Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Vashon Ultra Marathon Weekend

This weekend is the Vashon Ultra Marathon weekend.  For some reason, this sounded like a good idea when I signed up a couple of months ago.
Wish me luck!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Okuma Sponsored 2.5 day Tuna trip in May

What started off as a 2.5 day coastal trip for Ling Cod and the possibility at some yellowtail, turned into an absolute epic trip for VERY early season offshore pelagics.  After hearing a report a week earlier that the Sportfishing boat, The Eclipse, got into some unexpected yellowfin tuna, our trip aboard the Tribute filled up fast.  With a limited load of 28 passengers, this spacious vessel out of Seaforth Landing in San Diego, was the place to be. Once the reports hit, the boat filled fast. 
When we all arrived down at the boat after work on Friday afternoon, we arrived to overcast skies.  That in itself didn't damper any of the thoughts of tuna and yellowtail that were filling the anglers minds.

Sunset at the bait receiver.



While anglers were getting signed in up at the landing, we took the boat on over and got her filled up with primed sardines, anchovies, and mackerel.

Getting a tank full of primed Sardines, Chovie, and Makeral was key.


Scoop after scoop of cured, primed bait came over the rail.  This was really good looking stuff too!



A nice full scoop of Dines coming over the rail.


Back at the dock, anglers were lined up and ready to get on board and start the journey. As the team of anglers was boarding the Tribute, they were greeted by Dave Brown, Promotional and Events Manager for Okuma and Savage Gear.  He was in the galley handing out swag for the trip.

Hats, Beanies, Rod Wraps, Stickers, T-Shirts were all on tap for the Swag.
 

The time came to shove off, and off we went.  After hearing the reports the plan was to make the long trip down to fish offshore day one, and if it didn't look good, we'd head inside and fish coastal or islands for yellowtail.

Tribute ready to shove off.


The boat departed about 9pm and off we went.  We had about a 160 mile run south to start to get into the fishing zone.  Along the way we saw plenty of sea life.  Dolphin, Porpoise, and even a huge pod of Sperm Whales were sited.  We all got a some rest that first night and when we woke up, well, we still had quite a ways to go.  We were getting some reports of early fish from boats that had gotten down to the zone earlier, and it sounded really good.  We were all getting really excited. 
We dropped the trollers back mid day, and started the official trolling rotation shortly after that.  About 3pm, we found what we were looking for.  A nice pod of dolphin that were holding Yellowfin.  Yellowfin...this is May right?  Crazy!  From that jig strike we only got a couple fish.  No bait fish came up.  Captain Mike Pritchard made the choice to pull the trollers so that we can get on down to the zone and not be stopped by 1 and 2 fish jig strikes.  This was a great call.  Once we got down into the zone it went crazy.  Fish were spotted all around.  Deep sonar marks, breaking fish, etc.

Deep Bend Andros on a Makaira rod.
Jake holding up a nice Bluefin caught on the Andros.


Day one went on and we ended up with a pretty impressive count of about 35 various tuna and a handful of yellowtail.

Days 1 complete.


After fishing was through, we all headed in for a delicious meal prepared by Tommy.

Galley.  Tommy did some excellent work.




The first dinner was pork roast.  It looked and everyone said it tasted absolutely delicious.  You couldn't even get these guys to look up for a picture they were so focused.

Reflecting on the days fishing over some grub. 


After the amount of fish we saw around the area, capt Mike made the decision to stay in the same spot.  We put out the sea anchor and drifted the area until dawn. 
When the sun finally came up, we started fishing.  We trolled around a bit for jig strikes that came fairly regularly.  Some jig strikes would turn into a 10-20 fish stop.  The decks were getting pretty bloody, and the fish hold was filling.

Bloody Decks!


On occasion, we would stop on some deep meter marks.  The Bluefin would come up charging the boat.  Some of these stops went on for a good while. 

Big Bluefin putting on the hurt.
Andros getting it done again.


After getting a few fish in the box, it was time to have a little fun.  I got some fish on bait and some fish on the slide with Savage Gear Sand Eels. It was time to take out the Komodo 350's and put a whoopin' on some Bluefin.

