The Sweet Smell of Victory!!!

After a loss by mere ounces last year, The Gold Coast Lady Anglers were ready for a rematch and pumped to get on the Mirage to duke it out against Ventura County Sportfishing Club. Seabass had been in the counts and we were hopeful to get our shot at them! We boarded, grabbed our bunks, rigged up and quickly put on the first round of rally gear that Ruta brought!!

Ride across was a bit rough but once we reached our destination the sea flattened out and we rested well till right before the grey light.

Mary was first up at around 4:30.....She woke me up and asked if we could start fishing and I said, "Hell Yeah" and popped out of my bunk as well. We were first out on deck and in awe at the parking lot of boats that surrounded us...Guess we were in the right spot!!!

I rigged up a dropper loop on my 40 lb set up for fear of the batrays and seals that bite so well in the dark. Sure as the sun rises i get picked up by a freakin' flapper (bat ray, mud marlin, etc...) and Mary follows quickly behind...Wide open Bat Rays!!!

More and more people started to rise from the bunks and soon the rails were full....Game on, let the competition begin!!!!

As the sun began to give us light the fish came under the boat...Tap Tap....I'm on!!!! I land the first fish for the girls team...A Seabass, small, but fiesty and a contribution for the girls team.

High Fives and cat calls all around and moments later Sophia is bent. We took a quick pic.

One is boated for the opposing team by Linda who is a member of both clubs, a woman fishing on the opposing team...Still only women on the board.

Suddenly Miryam comes down the rail grunting and groaning, or should I say moaning, with her rod bent all the way over...As the gaff came out and the fish hit the deck, the entire stern was blinded by her glow and deafened by the sounds that came out of her as she landed her very fist Seabass. She joined us for the shot, and then there were three..........

I hook up to a second fish which is lost at the gaff, but Chris makes up for it as she hooks up and lands this amazing halibut.

I catch 2 more and at this point the guys are starting to hang their heads low....watching us catch fish after fish.

Barbara's on...MONSTER HALIBUT!!! Which ends up being the Jackpot...

Louise is on...Seabass!!

Ruta is on...Seabass!!!!! and then a barracuda holding true to her name:

"RUTA BARRACUDA"

Mary and Jeanne are the only one's left without a fish to contribute so far...we all rubbed them for good luck!

The bite slowed down and Tucker decided to take a look around for a school that wanted to bite better. It was warming up nicely so the sweatshirts came off and the "bresticles" came out. I discoved that Barb';s were actually scratch-n-sniff!!!!

Then the boas made their way to the deck....We were so happy to be in the lead and even happier to be rubbing it in. Check out our hot to trot fearless leader!

The head gear came out next...Louise brought her umbrella hat to poke the eyes out of the "frenemies" but ended up poking our eyes out instead, lol!!! Ruta's wine cork hat was a hit as well!!

We decided to look around in the kelp lines for more fish...we pull up and I suggest the reverse dropperloop for Sheephead...Jeanne takes the suggestion ans nails a huge Goat which tips the scales 10 pounds further our way...The men were so quiet at this point....or maybe we just couldn't hear them over the hootin' and hollerin' we were doing!

We land a few more....Mary boats a FAT Cabezon to contribute to the weigh off!!!

Tucker decideds to try one last time to catch another Seabass before we call it a day... We drift for a while and as we are chatting Ruta gets nailed...Another Seabass, and this would be the last fish of the day for us.

I ended the day with three Seabass boated...one lost at the gaff...3 for 4 aint too bad. I was happy to have a limit as you can see from my ear to ear grin.

The fish came out of the hold and we were ecstatic....We all gathered for a few pics....Barb has the Jack pot NO QUESTIONS ASKED with her huge Butt that ened up weighing in at 26 pounds.

I got out a plate and a pen and each member pulled out their biggest fish. When all was said and done:

VCSC - 72 pounds

GCLA - 105.2 pounds

Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!!!!!

