MARINA DEL REY ANGLERS

The 43rd edition of the annual Marina Del Rey Halibut Derby took place this past weekend June 2nd and 3rd at Burton Chace Park in Marina Del Rey. Some 60 anglers participated in the two-day event, whose proceeds go to benefit Youth and Veteran fishing programs, as well as the MDRA White Seabass Grow Out program.

The Youth fishing program allows the club to take over 500 at-risk and disabled children fishing annually, and the Veterans fishing program features 6-8 fishing days on the water each year for Veterans, as a thank you for their service. The White Seabass program has released over 150,000 juvenile White Seabass into our local waters over the last 15 years.

In contrast to last year’s very windy and challenging conditions, this year’s weather was fantastic. Most people reacted positively to the later date this year, the weekend after Memorial Day, about a month later than past years. The combination of fine weather and warmer water may have contributed to the best fishing results in many years.

This year’s winner was a 48-pound halibut, the 2nd largest catch in the history of the tournament, followed by a 40-pound white seabass in 2nd place, and a 37- pound halibut in 3rd place. Nearly half of the halibut, and almost all the calico bass caught were released alive, after weigh in, with a 20% weight bonus for doing so. The open-party boat Betty O figured prominently in tournament this year, posting an 18-pound halibut on Saturday, and a nearly 20 pounder on Sunday, not to mention some impressive bags of large calico bass that were later released.

As always, after close of weigh-in on Sunday there was a post party in the park with food and refreshments. Anglers and their friends and families celebrated the winners and enjoyed the comradery as they participated in the raffle.

The top 4 individual winners took home impressive prizes including a fishing trip to La Paz, Mexico and two and three day offshore fishing trips. We would like to thank Tailhunter International, Vagabond Sportfishing and Tomahawk Sportfishing for their sponsorship of the prizes as well as Phenix Rods and Avet Reels for providing great raffle prizes, along with Best Fishing Tackle, Turners Outdoorsmen and Blue Wave Jewelry. We also have Marina Del Rey Optomology to thank for custom Costa sunglasses, and Hobie®, who provided swag filled bags and hats.

And of course the best result, in addition to a full weekend of fishing in the best conditions in years, was that the club raised over $5000 toward worthy causes.

Please see below for a list of top winners and the full list at www.halibutderby.com.

Individual Anglers:
1st - David Wilks – 48.3 lbs – California Halibut
2nd - Ed Zamora – 40 lbs – White Seabass
3rd - Jeffrey Vinquist – 37 lbs – California Halibut
4th - Ed Flores – 25 lbs – California Halibut
5th - Ramon Morales – 19.9 lbs – California Halibut

Teams
1st Place – Matame – 58.0 lbs Combined
Ed Zamora, Chy Raney
2nd Place – Bugs – 56.4 lbs Combined
Steven Legere, Dylan Legere
3rd Place – Hawthorne Beach – 48.3 lbs Combined