Puget Sound Anglers – Gig Harbor & Tacoma

Our November meeting was held on November 11^th.  Turnout was decent considering that a good number of our club members attend the annual Mexico trip to Van Wormer’s resort and the fact that weather was not very accommodating.  With that said, those who were in attendance had a great meeting.  We held our monthly membership drawing and Bill Brengman won the $260 that is generously donated by Southworth Marine Services.  That means we will start the membership drawing in January at $150 (there will be no drawing at our Christmas party in December).  We didn’t have many fishing reports this month so hopefully the members who were in Mexico picked up the slack.  Our speaker for the night was Jim Owens.   Jim is the founder of the CAST for Kids Program.  They have fantastic program that serves children (especially special needs children) and parents from various communities around our nation.   The talk was very informative and hopefully gave a unique perspective about the mission and goals of the CAST for Kids organization.  I know that our chapter is actively involved in some of the events that take place locally and we look forward to assisting in the future.  To find out more about the CAST for Kids programs checkout their website at http://www.castforkids.org.    Our meeting concluded with our regular raffle drawing. 

We have one final outdoor activity for 2014.  December 6^th will be our Annual Dick Smythe Memorial Derby, which is open to club members only.  We will be fishing area 11 from dawn until noon with noon being the official weigh-in time at The Tides Tavern Dock.   Biggest fish gets $100.00 and also buys the first round of beverages at The Tides Tavern.  Speaking of club membership, now is the time to renew your membership for 2015.  Cost is a $30.00 donation and covers your family.  In 2014 we had 163 active members in our Gig Harbor Chapter.  Now’s a great time to renew your membership or become a new member.  Our goal is to grow our club in 2015 so come check us out.  We have great speakers each month and we have a variety of club activities throughout the year.  If you like to fish or want to learn about fishing, what are you waiting for?  On December 9^th, we will hold our Annual Christmas Party.  Dinner will be served at 6:00 PM.  This is a family event.  If you have children that will be attending, we ask that you RSVP to 253-255-8168.  We need the age and gender of your kids so Santa knows what age appropriate gift to deliver.  For the potluck, we ask that you bring the following items:

Last Name Begins With:
A – I = Desert

J – R = Side Dish

S – Z = Salad

Checkout our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding our meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   We have one of the best fishing clubs around!  Stop waiting and come check us out.  Guests are always welcome.  Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing…

For our October meeting we held our last club-only garage sale for 2014.  A lot of good stuff at bargain prices.  Thank you to everyone who participated.    Our general meeting started at 7:00 PM.  We held our annual club elections for new officers.  The following club members have been elected for 2015:

President – Jeff Zuniga

Vice President – Andy Gakin

Secretary – Bob Watts

Treasurer – Thom Names

Congratulations to everyone elected and thanks for serving our club!  The newly elected officers will officially begin their roles in January.   We had 2 new members join our club.  Welcome Rod Friesen and Ken Pfeifle.  We held our monthly membership drawing and there was no winner.  That means the drawing will be $260 for the November meeting. A big thanks to Southworth Marine for continuing to sponsor our monthly membership drawing.  Our speaker for the night was Andy Anderson from King Trailers (http://www.kingtrailers.com).  Andy is the sales manager and has been involved in the trailer industry for many years.  He shared a lot of good information especially about some of the newer features that are available on trailers as well as upgrades that can be retrofit on your existing trailer.  This was very informative talk and very well received by our members.  Thanks again Andy.  We concluded our meeting with our regular raffle drawing.

Calling all derby sponsors and volunteers…Our derby in 2015 will be our 20^th year and we plan on making it our biggest and best!  We have begun recruiting our volunteers that will be needed to help plan and organize our 2015 derby.  Get involved and support your club!  As we announced previously, our club is now officially a 501c3.  Donations to our club are now tax-deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.

The November meeting will feature Jim Owens from the C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation.  This is one of the primary organizations we like to help support.  Don’t miss out and find out more about the C.A.S.T for Kids Foundation.  In December we will hold our Christmas Potluck Dinner.  There will be no guest speakers for this meeting, but I have been told there will be a special appearance by a man in a red suit that hails from the North Pole.    This is a family event and will be the last club activity for 2014.  The last club outing will be our annual Dick Smythe Derby on December 6th.  This is a club-only event in honor of Dick Smythe.  We will be fishing area 11 and weigh-in will be at the Tides Tavern at noon.  Checkout our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding our meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   We have one of the best fishing clubs around!  Stop waiting and come check us out.  Guests are always welcome.  Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing

Our monthly club meeting was held on September 9^th.  This was the first meeting since our Annual Salmon Derby.  There were a lot of people to thank, especially our esteemed Derby Chairman, who has agreed to run the derby for 2015.  Thank you Michael Brazeau and derby team!  We had 362 adults and kids fish the derby and we gave out about $23,000 in prizes.  Wow!  Ready or not, it’s time to start the derby planning process again.  This is the time of year that we start our nominations and election process for 2015 club officers.  If you are a member in good standing, we encourage you to get involved.  Final nominations and voting will be at the next general club meeting on October 14^th. We had a couple more new members join.  We want to welcome Frank Baker and Mark Rawlings!   Our club continues to grow.  We had our monthly membership drawing, which is sponsored by Southworth Marine, and David Borden was the winner.  That means we start the pot at $150 for our October meeting.  Our speaker for September was Just Wolff of Anglers West TV.  He gave a very interesting talk on fishing in Panama.  There are so many beautiful places to pursue the hobby we love… Thanks Justin for sharing your experiences.  If you want to find out more about Angler’s West TV, checkout his website at http://www.anglerwesttv.com/.  We concluded our meeting with our regular raffle drawing.

