Plenty of sunshine & fish make for a huge,  successful 7th Annual Roche Harbor Derby!

         Roche Harbor, WA – Roche Harbor is very pleased to announce the results of the seventh Annual Salmon Classic Invitational held Feb 4-6, 2010.  A total of 100 boats with 346 anglers aboard took to the calm & sunny waters for their chance at $25,000 in cash prizes.  A total of 43 fish were caught in the 2-day fishing derby and after weighing-in, Raymond Francois, Mt.Vernon, WA took home $10,000 for his 1^st place salmon of 16 lbs 4 oz.; Neal Kamrin, Bellevue, WA hooked the second place fish – 15 lbs 13 oz – for $5000; David Arnold, Ferndale, WA finished 3^rd  with 15 lbs .12 oz – for $3,000; Scott Veitz received $2,000 for his 4^th place 15 lbs. 11 oz fish; 5^th Place $1,000 was awarded to Richard Price, Ferndale, WA with a 14 lb. 12 oz. fish; Matthew Rose, Bellingham, WA snagged $2,000 with his 5 lb. 4 oz fish in the Mystery Fish drawing.  Best Boat Total Weight went to Mike McAuley; Kirk Hawley; and Pat Phillips, Bellingham, WA ~ with a total weight of 26.10 lbs and a prize of  $2,000.   Peyton Moss 11 yrs old of Bend, OR  was presented the youngest angler award at the derby. Jen Johanson from Mukilteo, WA  won the drawing, sponsored by Roche Harbor, for an entry into the 2011 Salmon Classic Derby.  In addition to the cash awards, over $5000 in give away prizes were drawn, donated by industry vendors & retailers. Tony Floor, NWMTA & Roche Harbor Derby judge, presented Jennifer Payne, Friday Harbor, WA with a $500 check from Lake Union Sea Ray for women’s largest catch in the derby at 10 lbs 2 oz. For more information and pictures about this year’s derby please email Debbie Sandwith at market@rocheharbor.com.  

Feliz Navidad!

Mexico was good to San Juan Sportsmen this Holiday Season! ... Dusty Rowland & Pat Federspiel land a 300 pound Blue Marlin in Puerto Vallarta:

Meanwhile ... Zach Simms slaughters Dorado in Cabo, and Matt Mennone sights-in his new Christmas present ...

Tim House takes this Muley in Eastern Washington (pictured right with his dad Ken House, and John Marler).

by Mike Simms

Neither sub-freezing temperatures nor the howl of 25+ knot winds could dampen the spirit of 150 anglers who competed in the first annual Roche Harbor Hook 'em & Hold 'em Salmon Derby and Texas hold 'em tournament!   Sponsored by Roche Harbor and organized by Debbie Sandwith, the first year of this new derby was a huge success.   I entered my boat & crew in the derby, as well as the poker tournament, and can honestly say this is now my 2nd favorite fishing event of the year (2nd of course only to the Roche Harbor Salmon Classic Invitational, sponsored by Roche Harbor every February, and now in it's 7th year).  The first day of the fishing derby was beautiful - clear skies, sun, calm seas.  A total of 13 fish were weighed-in on this first day, the largest a 16.3 blackmouth landed by Dennis Brooks of Mt. Vernon, WA .  

Following the first day of fishing, 40 anglers "shuffled up and dealt" in the $100 buy-in poker tournament.   We played cards until about 11:00 PM on Friday, reducing the original field of 40 down to 18.   Among the final 18 were myself and fellow San Juan Sportsman "poker stars"  Chuck Payne and Matt "Squirrel" Horey.   Additional Reel Deal crew members Greg "Bambi" Sewell, and Bob "Butcher" Bostwick also played poker, but unfortunately did not make it through the first night.

The second day came rather early to the tired and hung-over crew of Reel Deal.   The wind was screaming across the San Juans on Saturday morning, piling monster waves upon our traditional blackmouth holes, with most spots simply unfishable.  We broke from tradition and mooched a few spots in San Juan Channel before finally yielding to the wind and settling for a calmer troll on the west side of San Juan Island.   At the end of the day, we had caught & released a fair number of lings and rock fish, but no salmon.   Only 4 fish were weighed-in on Saturday, and the 16.3 pound blackmouth caught early on day 1 by Dennis Brooks held up (as is usually the case in these derbies - the first big fish on the first day usually ends up taking first place), and it was time to finish the poker tournament.   With short stacks of chips, Squirrel was the first of our crew to be knocked out (not bad at all, considering this was Squirrel's first poker tournament), followed by myself and Chuck Payne.   We nearly made the final table (top 9 players) but no cigar.  At the end of the evening, Scott James from Arlington, WA was the last player standing, and took home the 1st place trophy clock and $2,400 cash prize.

