Albackore’s   Gulp! Only  “West Coast Fall Surf Slam” By Danny Jackson      A total of 314 paid participants along with their families lined the surf at Huntington Beach, California, for the largest ever surf fishing tournament on the Pacific Coast. This very first Albackore “West Coast Fall Surf Slam”, held Saturday, October 7, 2006, was presented by Albackore Sportfishing Gear and was a Berkley “Gulp! Only” event.    Ronnie Kovach’s Radio Fishing University broadcast live and direct from Zack’s Too Concessions at the end of Beach Blvd in Huntington Beach prior to the tournament. Ronnie’s weekly radio show airs from 5 to 7 A.M. on Saturdays on KRLA 870. As Ronnie was setting up for his live broadcast at 5:00 A.M. there were already more than 50 anglers on scene for early registration. Sharing the microphone with Ronnie Kovach in the predawn hours was Pure Fishing (Berkley) CEO, Pat McIntyre and Tara Grace from Outdoor Expeditions Radio. 300 Plus Participants    By first light it was evident that this tournament was going to be jam packed with participants. Between those who were pre-registered and onsite late signup’s there were a lot of early birds and the excitement was already starting to mount. The full moon was setting, the sun was rising and everyone was eager to get started on a beautiful, cloudless morning in Surf City, USA !     Joe Campos from Huntington Beach with Barred Surf Perch caught on Abu Garcia ultra light spinning reel, 6# Vanish Fluorocarbon line and Gulp! Sandworm in Camo color. The entry fee for the tournament was only $20. With that nominal fee, every participant received more than $35. worth of goodies from generous sponsors like Albackore, Berkley, Owner Hooks, Fish Taco Chronicles, Fishing Ventures Television, Ronnie Kovach’s Radio Fishing University and Baja Edd Rod Racks.    “Gulp! Only” meant exactly that. All qualifying fish must be caught on Berkley’s new GULP! products. The most popular on this tournament day was the Berkley Gulp! Sandworm Nereis in the camo color. The most effective set up was a Carolina rig using an Owner Mosquito hook, sizes 6 and 8. Barred Surf Perch Fun !!    Scoring system for the Albackore” West Coast Fall Surf Slam” was as follows: Perch Family   1 Point Croaker Family  2 Points Flatfish        3 Points    Fish did not have to be legal size to be counted. This made it much easier for both the participants and the 17 on site judges. When a participant caught a fish all he or she had to do was show the fish to the nearest judge and identify himself by his assigned wristband number. By mid morning there were a lot of fish recorded. The popular and plentiful Barred Surf Perch were being caught in big numbers on the Berkley Gulp! Most fish were quickly released.   When the horn sounded to end the mornings competition at 11:30 A.M., it was evident that many participants had caught anywhere from 5 or 6 to well over 20 fish proving the viability of the Gulp! products.    While waiting for the final tournament results, all participants and their families were treated to a giant raffle where many great prize packages were given away. After the raffle the winners of the “Albackore West Coast Fall Surf Slam” were announced.    A total of $6,280.00 was collected from entry fees. This tournament is a 100% payback and paid to 15 places as follows: First Place:      David Pierson (Garden Grove) 22 points      $2,000.00 Second Place  Michael Ray (Huntington Beach) 18 points     1,000.00 Third Place        Joseph Chen (Tustin) 16 points                     600.00    4th place $500., 5th place $400., 6th through 9th place (4 way tie) $300.00 each and a 6-way tie for $100.00 each. Joseph Chen, Michael Ray, David Pierson   It’s interesting to note that the old days of surf fishing with 15 foot rods, long distance casting and sand spikes are all but gone. Surf fishing has evolved into light tackle spinning gear and Carolina rigs. It is more productive than ever. There is probably no sportfishing on the globe more inexpensive than surf fishing. It’s a family affair, clean, easily accessible and a lot of fun.    At the conclusion of the tournament, Albackore Sportfishing Gear CEO, Jeff Jost, noted “The surf fishing phenomenon in Southern California is just beginning. Albackore is already planning the next of many surf fishing tournaments.”    We are all looking forward to that !!