It can be said that Brian Adams literally grew up fishing and winning the Windansea Board Fishing Tournament.
Adams, now 23, won it as a junior when he was 17, and won the regular division two years in a row, in 2004 with a 27-pound white seabass and in '05 with a 17-pound halibut.
That was Adams posing on his surfboard fishing rig yesterday with a fine stringer of calico bass that included a 5-pound grumpy, the largest fish in the tournament. Now a law student, Adams said this third time to the winner's circle in the regular division, and fourth victory overall, was the sweetest.
“It was just good to be back after missing last year because I was studying for my LSAT,” (Law School Admission Test), which he said had him “in one big ball of stress.” He said the 5-pound calico was his biggest ever, from a boat, surfboard, anything.
“I lost a bigger fish, probably a big white seabass,” he said. “Lost it in the kelp. All I felt was dead weight and then saw his big broomtail.”
This year the young lawyer-in-waiting entered as hang-loose as any surfer at Windansea, where the policy is – no shoes, no shirt, skimpy bathing suit, no problem. The graduate of La Jolla High and UCLA passed the patent bar exam four days ago.
“It's been a great week,” he said.
Adams baited sardines and frozen squid. He froze the latter fresh after he and his father caught them earlier this year off La Jolla when commercial squid boats lit up the La Jolla shores. His father, Mark, and mother, Julie, were at the beach yesterday to celebrate their son's latest win in this tournament.
“I think it's his lucky orange hat,” Julie Adams said. “That's what he wears when he wins.”
Wearing a fluorescent-orange hunter's hat, Adams couldn't be missed as he negotiated the openings in the thick La Jolla kelp. Most of the anglers fished there.
Kelly Watson was second with a 3-13 barracuda, and Bruce Chaplin was third with his 2-pound calico bass. Calvin Tom won for most fish with three bonito. Former tournament champion Mike McElhaney took the Dash For Cash ($250) for returning to the beach in less than an hour with a legal-sized calico bass.
Only 47 anglers fished, making it the least-attended event since the early years of the tournament. The low turnout caused organizers Jake Laws and Allen Repashy to huddle with board-fishing pioneer Bill Decker. Decker recommended they add a kayak division next year, and that's what the group plans to do.
“It will be a different crowd, but we need more numbers,” Laws said. “But even the crowd on the beach is down this year.”
Laws wondered which cut into the tournament more, the struggling economy or the fact that triathlete David Martin was killed by a great white shark off Solana Beach north of La Jolla in April.
“It's hard to say,” Laws said. “There was talk about the shark when the attack happened, but I swear I didn't hear one person mention it today until you did just now.”
Surfboarders are a hearty breed, and surfboard anglers are even more adventurous. For this tournament, they swim out in the predawn light to get to the better fishing areas. Adams and his fishing buddy, cousin Austin Rutherford, 18, didn't even wear wet suits, and there was a chill in the morning air.
“To me it's being part of the whole environment out there,” Adams said. “It was freezing cold when we first went out, with whitecaps and the wind howling. I've fished the whole day like that. It's no fun. But today the sun came out, and the wind died down and it got gorgeous out there.”
On the beach, Marc Muller and Jerry Adams, owners of Bay Park Fish Co., cooked up some thresher shark donated by Catalina Offshore Products and yellowtail and tuna from Five Star Fish Processing. Their crew of Ron and Liz Frye and Alberto Esparza did the cooking.
Other volunteers worked the ocean and distributed bait to the anglers. Alan Pitcairn provided his boat, as did Jim Nelson and son, Brett.
Ed Zieralski: (619) 293-1225; ed.zieralski@uniontrib.com
