Pacific Rim Fly Fishing Championship 2007
Never
having been in any type of Fly Fishing Competition I was
a bit surprised when Mark Pendlington of B.C. called and
asked if I would have interest in being on the U.S. Fly
Fishing Team against Canada at the Pacific Rim Saltwater Fly Fishing Championship
for 2007, being held at Peregrine Lodge in British Columbia. I got the
details from Mark on the tournament and it was a go.
We were to be at the airport in Vancouver B.C. on the
morning of Sept. 2nd and fly out to Peregrine Lodge, located on Queen
Charlotte Island. Brian
O’Keefe and myself both live in Oregon so we car pooled it up together.
Steve and Tim Rajeff car pooled in from Washington.
Brian
O’Keefe had taken Gold in the 2006 competition, so he had an edge
on what to expect when fly fishing the ocean for Salmon.
Last year Tom Johannesen was leading the tournament at
the end of the 1st day but at the end of the 2nd and last day of the
tournament, Brian took the lead and won 1st place taking
home the Gold! Tom
took 2nd place, taking home the Silver. At the lodge Tom
told us that he had tied flies for 11 months getting ready for
this years tournament.
In
all there were twelve of us competing for the Gold, Silver & Bronze.
Lot’s
of excitement in the air for the fishing contest as we sat
at the dinner table over gourmet food! They set us up in
teams of two and I shared the boat with Tim Rajeff during the tournament.
To
be honest, I knew that I could not out cast Steve or Tim
Rajeff who are World Champion Fly Casters, or Brian O’Keefe who
is also a great caster. Probably the other 8 anglers could
out cast me as well, so my game plan was to try to out fish them!
On
the first day of the tournament, Tim didn’t feel in the best of
health, so I told him that we didn’t need to push it. After
a few hours of nothing, I suggested that we go closer to
shore by the rocks and cast for Black Bass just to get a tug on our
line. Tim thought
that was a good idea so we moved in closer to shore and we
each caught about 20 Sea Bass up to 4 lbs. They didn’t
count but it was sure a lot of fun for both of us. We then
headed back out for Salmon in the ocean! Kind of like looking for
a needle in a hay stack, because we were unable to find any
bait balls in the ocean that attract feeding Salmon. We were also
told that most of the Salmon migrate through the waters that
we were fishing. I did have one huge Coho follow my fly to
the boat but he didn’t take
the fly. At
the end of the first day of fishing only one fish had been
caught by Brian O’Keefe
so he took the lead. The beginning of the 2nd and last day of
the tournament, Brian had the first fish radioed in to take a two
fish lead! Next Brian Chan hooked and landed a 9 lb. Coho,
which was the largest fish caught so far. Next Terry Petras
caught a 4 lb. Coho and that put him in 3rd place. Due to
the fishing being so tough on the first day of the tournament,
Mark said that all Salmon would count. This
would give us all a chance to catch Coho, King, Chum & Pink Salmon.
On
the beginning of the 2nd day we all raced away from the
dock and I was truly fighting to keep our boat motor straight. I
mean with all my strength. After we ran a bit I told Tim
that the motor was really pulling and we could easily tip
over or loose a person. Tim
checked it out and radioed to Mark that we were having
mechanical problems and headed back for the dock. They
found that the trim guide for steering left to right had
not been tightened so it was a very good thing that we
had gone back to the dock. As
we started out again, I got to thinking we were loosing
a whole hour of fishing. Once
we got out to everyone I asked Tim to see if we could get
any make-up-time. Mark
was quick to respond and say we could get our hour back.
I told Tim, just tell him a half hour would be great! This
gave us until 4:30 PM to fish. Action to say the least
was very slow for all of us in the tournament and I thought
to my self that if I am going down I might as well put
on a fly that I know all Salmon love. With
that thought I tied on a # 2 Hot Pink Teeny Leech. Using
our Teeny TS-350 flyline I would cast and strip back fairly
fast. On one of my casts the fly was close to the boat
and I got a solid hit. I
set the hook, fought and landed a 4 ½ lb. Pink Salmon. This
now put me in 3rd Place. About 25 minutes later I got a
solid strike and I hooked a good sized fish! After a big
battle, Tim puts the net under a big Coho! We measured
the length and girth of the fish and radioed it in. They
came back to us and said it was a 12 pound fish. Tim
looked up at me and said “I think you just won the Tournament with
this fish”! To be honest, that thought hadn’t crossed
my mind I was just happy to catch a couple of fish! They
came back on the radio and said we had three more minutes
to fish. I looked at Tim and said “I’m done”!
Tim
and I both fished hard the 2nd day and we never gave up! Back
at the lodge we were awarded our trophies and I was truly proud
to take home the Gold, as I was up against some “Big Guns” of
Flyfishing! Gordon Honey, Ray Lofgren, Terry Petras, Brian Niska,
Rob Vodola, Brian Chan, Tom Johannesen, Steve & Tim Rajeff, Brian
O’Keefe
and Roger McGrath. These are all great guys and fishermen. I
enjoyed the time spent on and off the water with each of them.
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