Atascadero's Gray picks up Angler of the Year honor

Atascadero’s Gene Gray has ascended back into what used to be familiar territory for him in the 1990s — winning Angler of the Year.

Gray and his partner, Dusty Kahler, achieved the honor in the hotly-contested 2010 American Bass Pacific Coast Region. The duo finished with a 6-point edge on Jason Letterman and Scott Mullins from Salinas. Six teams finished within 26 points of the champions.

“Jay Short and I won two Western Outdoor News titles and an ABA crown back in the 1990s,” Gray recalled. Gray and Kahler finished second in this season’s final Pacific Coast Region event Saturday at Santa Margarita Lake. They had three other finishes in the top 10 — a 4th, 5th, and a 1st at Lopez Lake in April.

Arroyo Grande’s Jared Lintner and Nick Salvucci from San Miguel won two events, the finale and the February competition at Lake San Antonio. Salvucci fished alone twice while Lintner was occupied on the Bassmaster Elite tour. The team did not enter the March test at Cachuma. They finished fourth in the standings, 14 points behind the champs.

“Only five of the eight fish we caught were keepers,” Salvucci said. “My two came on topwater while Jared caught two flippin’ and one on topwater.”

Lintner and Salvucci’s 19.33-pound limit produced a win by a margin of 1.93 pounds ahead of Gray and Kahler.

Said Gray: “I thought we had enough (17.40 pounds) to win it, but we came up short. We caught all our fish on jigs in 10 to 20 feet of water. Our last one was 20 minutes before weigh-in.” The top six teams qualified for the Oct. 22-23 Tournament of Champions at Clear Lake is: 1. Gray & Kahler, 529 points; 2. Letterman & Mullins 523; 3. Darrin Bishop, Paso Robles & Dean Miller, Tulare, 219; 4. Lintner & Salvucci 515; 5. Fred Ledesma & Jose Canchola, Soledad 505; and 6. Bobby Doss & Todd Reccord, Santa Maria, 503. ABA Top 10, No. Fish, Wt., Winnings — 1. Jared Lintner, Arroyo Grande, Nick Salvucci, San Miguel, 5, 19.33 pounds, $1,780; 2. Gene Gray, Dusty Kahler, Atascadero, 5, 17.40 pounds, $620; 3. Dan Tracy Sr. & Jr., Prunedale, 5, 13.77 pounds, $200; 4. Jason Letterman, Scott Mullins, Salinas, 5, 12.37 pounds, $100; 5. Louis Fernandes, Santa Maria, Patrick Touey, Nipomo, 5, 12.28 pounds; 6. John White, San Luis Obispo, Steve Bereda, Santa Margarita, 3, 12.14 pounds, $190; 7. Mark Scribner, Pismo Beach, Whitney Uyeda, Buellton, 5, 11.81 pounds; 8. Byron Hallett, Templeton, George Stamper, Paso Robles, 4, 11.61 pounds, $380; 9. Dana Chatterly, Ron Morrison, Lompoc, 2, 7.19 pounds, $190; 10. Jerry Williams, Eric Arbelo, Porterville, 4, 6.70 pounds.

1st Big Fish, 6.61 pounds, Jeff Smith, Andrew Broster, Atascadero, $475; 2nd Big Fish, 6.27 pounds, Hallett & Stamper, $285; 3rd Big Fish, 6.21 pounds, White & Bereda, $190. Recreational Ocean Seasons Extended Thanks in part to the “impassioned testimony” of Steve Moore and Melvin de la Motte Central Coast recreational fishermen will have 8-month long rockcod fishing seasons in 2011 and 2012. Decisions made at the June 17 Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Foster City were reported by de la Motte in a June 18 post on the www.fishreports.net website.

However, no news releases about the decisions were to be found on either the DFG or Pacific Fishery Management Council websites.

On Wednesday, I contacted John Coon, P Council deputy director, via phone. Kelly Ames, groundfish staff director, dispatched the following in an e-mail.

“Attached is the Council adopted season structure for California recreational fishing for 2011 and 2012. Further details (CCA boundaries, revised coordinates, revised rules, etc.) will be available by the end of next week.”