Okuma's Dave Brown (The Running Fisherman) with a nice Bluefin caught on the low profile Komodo 350


The fishing just went on and on.  We took every second of that extended trip to take advantage of MAY tuna fishing.  It was incredible.

Cortez 5 and Cedros Coastal Rod making easy work of this tuna.


I had some raffles, gave away some prizes, and even had a contest.  Biggest fish caught on one of the Okuma set ups won a new Cedros Coastal Rod.  Lots of anglers tried out the gear, and from what they said, we even have a couple of converts. 
Here are two winners of the Cedros Coastal rods.

Lucky Winners


After stretching it out as long as we could, Captain Mike made the call that it was time to start the 17 hour journey home.  But...after two days of looking, we found our first kelp patty.  And wouldn't you know, it ended up being a stop for right around 60 yellowtail. 
Once all of the gear was packed up, anglers cleaned up and headed to dinner.  Chef Tommy had a delicious Tri-Tip dinner ready for everyone. 


Tommy back there doing what he does.
Concentration.



It was a great trip all around.  The crew of the Tribute really takes good care of you.  From keeping the boat clean, to the care they take in processing your catch.  Not to mention Captain Mike Pritchard for going the extra distance getting us down on the fish. 
I mean hey, this is May still right?  Crazy!

For more information on upcoming Okuma and Savage Gear sponsored trips aboard the Tribute, visit www.tributesportfishing.com.



Next week, the Vashon Ultramarathon.  31 miles of bliss.  Or blisters.  Not sure which.


Happy Fishing!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Bass Pro Shops Lake Havasu Open and Running the London Bridge

Had the opportunity to spend a little time out at Lake Havasu for the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Festival and Lake Havasu Open.  This was a bass fishing tournament that we sponsored.  It was a great event, with lots of fun things to do and see.  We had some great deals on Okuma and Savage Gear, had the chance to fish a little, and even got out for a fun little run.
The run was probably the best part of my trip.  I haven't been to Havasu since I was pretty young.  having just spent some time in London, I was excited to get back out to the lake and see the London Bridge.  it is a very beautiful spot.  Very scenic, and luckily, I only caught the tail end of some of the residual spring breakers (no pun intended).
I started off at my hotel and ran toward the bridge.  One you pass the casino, there is a nice stairway that leads you up to the bridge.  At the top you get a pretty nice view of the channel.  Here is a shot of where I am just about to start to enter the bridge.



Here is an actual shot of the bridge itself from up above.  Nice clear running space, and this day, there were quite a few runners out.
I ran across the bridge and down a block or so, then I turned around and headed back over the bridge.  Once on the other side, I headed off to my right down the stairs and down toward the water front.
There is a great little pathway that runs along the waterfront.  It wasn't too crowded this day, so made for easy running.
I guess you'd call this southbound.  I ran this direction for about 3/4 of a mile.  I got to a little point, then decided to turn around. 
As you run along the channel you see all kinds of fun things.  This day I caught a few of the left overs from spring break.
Loud music, beer, boats, bikinis, and did I mention beer?  Lots of that going around.  This was mid afternoon, so they were all pretty wasted by this time. Hope they all had fun.
I am now going northbound back toward the bridge.  Once you pass the party boats, you get your first glimpse back at the bridge.
It is a really pretty structure, and feels pretty out of place out in the middle of the desert.
There are a few street vendors selling glow sticks, beer, and souvenirs.  Lots of boat and wave runner rentals are found along this path as well.  As you pass all of that you actually get to the bridge.  Here is a look up at the bridge from down below.
Here is a look back underneath and toward the rental area.
Empty pathways made it pretty nice.
As you continue north past the bridge, you eventually come to the end of the pathway.  From here it turns to sand.  A good little leg workout ensued from here for a bit.
Way at the end of the point in the above picture is where we were holding the Bass Pro event.  From here, I doubled back and made it back to my hotel just in time for a little evening float tube fishing session.
The smallmouth bass fishing is said to be excellent, and i did nail this little guy on my first cast.
Lots of largemouth followed over the next couple days, but only that one smallie.  Kind of strange.
Fishing was fun, and I got out as often as I could before the event and after.  I'd get on the water by 6am and fish until 9, then back on at 5pm after the event finished.   I'd fish until dark and saw some pretty incredible sunsets.
As I mentioned, the event went very good.  I hope this is something they choose to do every year, and let Okuma be a part of.  Here is a quick look at my office for the weekend.




