Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

[Heroes On The Water]

The Southern California Chapter of HEROES ON THE WATER can not thank OEX, Andy (Iceman), all of the participants, and all of the donors enough for such a great Mission Bay Classic fundraising tournament!!!

Thanks to everyone a little over $13,000 was raised for our chapter which will ensure that we will be able to continue serving the brave men and women of our great military.

I know that the fishing could have been a little better but I hope you all enjoyed the great weather and food as you helped make Saturday the huge success it was.

Congratulations to the tournament and raffle winners!!!

A huge shout out to Andy who makes this annual event possible.
Team Sewer came through with a ton of product for the raffle!
Jorge from Team Sewer made sure that we all had plenty of Coca-Cola with our lunch even though he couldn't make it.
Speaking of lunch.... I hope you all enjoyed the Thresher that Tommy at Catalina Offshore Products sent our way.
Jeff B kicked the day up a notch with his very generous reel donations.
Malibu Kayaks
Wilderness Systems Kayaks
Jackson Kayaks
NRS
The Geo Group Foundation for their always generous support.
Dana Point Parasailing
FishDope
Bloody Decks
FINS
Hobie Fishing
Werner Paddles
Everingham Bros Bait Co
Cabo John
Paul Elder
The ever generous Mako Bob

[Iceman]

Some photos from the day, perfect weather! tough fishing, super generous people contributing on all kinds of levels! I will post up a separate thread for complete results.

[Cbad Mike]

We look like a NASCAR pit crew cranking out Thresher Shark tacos.

[octico]

Originally Posted by Cbad Mike

We look like a NASCAR pit crew cranking out Thresher Shark tacos.

Indeed, it did not seem like we cooked that much fish in such a short period of time.

[Saba Slayer]

Thanks Mike and Andy and Brent...OEX...for putting on another great fundraiser for HOW!
Also thanks for letting the CCA CAL participate...it was quite heart warming to see so many members of our kayaking community raise their hands when I asked who belonged to the Coastal Conservation Association...I never see that big a percentage at any gathering that I've been to as a CCA rep. THANKS...

[Iceman]

We had 132 people enter this year. 22 people declared they were going to fish in the halibut division. No legal halibut were brought to the scale this year....again! Bass fishing was not much easier. We allowed your biggest 3 fish and nobody weighed 3 fish! We had a total of 12 fish weighed for the bass division......super tough fishing.

1st place Danny Jones 4-04
2nd Place Kyle Chang 3-15
3rd Place Derek Van Vranken 3-09
4th Place Derwin Chang 2-01
5th Place TIE Rick Seward 2-0
5th Place TIE Kevin Harvey 2-0
6th Place Will Bowen 1-13
7th Place TIE Austin Bland 1-11
7th Place TIE Ed Howerton 1-11
8th Place Chuck Long 1-05

Entry fees amounted to $3120, raffle fees $5034, Paul Elder Print on Canvas sold in the silent auction to Mako Bob for $325. Eric and Geo Group presented a $5000 check as well. Heroes on the Water So Cal is in good shape for the coming year! Could not have happened without YOU!

[Iceman]

Steve Stengel made out like a bandit in the raffle winning BOTH kayaks!

[Baja_Traveler]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Steve Stengel made out like a bandit in the raffle winning BOTH kayaks!

No kidding! If you wanted to win anything you had to be the first inline to buy low number white tickets - and I watched the pot get stirred at least a dozen times! I hope Steve went straight from the raffle to buy lottery tickets...

[alanw]

What was the biggest fish weighed for the side pot? I was kicking myself in the ass at the awards because while I was entered in the Halibut division I caught a fat 15-1/2" Spottie on an 8" Sardine that I released.. totally forgot about the biggest fish deal and it might have been close.