Thanks to the High Count Boyz, Steve Milligan and Bob Nelson as well as Ken Yasuda on the Encounter (Kayak fishing) for their participation in the Halibut/White Seabass Tournament.

Not the best of conditions out there with Southwind on Saturday.  They gave it their best, but no qualifying fish were weighed in. We will Raffle off the $50 Dana Landing Gift Card to the Participants at the next Social Event.

Save a place on your Calendar for the next two MBMC Events below:

• June 12th – Tuna Seminar @ Sardina’s Restaurant with John White of Dana Landing Tackle
• June  25 & 26 – MBMC Tuna Tournament / Yellowtail Side Pot (Entry / Rules to follow shortly).  Lots of Bluefin showing and kelp paddy yellowtail!

Ray Fear / Kevin Yamamoto

Tournament Chairs

Greetings fellow anglers, 

As always, I hope this message finds you well. I also hope you are finding some time in your busy schedules to get outdoors and enjoy some of this amazing weather we have been enjoying….preferably on the water. Despite some occasional wind, conditions seem to be looking up right on schedule.

To start this month’s letter off, I wanted to take a moment to thank one of our club members for a generous contribution to the club itself. A special thank you goes out to members Tim and Heidi McBride for their donation of $835.00 which the club will use towards one of the top prizes in their name for the yearly Marlin tournament. I would also like to wish the McBride’s the best of luck as they represent MBMC in the prestigious Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT). Catch em up team!

Moving on, sorry to report that the April FOM award went unclaimed. I would expect some decent catches to be reported for this month as weather and fishing improves. The big fishing news currently centers around the Bluefin Tuna bite with scattered reports of quality grade fish coming from as close as the 9-mile bank and downward below the border. Spreader bars seem to be the hot ticket with fish also being taken on a variety of other offerings. 

The inshore bite sounds rather slow due to the recent wind and subsequent off colored water.

Upcoming Events

• A reminder that this weekend, May 21st & 22nd will be this year’s MBMC Halibut & White Sea Bass tournament. Be sure to get your entries submitted and join in the fun!
• Coming up in June, the club will be hosting a Tuna Seminar/dinner on June 12th with the very knowledgeable John White from Dana Landing coming out to share some tips and tactics to help us all put some fish in the boat. Don’t miss this event as we kick off the 2022 seminar series.
• The MBMC Tuna tournament will take place on June 25th & 26th in what we are hoping to be an ideal window for some great competition making for a fun tournament. Mark your calendars!
• More updates to come for July as the board discusses and finalizes planning! We are looking to combine this year’s Marlin seminar with a summer picnic which should be fun for all in attendance. Stay tuned for details….

As I try to wrap this up, I wanted to throw out a reminder to all members to send in your photos and fish reports to the club email (info@missionbaymarlinclub.org) so we can post your catches to social media and share your story with members.

Until next time….tight lines and flat seas.

Shane Hurt

MBMC President – 2022

MBMC Members,

The 2022 Bay Bass Tournament is now official.  Great weather for Saturday and Sunday on the Bay.  An enjoyable San Diego Spring weekend to be out on the water.

Congratulations to the Hargraves for sweeping the awards!

• Men’s Winner ($155)      Bob Hargraves – Radar
• Women’s Winner ($30)   Donna Hargraves – Radar
• Junior’s Winner ($10)      Brent Hargraves Jr. – Radar

We had a total of seven (7) Anglers.  Thank you all for your participation.

• Mario Souza
• Ken Yasuda
• Kent Yamada
• Bob Hargraves
• Donna Hargraves
• Brent Hargraves Sr.
• Brent Hargraves Jr.

