104 Anglers entered and battled against one another in two-person teams.  In this multi-species tournaments, anglers earned points per inch, and points vary between species.  In order to place, teams needed a minimum of three different species and were allowed to turn in up to 6 fish per team.  The winning team had the highest total point value.  The prizes below went to teams that had a minimum of three species.

1st Place – David Klein & Robert Bray – Prizes: Two First Place TRW7 Laser Etched Plaques from Woodlab, Two Ocean Kayak Trident 15’s & Two Blue Lake Casino Vacation Packages!

2nd Place – Adam Koons & Amos Forman – 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 – Nicolas Easterbrook & Joseph 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 – Ryan King & Tim Duffy

5th Place – Terry Saufferer & Ron Saufferer

6th Place – Jeremy Kingstrom & Sarah Kingstrom

7th Place – Brent Parish & Kevin Knauff

8th Place – Michael Tibbet & Brad McNeil

9th Place – Ken Merritt & Mike Sawyer

10th Place – Doug Kaber & Brandi Easter

11th Place – Damen Tesh & Greg Mouton

12th Place – Michael Ryan & Michael Owens

13th Place – Doug Fini & Brent Ludtke

14th Place – Mike Bailey & Ross Lane

15th Place – Chris Mayes & Matthew Mayes

16th Place – Brandon Pickle & Byron Pickle

17th Place – Mike Sap & Mike Lavoie

18th Place – Cameron Anderson & Chelsea Hayes

Launch took place at 5:35am on the protected side of Trinidad Head. Teams who signed up before 7/01/17, qualified as “Early Bird” and got a 20 minute head start. They got to launch at 5:15am. Everyone had to be back on dry land no later than 2:00pm.

The weather was perfect for fishing - no wind, no fog and very manageable swells. The flies, however, were in full attack mode.  Anglers had to themselves with gloves, hats & buffs.

The bite was a little slow overall, but that didn’t stop people from bringing in plenty of fish. There were an abundance of Monster Blacks and, interestingly enough, more Cabezons than Lings were pulled out of the water.

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, anglers needed to use a kids Barbie Pole. However, Batman, Superman, ToyStoy poles all qualified as well. Anglers were allowed to upgrade the line and use duct tape where needed. No other enhancements were allowed. They also had to film the hookup, reel in, and measuring (without a break in the film) in order to qualify. The only exception was for those who only took out Barbie Poles (no other adult rods) - they could only take a picture 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 went 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 the past 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.

Trinidad Rockfish Wars 7 managed to raise just over $1500.

Thank you to the Following Sponsors:

Ocean Kayak

Lowrance Fishfinders

Emerald Forest in Trinidad

Pacific Outfitters

Dylan Taupe Wild Mushroom Adventures

Blue Lake Casino

Handline Restaurant – Sebastopol, CA

Bending Branches

Crab Snares by Ken Merritt

Woodlab Designs

Lost Coast Brewery

Astral

Stohlquist

Big Hammer Swimbaits

Aquaglide

Damen Tesch (Second Sight Tattoo)

BruSurf SUP

B2 Squid (Locally made in Humboldt County)