

Greetings fellow club members,

I hope you are all enjoying the gradual reopening of our world. I know we’ve all been anxiously awaiting a return to normal. Your MBMC board has been hard at work to bring club activities back on line while taking into consideration the wishes and concerns of all members. As you may have noticed we are pushing to return to a normal tournament schedule and are planning a 2020 awards banquet for a tentative May timeframe based on the current Covid trend. We are also planning to combine the annual membership meeting to be held in conjunction with the banquet. With that being said, we do welcome member feedback as we look to move forward with planning.

Now on to the fishing….

FOM:  I would like to begin by congratulating Jeff Zachary for clinching the March 2021 FOM with a 4.8 pound Bocaccio Cod. Nice going Jeff!

Bay Bass tournament recap: Wanted to take a moment to once again congratulate Mario Souza for his win on last month’s Bay Bass tournament. A special thank you goes out to Mario for donating his winnings back to the club. Although never expected it was a generous act in support of our club. Thank you Mario!

The Bite: As we move through spring, the warm weather is bringing up the water temps and seems to be having an expected positive impact on the fishing.

  • Bluefin moving up the line; below Ensenada 40 miles off beach.
    • Party boats out of SD found schools of those 30- 50+ Pacific Bluefin Tuna over the holiday weekend – most of the fish caught were on Flatfall or Colt Sniper type jigs sent down or casts to the fish while the school was up or under the boat deeper 100 ft or so a few fish on sinker and sardines fished deep — I think high boat had 30-35 fish for the day with 2- 5 fish per stop.
    • ~31° 26′ 23″ N and 117° 13′ 07″ W (Polaris Supreme)
  • Cod fishing
    • Rock Cod fishing has been decent when the weather permits. Occasional Lings to be found.
  • Yellowtail
    • Off and on at the islands with better 20+ lb grade coming in.

Upcoming Rock/Ling Cod tournament (April 24th & 25th): Grab your cod gear and come out for a weekend of fun!! This year’s MBMC Cod tournament is sure to be a great event to all those that join. Not only has the board agreed to a 100% payback of entries for all the Men’s, Women’s and Junior’s divisions, the club is also putting up a $50 Dana Landing Gift Card to sweeten the pot for each division. In addition, there is also a Lingcod jackpot that can be entered for an additional $10 side bet; also to include the same $50 Dana Landing Gift Card bonus award. See the entry and rules for details, Entry Form  and Rules , also on the MBMC website and available in hard copy at Dana Landing soon, if not already. Don’t miss out on this fun for all event!

I will wrap it up at this point as I’m sure you all have boat work and tackle to rig. Hope to see you all soon!

Safe travels and tight lines,

Shane Hurt, President

BAY BASS TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Greeting fellow members,

I hope this message finds you all well!

I wanted to take a moment to provide a wrap up for last weekend’s Bay Bass Tournament and recognize the winner. Despite the overall nice weekend weather, it appears we only had three anglers on two separate boats competing. The only image received by the board was from winning angler Mario Souza boasting a 14.75 inch Calico Bass. Well done Mario!! Mario takes home the cash prize and logs his first tournament win for 2021.

Stand by for upcoming announcements for this month’s Rock Cod/Ling Cod Tournament slated for April 24th & 25th for which we hope to get a good showing of anglers participating. The club website will be updated soon with entry forms and rules.

Enjoy this stellar weather and hopefully some time on the water,

Shane Hurt

BAY BASS TOURNAMENT REMINDER !

Greetings!

This weekend (March 27th & 28th) the club is holding it’s annual Bay Bass tournament to get the tournament year started. This has always been a favorite for anglers of all ages and is a great way to enjoy a day on the water. So dust off that Bass gear and join your fellow club members at all the secret spots! 

As a reminder the boundary is restricted to Mission Bay only. The following links are to Tournament Rules and Entry Form, also on the MBMC website, or hard copies are also available at Dana Landing Tackle Shop for all your tournament questions.

***RULE CHANGE*** In the interest of attracting more anglers to this year’s tournament, the MBMC Board members have agreed to allow fishing from all access points within Mission Bay. This includes docks, jettys, land……etc.

Good luck and hope to see you on the water!

Shane Hurt

MARCH PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Greetings MBMC members,

I hope this month’s letter finds you well. It would seem life as we know it is gradually returning to normal. As a result, the board members have been working to bring club operations back on line to allow for us all to enjoy events and gatherings. More to come on this below and in the near future…..

