Greetings everyone!

Well it’s August and fishing is in full swing. There is tuna, Yellowtail, Dorado and Marlin to be found offshore and halibut and bass biting inshore. I had a chance to fish marlin at Catalina last weekend and we caught a striper on a black and purple pakula lure on the Avalon bank.  We released the fish so he can be caught again another day.

I wish I had more good news to write about opening up the functions of the club but it is what it is. We are still not allowed to hold social gatherings so the monthly seminars are on hold until the Covid guidelines allow us to have them. The board is still meeting through teleconferences monthly and discussing the functions the club can and can’t do. We hope you all understand that we have to abide by the Covid Guidelines and when allowed to the club will do its best to make it up to the members.

Tournaments:

The first tournament of the year was held last month and was our annual Yellowtail Tournament. We had only one boat enter and since there was only one boat we returned the entry fees. I know that things are scary for a lot of us and we ask for everyone to abide by the Covid Guidelines but we are trying to get things started. This month’s Tuna Tournament will be held August 22 and 23th. There will be entries online @ Missionbaymarlinclub.org and behind the counter at Dana Landing. I hope we can get a better turnout for this one.

The 46th annual Mission Bay Marlin Club Marlin Tournament will be held September 26th . This will be an intra-club tournament (meaning only club members may fish the tournament this year) and I hope all of you will do your best to fish this tournament . We have decided to keep the prize money the same as last year regardless of entries – First place $1000 Second $700 and Third $500. This is a great opportunity for a payday and hope that attendance for club members will be high! We will be giving out Captains bags, T-shirts and have some on the water raffle prizes for entrants. Each member will be getting an entry form sent to them with all the rules and details so we encourage you to participate.

Congratulations to Fish of the Month winner Jared Gilbert with a 46.7lb Bluefin tuna. Jarred traveled almost to the Cortez bank to capture the fish with a sinker rig.

Welcome new member, Nick Kane. Thank you for joining and look forward to getting to know you and all the other new members as soon as things get back to normal.

Thanks everyone for being understanding through this unprecedented time for our club. Stay safe and go fishing as much as possible since its one of the few places where the world seems normal.

Best wishes,  Shawn

Hello Mission Bay Marlin Club members,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the summer months as fishing continues to improve. I wanted to let you all know that the club is functioning and trying to navigate through these crazy times. We have attempted to organize some activities and tournaments over the last three months only to have the Virus guidelines restrict our activities as they pertain to all members. We are trying hard to open up things as soon as the San Diego County Covid-19 guidelines allow. With that being said, here’s what’s going on as of now.

The July Yellowtail  Tournament is set for July 25 & 26 and we are moving ahead as planned. This will be the first tournament we are attempting to run this year and we are asking everyone to follow the San Diego County Covid-19 restrictions for boating that are current for those dates. Entries can be found online (Rules and Entry Form) and behind the counter at Dana Landing (which is the location for you to turn in your completed entry forms).

In addition, this year’s 47th annual Heart Tournament has been decided to be an Inner-Club Tournament. Meaning we are looking to scale back on invitations to other clubs and the general public as a whole. We are currently in the planning stages and will be letting you all know the details soon. Despite the limited planned scope of the tournament, we can assure you that we are making every effort to ensure that those that participate will enjoy and benefit from the revised format as we all look to enjoy a positive experience during these difficult times.

  Congratulations to longtime member John Brudvik on winning the June Fish of the Month with a 225lb Bluefin Tuna. That is an awesome catch for our local waters and quite a difficult fish to land. The fishing for these trophies is happening now through the fall and the 43 to San Clemente Island is currently the zone. Yellowtail, Dorado and Yellowfin Tuna are also being caught from 30-60 miles below the border and on up into US waters. I hope you all have the chance to get out on the water to enjoy the sport we all love.

We want to welcome Three New Members to our club. Daniel Lecuna aboard “Reel Life”, Dan Banks aboard “Tuna Tank” and Bill Wilkinson aboard “Profishent”. Welcome to these new members and we all look forward to meeting you in person around the waterfront or at our next social event. If any of you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to myself or any other board members and we will be happy to share our knowledge or point you in the right direction. As club members, we are all here to help our entire community enjoy a successful day on the water.

I hope as August approaches, we will be able to meet and reconnect with each other to enjoy the peak of summer fishing.

Until then…..smooth seas and tight lines,

Your MBMC president,

Shawn Kaus

The MBMC Tournament Schedule, entry forms, and rules have been updated on the website, Tournaments and Events page. The Yellowtail Tournament is scheduled for July 25-26, Tuna Tournament for August 22-23, Roy Lively Memorial Month Long Marlin Tournament for September 1-30, and the What’s hot Tournament for October 24-25.

We are excited to have tournaments back on the schedule and looking forward to some great Tournaments. Stay healthy and good fishing!

Rafael Sanchez, Tournament Director.

Hello fellow anglers,
I know it has been a while since my last message but I wanted you to know the club’s board has been meeting via conference call on a scheduled basis to best determine how to bring our regularly scheduled events back to the forefront. We have made sure to be conscientious of every member in making decisions based on the current Covid-19 guidelines and want to assure you we are anxious to get club operations back to normal as soon as possible.

With that being said, we are planning to resume our monthly tournament schedule beginning in July and are hoping to have a good turn out with what we expect will be many of us  back on the water. Fishing has lots of options right now with Bluefin, Yellowfin, Dorado and Yellowtail showing regularly. The kelps have been holding for the first time in a while and the tuna have been coming off of meter marks and kite presentations. There has also been some Barracuda, Bonita, Halibut and Yellowtail inshore off Pt Loma and Pacific Beach and on up into the La Jolla zone. Hope this gets everyone fired up and out there soon to enjoy the sport we love.

Congratulations to Jeff Zachery who won Fish of the Month for May with a 174lb Bluefin. He has started this season off well with that fish. Jeff presented our club’s Tuna Seminar last year in which he shared his secrets to Kite fishing for these Jumbo fish. If you were unable to attend and have any questions on how to put this productive method of raising large bluefin, please reach out to the board and we will be happy to share our knowledge.

Thank you all for bearing with us as we navigate these difficult times. I hope all is well with everyone and expect things will get back to normal soon.

Best of luck out there,

Shawn

Hi everyone!

I hope this message finds you all healthy.   

Due to the stay at home order and MBMC members not being able to fish, the board has decided to randomly draw the April FOM Winner from the FOM participants.

Drum roll please — The April FOM Winner is: Elaine Bailey Hughes ( a new Member ) from the boat “TIME OUT”.  Elaine will receive the April FOM Gift Card. 

Congratulations!

Weighmaster, Billy Vitale