Happy New Year MBMC club members!

As we roll in to 2021, I would like to introduce myself as your new club president. I know many of you from both on and off the water and am happy to call many of you friends. As your club president, I look forward to getting to know you all. At this point in time we are still looking to fill out the club’s governing board member positions so anyone that would like to participate is encouraged to reach out at this time. In particular, we are hard at work trying to fill a treasurer position to avoid having to outsource the minimal work load at an expense to the club. Rest assured we have a number of veteran board members contributing their time and experience to keep club functions working smoothly as we anticipate returning to normal club operations during the 2021 calendar year. Ken Yasuda, Billy Vitale, and Jarrad Gilbert will all be returning board members although we are still finalizing their specific titles at this time.

A reminder to all members to get your 2021 memberships sent in by Jan 31st to ensure your name is in the hat for the early bird raffle drawing….a Shimano Tranx reel! So far we have received renewals for 35 members along with two additional new members. Let’s extend a warm welcome to Larry Deatherage and his junior member son, Binks. Welcome aboard gentlemen.

We are planning to send out the 2021 membership cards the first week of February and hope to follow up in March with the 2021 Membership directory. Thank you to Ken Suyenaga and Ken Yasuda for their efforts in making this happen.

I would like to take a moment to thank our outgoing president, Shawn Kaus, for his hard work this past year. A special thank you goes out to our outgoing treasurer, Trish Carlin, as well. Trish has been instrumental in helping the club optimize out tax filing status along with maintaining club finances. Also, a special thanks goes out to Larry Oberti for all his work in maintaining our club website and publishing our emails. Our 2020 board members faced many obstacles during trying times to maintain some semblance of normalcy in club functions despite mandated restrictions that we all felt to varying degrees no doubt.

– 2020 Wrap Up    –

Despite all the craziness of 2020, I think we can all agree that the fishing was excellent for the majority of the year. The mild winter and nice weather allowed for lots of opportunities all the way up to the holidays and continues into January. We are so lucky here in Southern California to be able to enjoy time on the water during the winter months. I am hearing reports of Yellowtail and the occasional White Sea Bass being caught in the coastal waters surrounding Mission Bay as we exit 2020 and move into the new year. And let’s not overlook the always popular cod fishing to fill out your winter menu.

Special congrats to Shannon Carpenter for clinching the Dec 2020 Fish of the Month (FOM) with her 9.2 lb Ling Cod aboard the Encounter. Way to wrap up the year Shannon!

In closing, I wanted to let you all know the 2020 awards have been tabulated and I will be following this email soon announcing the winners. Aside from all the great catches of a variety of species over the year, the club also registered a good showing of Marlin catches to claim Oscars for their respective anglers. Billy Vitale is hard at work putting the final touches on all the awards and we look forward to presenting those in the near future. Thank you Billy! Although an official awards banquet taking place any time soon looks bleak at this time, the board members are working to determine the best way to acknowledge all the anglers that claimed an award for the 2020 season. Although we may not be able to work along the regular timeline for an awards banquet, the club is planning to have a banner banquet as soon as restrictions are lifted and we are all able to return to a sense of normalcy.

Wishing you all a safe and prosperous 2021,

Shane Hurt