I wanted to congratulate our February FOM winner Jim Kelley for his 32.6 lb. Halibut catch. Well done Jim!

I do regret to inform you all that fishing does seem to be a bit slow from what I have heard. With the Yellowtail and White Sea Bass bite being slow at best, we would hope the cod fishing would provide some respite. However, even the cod bite seems to be slow since the opener on March 1st. Very limited reports did come back from boats looking further south with minimal success on Bluefin Tuna and Yellowtail towards Colonette. It would seem that turning our sights further inshore for Halibut and Bass species may be the best option for now.

With that, I would like to invite you all to join us later this month for the first club tournament of the 2021 year. The Mission Bay Only Bay Bass Tournament is slated to take place the weekend of March 27th & 28th the target species being Spotted Bay Bass, Calico Bass, and Sand Bass and based on a catch-photo-release (CPR) format. The entry deadline is set for Friday the 26th at 6 PM with options for submitting your entry via club email. Refer to the Entry Form and Rules found on the club website. We look forward to seeing a good turnout and we strive to get club functions rolling again.

In closing, I wanted to let you all know that the board is meeting on a weekly basis to plan a casual awards banquet to celebrate last year’s awards winners. This will most likely be combined with our annual membership meeting in an effort to get caught up as the year picks up speed. Details will be coming your way soon!

Wishing you all good health and tight lines,

Shane Hurt

2020 MBMC Award Winners

Greetings club members,

It is my pleasure to announce the 2020 MBMC Award Winners to you at this time. Despite a year marked by adversity, the MBMC was able to put some notable catches on the board for an array of species. Congratulations to the winners noted below and well done to all club members!  

Marlin Oscars:

  • 1st. Marlin Release for 2020 season, and 
  • 1st. Release on 50 lb. Test Line
    • Shane Hurt aboard “CHIQELIN” (8/16/2020)
  • 1st. Marlin Captured for 2020 season
    • Jeff Meeker aboard “FIRE ESCAPE” (9/10/2020)
  • 1st. Marlin Captured on 80 lb. Test Line (9/26/2020),and
  • Largest Marlin of the Season 190.5 (10/24/2020), and
  • Last Marlin of the Season (10/24/2020)
    • Steve Milligan aboard “HIGH COUNT
  • Top Boat of the Season – 2020
    • ENCOUNTER“, Captain Ken Yasuda
    • 2 Captured Marlin, 1 Released Marlin

Largest Species Weighed – 2020:

  • Bonito – Brent Hargraves Jr. (1.6 lbs.)
  • Spotted Bay Bass – Brent Hargraves Jr. (2.2 lbs.)
  • Dorado – Shannon Carpenter (8.5 lbs.)
  • Halibut – Bill Vitale (11.3 lbs.)
  • Lingcod – Tim Honick (9.8 lbs.)
  • Lingcod – Shannon Carpenter (9.2 lbs.)
  • Marlin – Steve Milligan (190.5 lbs.)
  • Rockfish – Brent Hargraves (3.4 lbs.)
  • Rockfish – Kimmy Hughes (4.8 lbs.)
  • Rockfish – Brent Hargraves Jr. (4 lbs.)
  • Bluefin Tuna – Dan Banks (261 lbs.)
  • Yellowtail – Billy Vitale (20 lbs.)

FOM 2020:

  • Jan    –Tim Honick (9.8 lb Ling Cod)
  • Feb   – Bill Vitale (11.3 lb Ling Cod)
  • Mar   – Trish Carlin (7 lb Ling Cod)
  • Apr   – Elaine Bailey Hughes (MBMC Drawing)
  • May  – Jeff Zachary (174 lb BFT)
  • June – John Brudvick (225.4 lb BFT)
  • July  –  Jarad Gilbert (46.7 lb BFT)
  • Aug  –  Dan Banks (32.3 lb BFT)
  • Sept – Steve Milligan (158 lb Striped Marlin)
  • Oct   – Dan Banks (261 lb BFT)
  • Nov  – Shannon Carpenter (8.5 lb Dorado)
  • Dec  – Shannon Carpenter (9.2 lb Ling Cod)

As previously mentioned, the club is looking forward to a formal awards presentation banquet as soon as Covid restrictions permit. We look forward to getting together with you all to celebrate the winners above and share some long overdue comradery. More to come in the near future…..

Sincerely,

Shane Hurt