The Battle on the Bay in beautiful San Diego was host to the 3rd qualifier in the USA Saltwater Kayak Fishing Regional Qualifier Series. 

This 2 day tournament brought out and challenged some of San Diego’s best kayak anglers. Angler were competing for a top 10 finish and an invite to the USA Saltwater Kayak Fishing National Championship August 9th in Pompano Beach Florida alongside Extreme Kayak Fishing’s Summer Slam 2 

The San Diego Qualifying Tournament was a catch, video, and release format. This video format ensures that fish are safely released. Points are awarded per species. Size and weight do not matter. Only 3 fish are scorable per species. Bonus points are also awarded for catching multiple species and the bonus points grow with the more species achieved. This is a fun, challenging format that kayak anglers really like as it takes more skill to catch multiple species versus just loading up on one particular fish.

The San Diego Bay event was well planned out and executed by Tournament Director Ken Pucillo. Much thought and effort went into making this a top notch event. There was plenty of parking and launching areas. The bay offers many good fishing areas. The captain’s meeting offered a cool raffle. Amazing food was provided for the anglers. Great prizes were awarded to the top finishers along with the coveted 1st place Battle on the Bay Belt. The anglers had a super fun experience. Thank you Ken!

• Day 1 of the tournament saw a storm that was positioned off the coast roll through in the afternoon with building rain and wind conditions. The conditions by late afternoon became challenging but anglers who stuck it out and went to the back bay caught corvina in the morning and spotted bay bass as the day went on. Even a valuable bonefish was caught on day 1.

• Day 2 had improving weather conditions that had anglers fishing the front bay. An incoming tide provided a hot bite for sculpin, halibut, barracuda, calico, and sand bass. The goal was to catch as many different species as possible. Anglers utilized the many opportunities the bay offered to build their score cards up.

Congratulations to 1st place finisher and owner of Hookup Baits, Chad Gierlich. Chad put up an impressive score and so did his fellow Hookup Baits team mates securing 5 of the top 10 invites and catching a wide variety of bay species. Chad’s first place finish also earned him a direct invite to the 2025 World Championship in Italy this September!

Chad had this to say after the tournament “What an amazing tournament! One of the funniest and most challenging I ever did. Those who didn’t fish it definitely missed out. Great format, delicious food, and great prizes. $1600 worth of gear and cash for first,  $1000 for second, $800 for 3rd. Good fishing, a group of great anglers to compete against, and a very nice raffle. The tournament was also well organized and ran smoothly.”

Here are the top 10 invitees to the National Championship representing Team San Diego, California:

1. Chad Gierlich
2. Ron Lee
3. Tony Souza
4. Frank Santiago 
5. Jonathan Bielmeier
6. Dave Easton
7. Cash Brecht
8. Nicholas Piatek
9. Jerrad Brecht 
10. Avier Montalvo
11. Alternate: Jacob Hayes
12. Alternate: Derwin Chang 
13. Top Female: Sommer Le Blanc

2025 Regional Qualifier Series 

• Corpus Christi, Texas September 14-15th 2024
• Kehei, Maui October 5th-6th 2024
• San Diego, California April 26-27th 2025
• Pompano beach, Florida June 7th 2025
• Ocean City, Maryland June 21-22nd 2025
• Depoe Bay, Oregon July 26th 2025 

2025 Nationals Championships: Pompano Beach, Florida August 9th

For more information about Team USA Saltwater Kayak Fishing and to learn how you can get on the team visit us at  https://usangling.org/saltwater-kayak-fishing/

Or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USASaltKayakFishing?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr