The annual Day At The Docks celebration turned out a bigger crowd than last year's event, according to onlookers still hanging around at four p.m. Driving down early, I got there around eight that morning, to find the festival already cranked up and running. About an hour later the first band was playing.

The Pounders were pretty good, too. Judging by their energy level they were wahoo fishermen when they weren't working the stage. The four guitars had a solid, professional sound. They were tight. The sun was warm, but it didn't heat up at the docks the way it did inland. When I went home to Oceanside to write the DAD story, the thermometer hit 96 degrees around four that afternoon.

The crowd was big by ten o'clock, and steadily coming in at both gates. Most of the fleet's boats were holding open house, and some were offering two-dollar bay rides. There were people clambering over all the boats. I saw fishing friends I hadn't seen for years.

The fishing and boating fair has always had a good crowd. The variety of food, from bratwurst and jerky to lunch at Pt. Loma Seafoods; the merchandise, from fishing tackle to jewelry, and the mackerel pens for kid's fishing mean this is an ideal family outing, with more to see and hear and smell than you can finish in a couple of hours.

Andy Cates, skipper of the Red Rooster III had charge of the dunking stool, the "Capsize The Captain" unit at the East End of the lot. He hadn't started up when I was there, but later many skippers participated on the stool, including Andy and Frank LoPreste, who was just-returned from a long range trip.

"It was a very popular attraction," said organizer Catherine Miller the next morning. "People were enthused."

This was Miller's 30th DAD event, and she was enthused herself.

"It was marvelous," she said, "one of the best years we've ever had. The vendors had very good sales, and all the seminars were well-attended, especially the ones about cooking."

Miller also noted that TV crews from KUSI and Rocky Mtn. News were shooting the event, as was Dan Hernandez.

New rods sometimes debut at the DAD, and this year I had a look at several, including a new one from Calstar. It was a GG 270 (the GG stands for graphite and glass, said owner-designer Leo Todd). Leon has his son Herb assisting in the shop lately.

Art, clothing, specialty items, gizmos and new jigs like the patriotic heavies Joey Shimizu and Gary Quon showed off at the Tady booth and the jointed mackerel jigs Jeff Law of Aqueous Outdoors Marketing had on display were there to attract the fisherman's eye, and maybe a couple bucks.

You could buy the jigs at several of the tackle outfits working the show. Fisherman's landing had a large store outside the landing store. Most of the sellers and some manufacturers offered special deals for the event. You could buy a boat, or a truck, or a set of earrings.

Artists lined the sidewalk. David Wirth showed his sculpture and carvings. He may be the southland's best-known artist these days, for his superior work. Goldsmith Jon Pettey had his jewelry stand near H&M Landing's office, with his line of fishing and ocean-inspired creations. Peter J of Newport was there, selling shirts, prints and other original art. You could buy art made by Chuck Byron, or not far away, Gyotaku, or fish prints.

The boys from Accurate, Izorline and Seeker were in the row in front of fisherman's Landing. Accurate VP Ben Secrest showed me a new rod for 40-pound test line and small reels, holding the tip of the black graphite stick while sales manager Jason Fulton pulled on the other end.

Just a few booths away, Seeker's Joe Pfister pulled down on a new blank for the 2 X 4 Super Seeker. His rep Denny Kaneoka did the lifting.

"How did you come by the name 2 X 4?" I asked.

"We named it that way because we wanted a long rod for heavy tuna," said Joe. "It has a 2X tip for casting, and a 4X butt for power, so it's a 2 X 4."

Kids especially like the Day At The Docks. There's so much color, sound and bustle going on everywhere you look. And the kid's fishing and the boats, parked and coming and going, are of huge interest to kids. There were kids in strollers, on Radio Flyers, and on scooters.

When I was there, the kids at the H&M mackerel pen were on fire catching mackerel, but the greenback nippers in the pen tied to the Shogun's slip were offering those kids only slow fishing. How can that be? Everyone was using the same squid strips for bait.

The Rounds sisters were busy spinning up bales of pink cotton candy at the Friends of Rollo, and manager John Rowe and his staff were busy with sales and contributions, making it possible for thousands of kids to go fishing on sport boats.

The day could hardly have been prettier, with families with strollers, people with dogs, teenagers and a colorful variety of folks walking the docks and the aisles of shaded booths. There's a lot to see and do at the Day At The Docks, and this year's event looked like the best one yet.

Good weather? Ha! It was warming up so well that anglers were talking about an albacore bite starting soon. Next event at the docks: the arrival of the Royal Polaris Tuesday morning, with a catch of cows aboard.