Photos courtesy of Al Q, Jorge Salas, James Dwyer and Brian Jackson.
Thank you to the Long Beach Casting Club for opening their doors and supporting the Double Haul Ball this year. The DHB is a grassroots effort of like-minded passionate anglers and industry professionals willing to support their addiction of fly fishing and help the community to do good for others. Some of my really good old friends came out to show their support like Nick Curcione, Michael Maloney, Gary Bulla and Conway Bowman. My casting team of John Van Derhoof, Jim Solomon, Bob Middo, and Michael Maloney were the best in the game. Rex Ito from Prime Time Seafood and his beautiful family of Mica, Matt, and Blake from Riviera Seafood Club all donated their time and their delicious seafood to make amazing fish tacos to help support Cast Hope and The May Fly Project, two non-profit organizations dedicated to helping children get into the great outdoors.
Thank you to all the vendors that participated and Industry pros that donated amazing items to the raffle and silent auction: Kevin Krai / Simms, Vaughn Podmore / SaltyFly & Far Bank Pro, Jacob Gorman / Orvis Pasadena, Todd Woods / Costa Sunglasses, John Keenan / Freedom Boats, Larry Acord & Peter Klemens / Bajios Fly Socks, Charlie Bysshe / Patagonia Santa Monica, Gary Bulla / Baja Adventures, Frank & Grace Selby / His & Hers Fly Shop (our only local fly shop), Frank Vargas & Luke Artemis / Artemis, Mike Peters / Long Branch Fly Fishing, and Gary Scott / Wave Chasers Fly Rods.
Other donations came from Benny Florentino / Coastal Charters, Matt Florentino / AFTCO, Ned Hobson / Duck Camp, Al Q & Jim Solomon / The Fly Zone, Tail Magazine, Axel Shug / Special Ed. Wine & Flies, Denny Kaneoka / Okuma rods and reels, Kevin Krai / Simms, Brad Befus / Scientific Anglers, Brent Bauer / Umpqua Feather Merchants, Richard Nicoletti / Cortland, Enrico Puglisi, Hogan Brown / Loon fly tying pack, Tom Wetherington / TFO, Rebecca Piper / Hatch Reels, Scott Hunter / Vedavoo custom surf pack, Corey Arnold / Patagonia, Dwight Hwang / Gyotaku, Amadeo Bacher / Framed Fine Art Prints, Bill Mathews / Testla Special Ed. Beer/Mug & Testoro Tequilla, Lino Jubilado, Don Bell and Ari Young / Fine Art Painting.
I have to give kudos to the DHB fly tiers: Dave Valadez, Rick MacKay, Kevin Green, Lino Jubilado, Don Shaul, and Chris Nichols! They always draw a crowd.
Presenters and Volunteers included Tod Suttle/ Tackle Talk, Jim Salazar / Outfitting Your Kayak, Mike Peters / Fly Fishing the Surf, Conway Bowman / Sharks on Fly, Gary Bulla / Baja Adventure Film, Kesley Gallagher & Scott Leon / Traveling the World with a Fly Rod, and a special sneak preview of episode 12 of The History of Sportfishing. Panelists at the outdoor open forum talk sessions, included Wade Yoshi, Jim Solomon, Nick Curcione, Conway Bowman, Paul Cronin, Lino Jubilado, Kevin Green, Alex Cady, James Dywer, Rick Mackay, Colin Sako, Al Q, John Whitaker, Warren Fox, Shirley Shaul, & Bill Matthews. The used Tackle Table was manned by Cal Acord and Eddie.
And last but not least thanks for the check-in and raffle ticket sales help from Janet Chang Quattrocchi and Cece Rubin…you girls rock!
I personally wish we had a bigger turnout but we ended up raising $8,000 which will be split between The May Fly Project Los Angeles and Cast Hope San Diego. Give yourselves a big hand! It takes a village to pull off a great event. Thanks to everyone that came out for such a worthy cause, I really appreciate you all! If I missed anyone please forgive me. Till next time calm seas and tight lines…
– Al Q
flies, sand & surf 