We held our annual club picnic on September 13^th.  The faithful 40 were there and we all had a great time.  The weather was perfect, the food was good, and we had a good time relaxing and hanging out.  This is the time that we also hold our best of the west chowder contest.  Voting was very close… and the winner was…. Bob Botnen.  Leroy Bell took a close second.  Both chowders tasted great.  I think the secret ingredient in Bob’s chowder was the hand-picked razor clams.   You know what they say… cows that have less stress give better milk, so I’m sure that a razor clam that is hand-picked and carefully transported must taste better. 

Our club is now officially a 501c3!  It took a lot of paperwork and we had to survive the government shutdown of 2013… but after 14 months and dozens of trips to our PO Box to find out the status, we are official!  Thank you to Venice Roof, Robert Christian and Thom Names for getting the ball rolling.  So, feel free to donate to our club!  It’s now tax deductible.

Our October meeting will feature Andy Anderson from King Trailers, Inc.  Don’t miss out!  We will hold our last “members only” garage sale starting at 5:30 PM.  Sellers, just bring in all that stuff that has been collecting dust.   Buyers bring in cash and be prepared to find that bargain you just can’t pass up.   I am still finalizing our November speaker, so checkout our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   We have one of the best fishing clubs around!  Stop waiting and come check us out.  Guests are always welcome.  Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing!

August means it’s derby time for our Club!  August 9^th was our 19^th Annual Salmon Derby.  To get our club ready for the event, we held our general meeting a week earlier than normal.  Looks like nobody forgot as we had another great turnout.  A lot of guests present and 2 more new members joined our club.  Fishing reports remain strong for ocean fishing and there are reports of fish being caught locally.  It’s all about putting in the time.  Our monthly membership drawing was up to $480.00 and we had a winner!  Congrats to John Rathbun and thanks to Southworth Marine for sponsoring this activity.  That means that next month the pot starts back at $150.00.  Our speaker for the meeting was Captain John Keizer of SaltPatrol.  He gave another phenomenal talk on derby fishing tactics and how to get our Lowrance fish finders working optimally.  I learn new stuff every time I hear John speak.  Thanks John for speaking and sharing your wealth of knowledge! 

As mentioned above, August 9^th was our 19^th Annual Salmon Derby and we are one of original derbies to be part of the Northwest Salmon Derby Series.  We target Marine Fishing Areas 11 and 13.  Not sure of the exact number of anglers we had until we collect the ticket sales info, but there were 60 fish weighed in between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM on derby day.  Below is a listing of the derby winners by category:

Youth Boys                        Name                                                 Weight                Prize

1st                                        Blake Pudists                                    10.31                   $100.00

2nd                                      Blake Combs                                     10.05                   $75.00

3rd                                       Mirel Wojciechowski                      9.74                     $50.00

4th                                       Max Combs                                       8.60                     $25.00

Youth Girls                         Name                                                 Weight                Prize

1st                                        Molly Ng                                            9.41                      $100.00

Adult Division                   Name                                                 Weight                Prize

1st                                        Larry Olson                                       21.29                   $3,000.00

2nd                                      Pamela Hogson                                19.77                    $1,500.00

3rd                                       Mike Allison                                      19.52                   $750.00

Ladies Division                  Name                                                 Weight                Prize

1st                                        Pamela Hogson                                19.77                   $250.00

Team Division                   Name                                                 Weight                Prize

1st                                        Keith and Cameron Artz                 19.19                    $1200 OBMG Trip for 2

 For a complete listing of all winners, go to our website (https://gigharborpsa.org/2014-salmon-derby/results/)

I do have a few shout outs that I would like to mention.  First of all, a big thank you and shout out to Michael Brazeau, our Derby Chairman.  He did a fantastic job stepping up and taking this project on.  It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to coordinate and organize a derby like ours.  I know he in turn would thank the many individuals from our club who volunteered their time and efforts.  I’d also like to express my sincere thanks to our derby sponsors who donated all of the cash and prizes.  This year we gave out more than $23K in cash awards and prizes.  Everyone who attended the BBQ and Awards Ceremony walked away with a raffle prize.  There are too many sponsors to mention in this message, but checkout our website for a full listing of our sponsors.  The next time you visit one of their establishments, tell them thanks for supporting our club!  A lot of our donors are repeat donors and give generously year after year.  I’d also like to thank all of the local stores that sold tickets on our behalf and I’d also like to thank the Narrows Marina and Pt. Defiance Boathouse for allowing us to setup our weigh stations on derby day.  A special thanks Gene Anderson and the crew at Pt. Defiance.  They really do a great job hosting our BBQ and Awards Ceremony and it is always a pleasure to work with them.  Lastly, thanks to everyone who purchased a derby ticket to help support our club.  Hopefully you had a good time!  We are looking forward to seeing all of you next year.

Our September 9^th meeting will feature Justin Wolff from Anglers West TV.  This is a meeting you will not want to miss.  Also in September is our annual club picnic on September 13^th.  This year we will hold the picnic at Owens Beach Picnic Area (Pt. Defiance).  It is a potluck so we will send out information on what to bring in the near future.  This is a family event so please bring them.  For the October 14^th meeting we will have Andy Anderson from King Trailers as our guest speaker.  Please check out our website or Facebook page for the latest updates regarding meetings and our club activities.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) at the Tacoma Outboard Association (646 N Wilton Road, Tacoma, WA).   We have one of the best fishing clubs around!  Stop waiting and come check us out.  Guests are always welcome.  Wear your lifejacket, be safe on the water, and good luck fishing!