Eight-month long seasons were shown on charts for South-Central Monterey and South-Central Morro Bay areas — May 1 to Dec. 31.”

Moore is a commercial fisherman and owner of Patriot Sportfishing. De la Motte is president of Central Coast Fisheries Conservation Coalition (CCFCC). Port San Luis Boatyard Arroyo Grande’s Tom Saper earned Whopper of the Week honors with a June 24th catch of a 13 ½-pound lingcod.

Forty-six lingcod and one halibut were in last week’s catch by anglers aboard 69 launched boats. Half to three quarter limits were logged four days, three quarter to full limits two days and full limits on June 24. Central Coast Sportfishing Jackpot winners last week were Rodney Haverland, Huntington, TX, 6 ½-pound bocaccio, and George Sucshand, Cambria, 6-pound copper.

The catch by 20 anglers was 131 red rockcod, 46 assorted rockfish, and nine coppers.

For trip schedules, reservations Call: 772-3474 or 704-2084. Patriot Sportfishing For reservation aboard Patriot boats for a seaside view of the Pismo Beach 4th of July Fireworks Call: 595-7200. Participants should be at the landing by 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Departures are at 7:30 p.m. Adult tickets are $35, children 12 and under are $15.

Louie McCombs, Taft, landed last week’s biggest jackpot fish, a 15-4 lingcod on June 27. Other jackpot winners included: Jeff Ellis, Nipomo, 12-0 lingcod; Brice Rutledge, Bakersfield, 10-3 lingcod; Nick Shelton, Visalia, 9-pound cabezon; Bob Bowers, Fresno, 7-pound bocaccio; Jerry Missamore, Arroyo Grande, and Abigal Grisedale, Morgan Hill, both 5-pound lingcod; Cass Shultz, Arroyo Grande, 5-pound bocaccio; Jeff Nerf, Bakersfield, 5-pound red rockcod; Jeff Feagin, Fresno, 5-pound copper; and Justin Haley, Hanford, 4-pound copper. Virg’s Landing Call: 772-1222 for reservations for passage aboard Virg’s boats for a seaside view of the Cayucos 4th of July Fireworks. Adult tickets are $35, children 15 and under are $25. Participants should be at Virg’s by 6:30 p.m. Departure will be at 7:30 p.m.

Overnight trips are offered the second and fourth weekends each month. Thirty-one anglers were on board the Admiral for June 26 fishing off San Simeon and June 27 at Pt. Lopez. Jim Laswell, Hanford, caught a 15-pound ling on Saturday while Sunday’s jackpot went to Win Lee, Downey, with a 9-pound ling. Thirty-one passengers harvested 15 lingcod, 448 red rockcod, 124 assorted rockfish and 48 coppers.

The catch June 20-26 by 268 passengers included 27 lingcod, 687 red rockcod, 1,318 assorted rockfish, 105 bocaccio, 250 coppers and one rock sole. Jackpot winners were: Andrew Trujillo, Palmdale, 23-pound lingcod; Mel Roberts, Bakersfield, 10-pound lingcod; Mark Ayers, Los Osos, 7-pound lingcod; Mike Bailey, Los Osos, and Tim Tapscott, San Luis Obispo, both 6-ound lingcod, Trevor Helm, Clovis, and Brandon Johnson, Fresno, both 5-pound red rockcod; and Sally Tower, Copperopolis, 4-pound lingcod. Lopez Lake Marina manager Jerry Weatherly reports: Cheng Mouen, Fresno, landed a 4 ½-pound largemouth using a buzzbait fished at Marina Point. A 2-pound redear topped the recent five-fish catch by Justin Pitts, Oceano. He used red worms for bait. Santa Margarita Lake People fishing along the banks with nightcrawlers are catching pan-sized catfish. Mornings have been the best time to catch crappie and bluegill. Bass have been difficult to catch even by tournament anglers. Whale Rock No fish were caught for only the third open period of the year. Eight anglers were blanked. Due to the 4th of July holiday the reservoir will be open through Monday, closed on Tuesday and reopens for the normal Wednesday through Sunday routine July 7-11.