BY BOB SEMERAU
SAN PEDRO— The inaugural Western Outdoor News San Pedro Showdown had departed from the newly rebuilt docks at Ports O’ Call Village, San Pedro, at the scheduled 5:00 a.m. departure time, giving anglers nearly 3-hours to rig up for the action to come. Fishing deep water offshore from the Catalina Island’s west end, the entire contest came down to the last drop of the day.
As they were checking-in on the two boats in the competition, anglers received swag bags loaded with a 300-yard spool of Izorline 20-pound mono, Gamakatsu live bait hooks, Costa glasses retainers, an Aftco hat, a P-line Laser-Minnow jig, and a nifty new hook keeper device from Katch Fishing. WON gave each boat a huge spool of Berkeley ProSpec Chrome monofilament so everyone had equal footing with free spool-ups of their reels.
Charter regular, Robert Groeber, reported that aboard the 55-foot sportboat, Gail Force, Captain Jared Mallot ran out to Catalina and began drops into some shallower areas to begin the day, then moved off to deeper drops for success.
Sport King, the 65-foot entry into the WON San Pedro Showdown inaugural event, bee-lined out to Catalina as well, according to Jim Fontana, reporting from the decks of the storied sportfisher piloted by Captain Anthony Ortiz.
All 38 anglers were in contention for a passel of prizes, including a brand new Penn Carnage boat rod, along with cash prizes for anglers with the top three heaviest fish.
Throughout the day’s action, several anglers began to show their skills.
Aboard Gail Force, Robert Grober reported that the father-daughter team of Don and Isabella Meyer, hailing from La Puente, would be in the mix. Isabella turned in a nice sack of fish including some sizable reds while Dad posted a wide assortment including a better-than-average ling. When asked what wants to do, Isabella says, “Let’s go fishing!”
At the rail alongside Isabella and Don were Paul Kachirski Junior and Senior. The father-son team brought out a special blend of seasoned anglers and luck to manage to finish in the top three for the Showdown.
It was midday before a ling was added to the mix with Paul Fanning standing on the leaderboard early in the competition.
One group of anglers from down south called themselves the Huntington Beach Fishing Club. Club members Pat Carrillo and Gary Fleming are regular charter anglers and often appear in the top rankings for WON competitions. Fishing together as a block, the gang from HB held their own with plenty of action of larger sized rockfish, including Gary’s 10.45-pound ling, the largest fish for Sport King.
With a 3-hour ride back to the landing the call came for another half-hour’s fishing, then it would be time to head for the docks at San Pedro.
Aboard Gail Force that was all the time needed for some monster ling to hit the deck. With the clock ticking down, Javier Cortez from Cudahy, boated a sizable ling up in the bow.
GARY FLEMING GETS HIS LING, to take 4th place overall, with Sport King deckhand Blake on the gaff.
“It was dramatic,” reported WON associate Robert Groeber. “As Javi dragged his beast down to the stern, getting plenty of high-fives along the way, Paul Kachirski, Jr. called for a gaff to get his ling aboard, boating an even larger buckethead,” explained Groeber.
With two huge ling now on the deck of Gail Force, and another mid-sized already in the bag, angler Charles “Just-call-me-West” West started a rousing rendition of ‘We are the Champions’, as all aboard chimed in.
Back at the docks, the scales would tell the tale. Gail Force and Sport King tied up, emptying the crew and cargo, including plenty of filleted fish for passengers to take home. Anglers with the three largest fish from each boat came up the ramp to the weigh-in, beaming with pride.
But it was Gail Force that stood fast against the competition sweeping all three positions in the process.
Beautiful weather, a great group of anglers, and willing biters, made this San Pedro Showdown 2024 inaugural the perfect start to a legendary event.
RESULTS:
First Place Gail Force Paul Kachirski, Jr. 26.32-pound ling
Prize: $190.00 cash, Aftco Pro Deal Card valued at $50.00, Jig Rig Bucket, Costa hat, spool of J-Braid, and a spool of Berkley Pro Spec mono, along with the brand new Penn Carnage boat rod.
Second Place Gail Force Javier Cortez 22.26-pound ling
Prize: $135.00 cash, Jig Rig Bucket, Costa hat, spool of J-Braid, and a spool of Berkley Pro Spec mono
Third Place Gail Force Paul Fanning 12.14-pound ling
Prize: $35.00 cash, Jig Rig Bucket, Costa hat, spool of J-Braid, and a spool of Berkley Pro Spec mono
Special thanks to Robert Groeber and Jim Fontana for in-depth reporting and loads of great photos from aboard Gail Force and Sport King.
Contact:
Gail Force and Sport King
LAHarbor.net 550 S Harbor Blvd, San Pedro, CA 90731 (310) 844-3814