All in all it was a lot of fun.  Some great exposure for Okuma and Savage Gear, fish were caught, and a great run was had. 
 

Happy Running...and Fishing!!



#Fishing, #LakeHavasu, #BassFishing, #Running








Friday, March 7, 2014

Houston Memorial Park Run

While out in Houston for the 2014 Houston Fishing Show, I had a little window of nice weather, and had the opportunity to get out and run the Houston Memorial Park.  Conveniently located pretty close to downtown, right off of the 59 and 610 freeways, it was easy to get to, and really close to my hotel.  I was told that this was a nice 3 mile loop that surrounds the park.  And that it was.
I started right on one of the corners next to this sign.  Apparently the actual trail name is the Seymour Lieberman Exer-Trail.  There were some exercise areas along the way. 

Be sure to follow all of the rules while running!  There were a lot, but all seemed to be observed.

There were quite a few runners out running while I was out.  It seemed to be a pretty popular spot.  The trail  looked to be a well groomed mix of hard dirt and small gravel which made it very easy on the feet.




The trail is a full circle loop of the Memorial Golf Course in Houston.  According to my Garmin watch, it taped out at just about 2.92 miles.  As I mentioned, there were quite a few runners out on the trail, which was good to see.  I stayed on the inside with the park to my right.  On the left would be a circular road that travels around the loop as well.   The trail is tree lined for the most part.

You wind around the corner and you come across the tennis court facility, then the driving range for the golf course.  There were some bare patches of trees, but when I saw the bare patches, I would generally see these signs.



From what I read, there was quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Katrina as well as a couple others, and they lost quite a few trees.  it still seemed quite lush, coming from LA, 2 trees, seems lush.



The park itself is said to be one of the largest urban parks in the country.  It did expand on the others sides of the road with an Arboretum, and several other trails that I saw, but don't know where they lead.
I had a great time on this trail.  Nice and easy run, with lots of runners out there.  It was very clean and well kept.  When I'm in the Houston area, it will definitely be a place that I return for a quick outside run.

The Houston Fishing Show itself, is also going very good. Here is a quick Flipagram Video of the Houston Show so far.




Happy Running!

#running, #houston, #houstonmemorialpark, #trailrunning, #houstonfishingshow




Monday, February 17, 2014

Starting off 2014

Hello all,

Been a little out of the loop lately and need to get back into my blog.  Been a very busy end of 2013, and very glad that it is over.  At the end of the year we created a new position within Okuma that I stepped into.  I am now the Promotional and Events Manager.  Still lots of travel, but more on the consumer/retail side of things.  No more sales calls to Bentonville Arkansas.  But that means, no more runs at Slaughter Pen. It'll be a great chance to get out and see some new country and explore some new running destinations. 

So far in 2014, I've been out and about.  January started off a little slow on the running side, but has been picking up pretty steadily.  For my birthday, I received a Garmin 210, and absolutely love it.  You can follow me at TheRunningFisherman on Garmin Connect if you'd like.  Unfortunately, I don't have a scheduled competitive run on the books, but I need to soon.  I'd like to go for a full in 2014, as I turned 40 at the end of last year.  That would make it all the better to get on in for this year.  I've bounced around a few different, new pairs of running shoes, but today, went back to my early version Nike Free's.  Still love these shoes. 

I have some fun travel coming up, and hope to be able to write about some of the fun destinations that I will be traveling.  Birmingham, Grand Rapids, Houston, and a few others in the next month.  We'll see how much time I have to get out, but hope to get out and take a few pics. 

Happy Running!
Dave