2017 Perch’n Report
By Charlie Holthaus, SPFD Community Volunteer
The 8th Annual Perch’n on the Peninsula fishing tournament was held on Saturday April 8, 2017. There were lots of firsts and tournament records set this year.

Weather
The weather is always an issue with this sort of event and the heavy rain, gale force winds and 25 foot seas experienced the day prior to the tournament had everyone concerned with several participants asking if the tournament would be canceled or postponed. The National Weather Service was forecasting improved conditions for tournament day, so the decision was made to hold the event as planned regardless of the weather. Tournament day started out less than desirable with moderate rain and large seas, but the weather forecast was right and by 9 am the rain had passed and the sun came out. The surf was still pretty angry with 10 foot swells at 10 seconds, but there was no wind and the perch were biting. This is the first time we actually had winter weather condition and rain to deal with on tournament day.

Fishing
Despite the weather conditions a record 81 participants went fishing this year, this was a surprise as the previous participation record was 54 anglers. As usual, people spread out over a wide range of locations and fishing was reported from Centerville Beach all the way up to the Klamath River mouth with many folks opting to fish in the calmer waters of Humboldt Bay. Typically the largest perch are caught up north at Gold Bluff Beach, Hidden Beach and Stone Lagoon, but not this year. All the winning fish this year were caught at Mad River Beach and/or the north jetty of Humboldt Bay. Another interesting occurrence this year was the diversity of fish brought in. Redtail Surfperch and Striped Surfperch are the typical catches, but this year a pair of junior participants (Sawyer Gorley and Jayden Smith) returned with a bucket full of oddball species and after some head scratching and follow-up research I’ve determined that they caught a Walleye Surfperch, 2 Silver Surfperch and 2 White Surfperch. Both Jerome Washington and Robert Schwing caught Striped Surfperch that measured an incredible 14.45 inches. Both anglers were discussing finding a certified scale and following up with DFW as the state record Striped Surfperch is only 2 pounds, 6 ounces. Mike Phelan set a new tournament record with the largest Surfperch ever measured in the tournament. Asha Quilan-McDermott also set a new tournament record with the largest Surfperch ever caught by a junior participant. The 2017 Perch’n tournament was definitely one for the record books.

​

Tournament
Out of the 81 participants 24 adults and 7 juniors registered catches. Some folks opted to not enter their catch after viewing the leader board and several others did not return in time to make the 2 PM deadline. This year’s top catch was a 16.73” Redtail caught by Mike Phelan who is now the new tournament record holder. Mike was fishing at Mad River Beach. Mike Pelletier took second place in the adult category with his 15.98” Redtail Surfperch he caught off the north jetty of Humboldt Bay. Michael Conner caught the third largest surfperch this year with a 15.63” Redtail he caught at Centerville Beach. Over on the juniors category, Asha Quilan-McDermott, 6 years old from Arcata took top honors with his juniors division tournament record 15.39” Redtail Surfperch he caught from the north jetty of Humboldt Bay. Blake Santos caught a 13.62” Redtail Surfperch at Mad River Beach which earned him second place in the juniors category. Mason Alway earned third place for the juniors category with his 13.35” Striped Surfperch. Otis Lee Zepp (2016 juniors category winner) caught the forth place juniors category fish with his 12.36” Redtail. Dillon Festag’s 12.28” Redtial earned him fifth place while Sawyer Gorley and Jayden Smith both caught White Surfperch (11.89” and 11.18”) for the 6th and 7th place in the juniors category.

Congratulations to everyone that participated this year, everyone had lots of fun, the petrale sole was cooked to perfection and many tournament and raffle prizes were awarded.

​