What an amazing day on the water...Just gorgeous weather, a fabulous group of fish-killin' women and a great bite to go along with it...Several times we laughed to tears and my cheeks are still sore from smiling so much all day.

We gathered for a group shot on the stern...

Back at the landing we recieve our trophy and pose proudly as we thank the fishing gods for such an AMAZING day... Ruta had organized to donate a portion of our catch to the Food Share Program...Thanks RUTA!!!

Big thanks to the Ventura County Sportfishing Club for partnering for this event and the Crew of the Mirage who were fabulous as always!!!!

The Gold Coast Lady Anglers would like to wish a Happy Birthday to the lovely ladies who celebrate their Birthday in the month of July!!!!

Patty G. - July 2nd
Louise C. - July 17th

Babsie S. - July 23rd

Candy S. - July 24th

Alaska 2011

What is green and white, has two eyes on one side and has never been on my hook? It is a halibut! This fish has eluded my hook for many years. I have been on trips where anglers on both sides of me have hooked up on halibuts or there was a hot halibut bite the day before and after I went out. Well, all that changed June 10th when I went fishing with Kingfisher Lodge and Charters in Sitka, Alaska. As we began our descend through the clouds, the view of the islands and town of Sitka opened up. All the mountains were green and the very top snow covered, there are so many islands in the bay some with private homes or B&B's tucked between the trees. When we landed two guides were waiting for our extremely excited 8 person group. They assisted us with our luggage and tried to get us focused enough to get on the shuttle bus to take us to Shee Atika Totem Square Inn, where we spent our first night.

The first full day in Sitka was spent divided with the 5 "newbies" sightseeing and the 3 "oldies" went on a beautiful waterfall hike and to Fortress of the Bears. We (newbies) visited the Totem National Park, dropped off postcards at the Post Office, walked to the Raptor Center and hitched a ride with Fortress of the Bears shuttle van around town then he dropped us off at Fortress of the Bears. After the bears, we took a taxi to the Sheldon Jackson College Hatchery and Aquarium. If anyone would like my tested "One day Sitka tour map" let me know. ;-) Kingfisher picked us up at 3pm and took us to their lodge where our fishing adventure begins! The accommodations are amazing: 4 bedrooms with a bathroom in each, spacious living/kitchen/dining area, washer/dryer (soap provided) and lastly an incredible view from our balcony. With 7 Lady Anglers and 1 Gentleman Angler we were so comfortable and needed nothing else. Around 5pm delicious appetizers where dropped off in our kitchen and dinner started at 6pm. The food was wonderful, 3 options for your entree, a soup/salad bar, and most importantly dessert which usually included ice cream! Rise and shine was 4:30, breakfast started at 5am, the vans took us to the harbor at 5:45am and we were on our way by 6am each day.

The first day was on the Kaiya with Captain Bryan our end of day count was 9 halibut, 2 yellow eye, a dogface shark, a skate, 3 kings, 1lingcod, at least 20 pinkies and tons of jellyfish on the line. We saw puffins, sea otters and humpback whales. Conditions were unbelievable: flat seas, blue skies, no wind and too much fun. Second day was on the Titan with Captain Paul and our end of day count was lots of miscellaneous rock fish, 4 kings, 4 pinkies, 1 silver, 3 short lingcods, 2 yelloweye, 2 big coppers, several black bass and 1 china rock fish. We had a grey whale 20 ft off the bow of the boat and again flat seas, blue skies and no wind. The third and final day was back on the Kaiya and it was exciting! Sandi reeled in a 200 lb halibut and was it was safely released, a 47" lingcod, a 25lb king, 37" halibut, limits on silvers and pinks, some black bass and chuckleheads and 2 sharks!! Thankfully the weather was amazing for the third day in a row! The fishing was everything I hoped for and definitely would love to go back next year!

p.s. I forgot how to add pics throughout the blog so here's a link to my facebook page for more pictures. It seems you can click on "facebook page" and it will take you there..