Oregon Surf Fishing Championship

Despite a short 3 to 4 weeks notice of having to reschedule the 2^nd Annual Oregon Surf Fishing Championship date and place, 71 competitors showed up to participate at Ona Beach State Park. One angler even came from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and drove over 2 days just to fish in the tournament! Several anglers came from Washington and many people drove several hours to participate so these events are becoming more popular every year. It’s awesome to see that type of passion for this type of fishing!

Although, we had 84 people last year, there was much more time to plan in 2018 and the event was held during summer vacation so it was expected we would have a drop in numbers this year due to the circumstances of having to reschedule the tournament. We believe we would have had over 100 competitors at Cape Lookout had we been able to hold the tournament then.

One of the nice things to see is the continued diversity of the people that come to the tournaments including beginners who have never caught a surf perch. This is very enheartening to see as it shows just how much surf fishing appeals to all types of people and ages. This is the most minors we have had register so it’s really nice to see parents bringing their kids out to learn this wholesome sport.

Even if we might not agree on many topics, have varying opinions and have different lifestyles, the one thing we all have in common is our love for Oregon Surf Fishing! It’s a great bond and brings a lot of people together who wouldn’t normally visit with each other so it helps promote a community spirit.

We had people come from all over the area despite the short notice of the tournament date and place. One angler, Roland Fero, came from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to compete!

Once people registered, they drove to various beaches as only about 1/3 of the competitors stayed at Ona Beach. The interesting thing is that the July’2019 Ona Beach tournament winner, Sam Mlonie, caught 15 lbs of fish staying at Ona Beach. One competitor drove to Tierra del Mar, which is ~1 ½ hrs away but unfortunately, traffic caught up to them and they missed the weigh-in deadline. The risk of driving to another beach is that traffic can cause you to miss the deadline, especially on a Saturday.

The weather was rainy, windy and chilly in the morning and competitors had to survive a few downpours. The swells were tough to deal with at 6 to 8 ft and it forced anglers further up the beach for safety reasons. There was also a large swing in the tide today. So, with the weather, tide swing and large swells, fishing conditions were not optimal and it tested the competitors’ abilities to adjust their approaches to catch fish. The tough conditions were also reflected in the smaller size of the catches compared to past results at Ona Beach.

There were 19 weigh-ins which was 25% of the competitors who were able to get fish. To have enough skill to get a weigh-in is an accomplishment by itself and anyone should be proud to beat out that many anglers! A full weigh-in list is at the end of this article.

The 2019 Championship winner was Danh Vu who caught 7 lbs of fish, which beat out the 2^nd place winner, Jane Smith, by 1 lbs. Danh used sand crabs on a Carolina rig, a 3ft 25lb mono leader and a 10.6 ft heavy action rod. He fished at Moolack Beach to claim the title of 2019 Oregon Surf Fishing Champion. Danh has consistently been successful in these tournaments as he placed 6^th in last year’s Championship at Gearheart and won the 2018 Warm-up at Ona Beach. It’s clear he’s a very knowledgeable surf perch angler despite surf fishing for only 3 years.

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Danh reinforced his claim as the 2019 Oregon Surf Fishing Champion by also catching the biggest fish at 2.07 lbs! He is the first person to win both 1^st place and Biggest Fish which might be hard to duplicate going forward as the tournaments get bigger in size. Due to the one prize per person rule, the Biggest Fish cash award was given to Jay Lyon, who also fished at Moolack Beach. He used sand crabs, a Hi/Lo rig, 12lb mono leader on a 10ft medium action rod. Jay’s fish weighed in at 1.xxx lbs.

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Here are this year’s Championship Tournament winners:

Two of the more interesting observations are that all the winners were using sand crabs for bait and all fished at another beach. Seal Rock and Ona Beach didn’t produce as they have in the past tournaments and the July’2019 tournament winner used Gulp sandworms vs sand crabs.

Congratulations to this year’s Champion, Danh Vu, who was able to outfish 71 competitors to win top prize and catch the biggest fish. That’s definitely not an easy feat and is certainly deserving of the title of 2019 Oregon Surf Fishing Champion. Danh has become a consistent winner and it’s clear he knows how to catch Perch in different conditions and in different locations.

One angler, Thanh Nguyen, being a true sportsman released several small perch which might have cost him a winner’s spot but it was more important to Thanh to do the ‘right thing’ of releasing small fish vs going after a prize. What a respectful attitude as a steward of the Oregon coast beaches!

