Artwork done by Damen Tesch.
Scores:
TRW consists of two person team. This is a multi-species tournament. You get points per inch and the points very between the species. In order to place, you need a minimum of three different species and you can turn in up to 6 fish per team. The team with the highest over all point value wins. Below are all the teams that had a minimum of three species.
1st Place – Team Big Hammer (Robert Bray & David Klein) – Prizes: Two First Place TRW7 Laser Etched Plaques from Woodlab, Two Ocean Kayak Trident 15’s & Two Blue Lake Casino Vacation Packages!
2nd Place – Team Marks Brothers (Amos Forman & Adam Koons) – Prizes: Two Second Place Laser Etched Wood Plaques from Woodlab, Two $270 Seeker Rods, Two Lowrance Hook 5 Fish Finders, Two Blue Lake Casino Restaurant Gift Certificates, & Two Blue Lake Casino Casino Cash!
3rd Place – Team Fishizzle ( Joseph Easterbrook & Nicolas Easterbrook) – Prizes: Two Third Place Laser Etched Wood Plaques from Woodlab, Two Bending Branches Angler Paddles, Two PFD’s (One from Astral & one from Stohlquist), Two Blue Lake Casino Restaurant Gift Certificates & Two Blue Lake Casino Casino Cash.
4th Place – Team Screemin Reels (Tim Duffy & Ryan King)
5th Place – Team Bald Eagles (Ron Saufferer & Terry Saufferer)
6th Place – Team Kingstroms (Sarah Kingstrom & Jeremy Kingstrom)
7th Place – Team Tug Life (Kevin Knauff & Brent Parish)
8th Place – Team Old Crusty Bastards (OCB) (Brad McNeil & Michael Tibbet)
9th Place – Team Ugly Snaggers (Mike Sawyer & Ken Merritt)
10th Place – Team Humboldt Hookers (Brandi Easter & Doug Kaber)
11th Place – Team Salt Therapy (Greg Mouton & Damen Tesh)
12th Place – Team DFL (Michael Owens & Michael Ryan)
13th Place – Team Fish N’ Dive (Brent Ludtke & Doug Fini)
14th Place – Team FINglorious Bassturds (Ross Lane & Mike Bailey)
15th Place – Team aMayesing Brothers (Matthew Mayes & Chris Mayes)
16th Place – Big Test Icicles (Byron Pickle & Brandon Pickle)
17th Place – Branson Baits (Mike Lavoie & Mike Sap)
18th Place – Oh My Cod! (Chelsea Hayes & Cameron Anderson)
Launch was at 5:35am on the protected side of Trinidad Head. If you signed up before 7/01/17, you qualified as an “Early Bird” and you got a 20 minute head start! That means the Early Birds got to launch at 5:15am. Everyone had to be back on dry land no later than 2:00pm.
The weather conditions were EPIC! No fog, no wind, and swells were very manageable. However, the flies were in full attack mode. Some people protected themselves with gloves, hats & buffs.
The bite was a little slow overall, but that didn’t stop people from bringing in lots of fish. Lots of Monster Blacks and there were more Cabezon’s harvested thank Lings. That was a little unusual.
Biggest Fish Contest:
Lingcod: 32″ – Team Fishizzle
Cabezon: 25″ – Team Big Hammer
Vermillion: 22.5″ Team Fishizzle
Greenling: 16.5″ Team Cast-Our-Baiters
Black Rockfish: 21.5″ Tied Robert Bray & Dylan Taupe
Other Rockfish: This was a Copper at 19.5″ Team Screamin Reels
Barbie Pole Challenge:
To qualify you need a kids Barbie Pole, however, Batman, Superman, ToyStoy poles all qualify as well. You are allowed to upgrade the line and use duct tape where needed. No other enhancements are allowed. You also need to film the hookup, reel in, and measuring (without a break in the film) in order to qualify. The only exception is if you are only taking out Barbie Poles (no other adult rods), then you can take a picture of what you catch and turn that in.
Robert Brey won the Barbie Pole Challenge with an 18.5″ Black Rockfish – Prize $100 Gift Card to Pacific Outfitters
PacOut Green Team Fundraising Raffle:
100% of the Raffle proceeds when to support the PacOut Green Team 501(c)3. PacOut Green Team is a group of volunteers that host cleanups EVERY Saturday from 9:00am to 10:00am throughout Humboldt and Mendocino County. They focus on cleaning up beaches, parks, forests, and other open spaces. In three years they've removed over 170,000 lbs of trash from our beaches, parks, forests, and other open spaces. They've had over 1,000 volunteers too. All the money raised goes towards their supply fund.
This year’s raffle had some KILLER prizes in the raffle. Aquaglide donated a BlackFoot XL, which is their bad ass inflatable fishing kayak. BruSurf donated a Bamboo SUP. Pacific Outfitters donated an Avet Reel, GoPro Session 5, and other goods. Scot Thorpe donated a custom pool cue. Dylan Taupe donated a guided mushroom hunt (anywhere in Northern California) for two people and a gift certificate to his restaurant that he works at called Handline, which is in Sebastopol, CA.
We are happy to announce that Trinidad Rockfish Wars 7 raised just over $1500! Thank you for contributing to the cause!
Thank you to our wonderful Sponsors!
(They support us, so we need to support them!)
- Pacific Outfitters
- Ocean Kayak
- Blue Lake Casino
- Lowrance Fishfinders
- Lost Coast Brewery
- Bending Branches
- Astral
- Stohlquist
- Big Hammer Swimbaits
- B2 Squid (Locally made in Humboldt County)
- Aquaglide
- BruSurf SUP
- Damen Tesch (Second Sight Tattoo)
- Woodlab Designs
- Dylan Taupe Wild Mushroom Adventures
- Handline Restaurant – Sebastopol, CA
- Crab Snares by Ken Merritt
- Emerald Forest in Trinidad
Special Shout Outs:
- Jef Brewer aka “One F” – Thank you for updating everyone on tournament registration and hyping the tournament up regularly! You rock buddy!
- Greg Mouton aka “Kayak Greg” – Thank you for helping out with all the logistics putting the tournament together and all your work the day of and the day after the tournament! You the man buddy!
- Damen Tesch (Second Sight Tattoo) – Thank you for producing some amazing artwork for the tourament and helping me out with selecting the Tshirt/Hoody colors. You said Rasta and we made it happen. Thank you also dealing with the logistics with the trophies, helping me set up all 100 goodies bags, and donating $20 tattoo credit to each of the 100 goodie bags! Huge help this year buddy!
- Tim Haywood aka THaywoodPhotography – Another year of taking bad ass pictures! Thank you again Tim, people will be sharing their photos because of you. Check out his other artwork and buy a piece Humboldt beauty at THaywoodPhotography.
- My wife Leslie Ostrom for helping me out the day of the tournament. She makes sure I stay on task. Thank you so much sweetie!
- Trinidad Rancheria & SeaScape Restaurant for allowing us to use their facilities for the tournament. They’ve put a lot of money into the Trinidad Pier, parking lot, & restrooms. Thank you!
- Blue Lake Casino – Thank you for your continued support year after year! You’ve been a big part of the prize pool for this tournament and our contestants really appreciate it. Cheers to you!
- Ocean Kayak / Old Town Kayak – Thank you for your continued support. You have been donating a kayak since year one. You’ve helped make this tournament what it is today. Cheers to you!