February 5 th , 6AM : Thirty-two teams showed-up for registration and inspection at the Dunes Launch Ramp in Newport Beach , California to do battle with the ever elusive Spotted Bay Bass, only on this day it seemed the “Spotties” would prove to be less evasive than they were during last year's opener. Twenty-seven out of the thirty-two teams weighed fish. Eight teams weighed limits, and there was a total of seventy-nine Spotted Bay Bass weighed. All fish weighed were successfully tagged and released back into the bay.
A new team that did particularly well after all the results were tallied was team Rice Rockets. Ivan Lau and John Hwee finished in 4 th place with a limit of bass that weighed 9.31lbs, which included a big fish that went 2.25lbs, an impressive finish considering the odds against them.
SWBA spoke with Ivan Lau of team Rice Rockets regarding his and partner John Hwee's tournament success,
Johnny Hwee and Ivan Lau of team "Rice Rockets" weighed 9.31lbs for 5 fish which put them in 4th place. (right)
knowing that one week prior to the event, they had not yet secured a boat to fish the series opener. We asked Ivan how purchasing a used boat, in need of repair, so close to the season opener, affected his and John's outlook on the opening tournament and season.
“I bought the boat a week prior to the tournament. It had a motor but no controls. James and I had an idea to cut the bow section of the boat out to make it more fishable. But when we looked at it, we knew we had our work “cut” out for us. We really didn't know if we would be able to fish this first tourney in the season, since we weren't sure if the boat would be operational, let alone float! I had to borrow a tiller mount outboard from my uncle Friday night and pray that it was still working. We really didn't know if we would be fishing up until 11:30pm Friday night when confirmed that the motor would start up.
Paralabrax maculatofasciatus!
That was the word of the day for the 2005 series opener, “The Cabin Fever Reliever”, the bay bass tournament that marks the official beginning of the “Race for the Cup” series.
Using artificial baits, teams fished for 7 hours with the goal of catching a limit of 5 Spotted Sand Bass that would out-weigh the rest of the field. All fish weighed were to be documented, tagged and released back into the bay by volunteers of the Back Bay Science Center . Directed by John Scholl and funded by the Department of Fish and Game, the center's primary mission is to provide a hands-on facility where students and the public can study and enjoy the estuarine ecology of Newport Bay , the marine ecology of the ocean, and promote natural resource conservation and stewardship throughout the watershed.