And to just to show others that you don’t need a lot of experience to win in these tournaments, Wendell Bush, the 3^rd place finisher, had only surf fished one other time before the Championship and was still able to beat out 71 competitors to win part of the prize money. What an awesome accomplishment for his 2^nd time surf fishing ever! He was so new to perch fishing, he wasn’t sure what type of gear/rig he was using as someone set him up at the tournament!

So, all you who are new to surf perch fishing, take it from Wendall, you don’t have to know alot to be successful and it’s much easier if you have someone show you how to do it the right way. So, ask alot of questions and seek advice.

Thanks to the weather turning sunny and warm with clear skies, the raffle was a huge success. With the many generous prizes that were donated, over 35 prizes including the cash awards were given away which means that 1 out of every 2 people walked away with something!

Thanks go out to Preston who fished in the tournament and drew the winning raffle tickets for us.

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The winners of the Day with PK raffle were Anh Vu and Zak Nordstrom so keep watching for their YouTube videos which will posted once they have their “Day with PK”.

The winner of the brand new Santiam Rod/Reel combo was a young man who was VERY excited to win. It was nice to see him win as he will treasure the combo since its unlikely he would have been able to afford such an awesome setup using his own money. It was easy to see that no one will take better care of the Santiam rod/reel combo than he will.

Here are a few pictures of the lucky winners and look how big their smiles are!

The social event after the raffle is still one of the best parts of the tournament as it gives us all a chance to get to know each other as people and it helps spread such good will amongst all the people who show up. I was able to see many of my subscribers for the first time which I always love to do and it’s nice to see the returning competitors who continue to come to the tournaments on a regular basis.

Our thanks go out to all the people who showed up despite the short notice as the tournament is not successful without the competitors who decide to fish! Thank-you all for making this a priority and coming to fish at the Championship as without all of you, there is no tournament! For those of you who came to Cape Lookout, we apologize you missed out on the Championship, hope you can forgive us and that you will come to one of the tournaments next year.

We’d like to give a BIG shout-out to all this year’s raffle prize donors as there so many great prizes that we were able to give out due to their generosity. Without their generous donations, we wouldn’t have been able to give out over 35 prizes for 71 people.

DONORS:

> Santiam Rods: Jay - Custom Fishing Rod and Reel, Tackle Boxes, Fillet knives

> Oregon Surf Perch Club: Marie and David Cozine / Tackle Box & Assorted Perch Gear & Merchandise

> Teal Crab: Anthony and Eugene - Crack n’Crab Cleaners. www.tealcrab.com

> Custom Tackle Works: Rick (owner) – Hellgrammite Plastic baits

> Projectorstreetshop.com (Project Oregon): Instagram: @project.or - Canteens

> Wild Mike’s Swag Bags: Chris Kudo (also provided Oregon State certified scale for the official weigh-ins)

Thanks so much for your generosity and it was much appreciated by the tournament hosts and participants!

Next year’s tournament dates and locations have already been chosen so start making your plans and reservations early. The tournaments will get better each year and we are working on making them more fun for everyone!

2020 Championship Warm-Up Tournament

Saturday - July 18th, 2020
Location: Ona Beach State Park

2020 Oregon Surf Fishing Championship Tournament

Saturday - August 15th, 2020 Start Time: 8am End Time: 1pm

Location: Ona Beach State Park

In the meantime, keep watching my Youtube Channel and my website, EVERYLIST.COM, for updates on what I’m doing as well as updates on next year’s tournaments.

TIGHT LINES, EVERYONE!!

Below is a list of what you need to focus on when coming to the tournament.

Have your fishing license with you at all times in case a police officer checks
Be aware and follow all Oregon fishing regulations
Check the swell reports the day before the tournament (https://magicseaweed.com/Newport-Surf-Report/318/)
Pay the $25 entry fee
Be aware of start and end time (once the tourney ends, be sure to be at the weigh-in station before the deadline or your catch will be disqualified)
Always clean up any mess you make - bring a plastic bag to put your own garbage in
If you clean fish afterwards, you must put the carcasses in a bag and take it home with you

Also, note that at all of these tournaments, you are welcome to go fish at other nearby beaches. If you do, be sure to give yourself some driving time to make it back to the weigh-in station by the deadline. Remember, summertime traffic on HWY 101 can be pretty busy during the summer.

Please respect everyone and obey all laws so we can all continue to enjoy these tournaments - which are made possible by the Oregon Parks and Recreation.