The final results for both fishing and poker were as follows:

Salmon Derby:

$5,000             1^st Place            Dennis Brooks             Mt Vernon, WA            16.3

$3,000             2^nd Place           Dale Nelsen                 Bellingham, WA            13.8

$2,000             3rd Place          Jim Aggerggard           Anacortes, WA            13.2

          Debbie Sandwith & Dennis Brooks                                  Dale Nelsen                                     Jim Aggerggard

Poker Tournament:

$2400        1^st Place            Scott James                  Arlington, WA

$1200        2^nd Place           Daryl Bacon                   Friday Harbor, WA

$672          3^rd Place           Steve Stout                    Marysville, WA

$336          4^th Place           Craig Davis                    Friday Harbor, WA

$192          5^th Place           Dennis Harshberger        Friday Harbor, WA

       Poker Champ Scott James w/ Jessie & Molly                  Daryl Bacon & Scott James at final table

All-in, this was a great first year for this new fishing derby and poker tournament, my thanks to Roche Harbor for sponsoring yet another outstanding sportfishing event, to Debbie Sandwith who did an amazing job organizing this new event, and to Kevin Carlton, a world-class "pit-boss", and Molly Wilson Finch, who did a phenomenal job as Poker Director.   A great time had by all!

Mike.

News:  San Juan Sportsman store now open on Ebay!

Show your support for SJS by wearing our first offerings - custom embroidered t-shirts and hats, or purchase the 2009 Roche Harbor Salmon Classic DVD and watch the teams of Reel Deal, Holepounder, Kelly T, Slayride, and 96 other boats compete in the largest blackmouth derby in the world!    Enter our Ebay store here:  http://stores.shop.ebay.com/San-Juan-Sportsman__W0QQ_armrsZ1

          SJS Hats                                   SJS T-Shirts             SJS 2009 Roche Harbor DVD 

Garrett "Lemon-Eye" Mennone has a good weekend (above), as

does Cameron Simms (below)

News:  San Juan Sportsman Fishing Charters Coming Soon!

SJS has been besieged by requests to provide fishing charters in the Pacific NW ... in response, we are in the beaurocratic throes of formalizing the proper licenses now, and will be operational starting in the San Juan Islands at the beginning of 2010.   Soon, you will be able to sign up right here on Sanjuansportsman.com to join our Charter Captain Chuck Payne aboard his well-equipped North River boat for Blackmouth, Halibut, Lingcod, and other fishing adventures.   Stay-tuned!

 Jayson Schmidt shoots his first Elk in SW Washington on the final weekend of archery season.   His dad (Peter) and SJS Skipper Mike (left) help Jayson drag his trophy out of the woods with Chuck Payne behind the camera.   At Elk camp (courtesy of Bob Wilson), Jayson takes care of business (right).    Watch for some video shot by the SJS crew during this hunt coming soon!

Bill Clark from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico shows off his morning catch of Pink Salmon & Dungeness Crab aboard REEL DEAL with skipper Mike Simms.

Mike Simms (left) shows off a 25 lb King caught on the West Side of San Juan Island.  

Jeremy Nash (right) comes over the top with a 27 lb King caught in the same spot!

2009 Roche Harbor Salmon Classic Invitational:  VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE!

Join the crews of REEL DEAL,  HOLE POUNDER, KELLY T, SLAYRIDE, and 96 other boats, as they compete in the largest Blackmouth Derby in the world!

Here's Part 1 of 5, check it out!:

Want to see the rest of the 2009 Roche Harbor Classic?   Click Here!

 Slayride Skipper Andy Holman & family opening weekend in the San Juan Islands!

Need some Ink?   Visit our friend "Doz" the Tatguy:  www.tatguy.com  The official tattoo master of San Juan Sportsman!

Steve Sewell (Pictured above with Mike) lands this monster Ling aboard Reel Deal opening day!  

2009 proved to be one of the best Halibut fisheries in many years  ... pictured above (L to R) are Denny Filan, Bill Payne, Bob Wilson, Chuck Payne, and Andy Holman showing off a good day's catch in the San Juan Islands!