BY MIKE STEVENS
POINT LOMA— The 11th-annual WON San Diego Offshore Jackpot (SDOJ) flashed the versatile nature of the event for the second year in a row while producing another back-to-back winner. The Oceanside 95 finished in the top spot for the second year in a row ensuring the perpetual SDOJ trophy stays put at Point Loma Sportfishing. Most SDOJ’s were won by a big tuna, but the basic nature of fishing rewards versatile captains, crews and anglers, and for the second year in a row it was not only a non-tuna finishing on top but dominating the weigh-in.
Alex Golubev’s 35.15-pound yellowtail locked it up for the Oceanside 95 and Point Loma Sportfishing. Captain Rick Slavkin made the call to hit San Clemente Island which not only produced the winning fish, but all the fish the O-95 brought to scale including halibut of 16.5 and 9.55 pounds came from SCI via dropper loops. Those two flatties were caught by Martin Esparza and Vince Marquez. Last year, it was a big bonito locking up the title for the Oceanside 95.
The Tradition out of Fisherman’s Landing took both second and third place with a 19.75-pound yellowtail caught by Robert Carvalho and Caden Kelly’s 17.95 pounder. The Tradition also weighed-in a 7.85-pound forkie caught by Kevin Jordan.
Captain Kley Williams of H&M Landing’s Old Glory went “all-in” on targeting potential SDOJ-winning white seabass, but despite a respectable call geared toward “winning the thing,” the vessel did not return to the dock with a competitive fish worth bringing to the scale considering what had already been weighed in.
A total combined jackpot of $1,500 was paid out in this installment of the SDOJ with $750 going to first place, $530 for second an $220 to third.
With the bulk of the bluefin tuna hanging out right at the fringe of overnight range, these three Captains looked to play with the cards dealt by Mother Nature and put their passengers in the best position to, win, in this case, and that’s a perfect example of one of the many reasons the San Diego sportfishing fleet is unmatched anywhere in the world.
Prizes for the raffle and otherwise as well as giveaways for all participating anglers were provided by Penn, Okuma, AFTCO, Berkley, Costa, Izorline, Gamakatsu, Katch Fishing, The Jig Rig and Charkbait.
