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Posted by jas on 10:32:06 03/15/04
I’d like to first thank the sponsors who supported this event. Being our first major event, I couldn’t have been more pleased with their support. Companies big and small, national, international and even local all stepped up to the plate to help support this event. Without their support, belief and commitment to the event and the sport as a whole, we wouldn’t have been able to offer the volume and quality of prizes we were able to provide.
I’d like to next thank the city of Dana Point and the State of California’s Department of Parks and Recreation for maintaining such an amazing strip of coastline and beach facilities. The State Park Rangers, Events Coordinator and the Doheny Lifeguards for their assistance, tolerance and support of the event and the sport. Without their blessing early on, we wouldn’t have been able to move out of the planning stages. I can’t say enough about their professional demeanor, helpfulness and cooperation. The scope of this event was something I greatly underestimated. They were extremely accommodating and cooperative even though this made everyone’s job that much tougher.
With an event of this size and scope, I couldn’t have done it without first enlisted the help and support from other diehard anglers and friends. Mark and Karen from Hook 1 were a huge part of this event. From the planning stages to working the event itself, this husband and wife kayak fishing team is serious, sincere and unwavering in their support for the sport. Believe me when I tell you that it’s their love for the sport and the kayak fishing communities why they put forth such effort not just locally but even nationwide. Their work ethic and impregnable integrity makes them great ambassadors of the sport.
I’d like to thank someone who was there from the conception of this tournament, Al Silebi. Al is a San Diego transplant who has been fishing probably as long as he has been walking. Without his help, support and cell phone, this event would still just been a casual thought rather than a reality. His help at the day of the event was crucial and even entertaining at times. His previous event experience was something we could draw upon since evemt experience was something most of us were lacking in.
Kevin Joyce sacrificed an opportunity to fish and compete in his backyard in order to help support the event. I wanted to let him off the hook several times but knew early on that if we were going to pull this off, I needed to have intelligent and professional people on board who I could trust to hold the fort down when we needed to.
The Pawlak, Ezel and Lebowitz families for helping with everything from organizing and working the event to even looking out for my kids. The support from these families ended up being my ace in the hole. I always felt like they had my back covered and seemed to pick up the slack wherever it was needed. My family is grateful and indebted to you for your kindness and generosity.
Thanks to FishingKayaks.net, La Jolla Kayak Fishing, Plastic Navy, Big Water’s Edge and Yakfishing.com for standing behind the event and offering a vehicle to get the word out to the kayak fishing community.
I can’t say enough about Marc Levine of Marc Aaron Consulting and Justin Bourg of Elite Detailing. These 2 diligently worked through this event from start to finish. Marc was our weigh boat and Justin was our barbeque master. As the attendance skyrocketed for this event, so did the efforts from these 2. They both rose to the occasion and showed tremendous stamina and consistency throughout. An event for 100 turned into an event with 150 almost overnight. These 2 rose to the occasion and proved to be a life force for the tournament. With only the help of one assistant, Justin pulled off a nearly impossible feat. Justin not being a professional cook, pulled off something that no catering company would have ever attempted.
Thank you to my family and wife for putting up with me throughout the planning, marketing, promoting and execution of the event. Without their help, I wouldn’t have been able to put on more than a 20-entry jackpot.
Last but not least. I would like to thank the kayak fishing community for supporting this event. What an amazing turnout for our first event. With your help and support, we all made history. With over 150 entered, to my knowledge this was the largest turn out for a kayak fishing tournament ever. I applaud you for turning out, supporting the sport and sharing in this momentous occasion. Thank you for your support and patience. Besides this being out first event we were inundated with a huge wave of entries towards the last day of pre-registration. As well, several anglers signed up the day of the event. We learned a lot through trial and error and will be working diligently to improve in order to smooth things out for our next one. All things considered and this being our first major event, I am pleased how it came together. Please feel free to email any suggestions or comments you might have so we may improve and enhance the next event.
Sincerely,
Jason “jas” Morton
Kayak Sportfishing
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