Catch stats were as follows:

• Bob Hargraves – 15-1/2″ Spotted Sand Bass
• Ken Yasuda – 15″ Spotted Sand Bass
• Donna Hargraves – 14-3/4″ Spotted Sand Bass
• Brent Hargraves Sr. – 14-1/4″ Spotted Sand Bass
• Brent Hargraves Jr. – 14-1/4″ Spotted Sand Bass

Next year’s goal will be for a bigger and better Tournament.  I’ll have to add it to my Calendar to be sure and get in on the fun. Don’t forget, the MBMC Halibut / Whiteseabass Tournament is this month (May 21/22). In the meantime, there are bluefin to be chased, rockcod to be wound up, & yellowtail to keep an eye out for.

Have a great week.

Kevin Yamamoto, 

MBMC – Tournament Co-Chair

Greetings fellow MBMC members, 

I hope this message finds you well as the weather warms and our fishing action starts to heat up. 

Before jumping in, I wanted to throw out a quick reminder that our first tournament of 2022 takes place this coming weekend. We are hoping all our members will dust off their light tackle and come out to join us for the Bay Bass Tournament taking place in Mission Bay. As a reminder to previous emails, all member boats and shore fishing options are acceptable so come on out and enjoy some friendly competition! Entry Forms and Rules can be found on the club website and your board has made every effort to make entry and posting of catches as easy as possible. Also mentioned was the fact that “Hog Trough” measuring devices are available on Amazon for ~$8.00 if you are unable to find one at one of our local preferred tackle vendors.

Also keep in mind the MBMC Halibut/White Sea Bass Tournament is coming up on May 21/22 so make sure your night vision and bounce balls are all in proper working order!

A quick fish report to get us fired up…..sounds like the Bluefin Tuna have moved up above the border in increasing numbers. According to my intel the sport boats are seeing limits with the fish biting everything on “heavy” line (40 lb). Sounds like now is a good time to get on the fish before they smarten up as the season progresses.

Sounds like the local inshore bite is hit and miss with little coverage but those making the efforts are being rewarded. Similar story with the cod fishing.

Wanted to congratulate our March FOM winner – Billy Vitale takes home the award for a 6.2 lb red rockfish. Nice going Billy!

I wanted to take a moment to recap the 2021 MBMC Awards Banquet that was held towards the end of March at Andre’s restaurant in Bay Park. Many thanks to the board for putting that together along with all those that came out to socialize and congratulate the winners from last year. Aside from all our largest species and Oscar winners, I wanted to congratulate our early bird drawing winner, Aileen Sanchez for taking home the $200.00 gift card prize. Another raffle winner, Hugh Kollar took home the largest species $100.00 gift card award.

Some highlights from last year were the winners of the MBMC Marlin Tournament. Despite no qualifying fish being caught, I believe about everyone went home with at least one raffle prize and our three big winners taking home top prizes with the tournament awards being raffled.

• 1st prize ($1000.00) went to Ryan Kohler
• 2nd prize ($700.00) went to Donna Hargraves
• 3rd prize ($500.00) went to Jose Sanchez

Aside from the above, I wanted to send out a congrats to our only 2021 tournament winner, team Encounter, for winning the rock cod tournament. All other tournament entries were returned to the entrants based on lack of entry or qualifying catches. We are all hoping to see more participation this year as the world returns to normal.

One more item to note is to inform you all that MBMC directories went out at the beginning of the month along with club decals so if you did not receive yours, feel free to let the board know via email and we will get it straightened out. 

I think that about covers it for now…..looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Tight lines and big fish,

Shane Hurt  , MBMC President  – 2022

Hello everyone,

We would like to issue an Amendment to Rule #4 in the Bay Bass Tournament.  This will open up some options to all Participants as to where they may fish from.  See below for a quick summary. 

4.   Participants must fish from an approved Vessel or Structure.

       a.   Boat, Kayak, Dingy, Watercraft, Paddleboard, & Float Tubes are Approved Vessels.

       b.   Docks, Moored Vessel, Shoreline, Jetties, & Floating Platforms are Approved Structures.

Please click on following links for the amended Tournament   Rules and Entry Form. 

Good Luck fishing!