Hanover_Yakker Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 Well, the 2nd Annual KBF Open wrapped up this past weekend at Santee Cooper. It was held the same time frame as the FLW event that also took place. FWIW, we had scheduled ours over a year ago before FLW made their schedule. Apparently, some of the FLW guys were not too pleased with our presence. I had prepared for this event for close to a year now researching every possible spot that would be fishable given the instability of the weather this time of year. I had narrowed it down to five spots and felt good about my plan for the tournament. Tournament week came and so did the cold front - three nights in a row of falling temps reaching below freezing. The bite window was literally an hour in the morning and an hour right after lunch. Having a full moon was not the best either. I fished hard and qualified with a two fish limit on day one ending up in 14th place. I fished hard the second day going for broke and chasing some deeper fish on some structure but came up empty. By the time I headed back to my spot from the previous day to catch the second window, someone had just pulled out of it with a three fish limit. I needed three fish to improve my standing, but I ended up only catching one more qualifying fish and ended up in the top 30 out of 120 kayak anglers. The largest fish overall for the event measured was 24.5" and was caught by a new kayak angler on the first day of the tournament. I'm already making plans to purchase a Navionics card (thanks WayneP btw) to help with next year's event planning. We are hitting Kentucky Lake for the 3rd Annual bass Open. Should be a challenge, but I am up for it. All fish were caught using a PowerTeam Lures Sick Stick in Kitchen Sink color holding tight to wood - a deadly bait for picky bass in tight cover. Apparently, the chain pickerel like it as well. I landed a 21" and a 22" in a dormant lily pad field on the flats as well during the event. Fished day three in a private big bass event and ended up landing three fish, including a nice 3lb fish. If I had landed those three the previous day, I would have ended up in the top 12. Alas, it paled in comparison to the 7lb 9 oz slob someone else caught. Still good times though. I planned my fish and fished my plan. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I did learn later that I was the only person from VA that qualified for day two of the event. All the other VA guys didn't even catch a single fish. Apparently, they pre-fished and shut the area down by doing too much catching. My approach off not fishing my target area apparently was the right way to go. Tight lines! 2 Quote
Super User buzzed bait Posted March 17, 2014 Super User Posted March 17, 2014 nice going, sounds like you had a good time! 1 Quote
Hanover_Yakker Posted March 18, 2014 Author Posted March 18, 2014 Yeah it was a blast. It was good to know that I was on the right track for the area I fished, but it was disheartening learning later that my fall back spot should have been my go to spot on both days. Oh well, lesson learned. 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted March 18, 2014 Super User Posted March 18, 2014 At least you were in the hunt. Congrats on your finish. 1 Quote
Super User buzzed bait Posted March 18, 2014 Super User Posted March 18, 2014 Yeah it was a blast. It was good to know that I was on the right track for the area I fished, but it was disheartening learning later that my fall back spot should have been my go to spot on both days. Oh well, lesson learned. hey man, i applaud you for having such a detailed plan and at that, sticking to it.... I never fish in tournaments, but even fun fishing i try to lay out a game plan and always seem to get sidetracked and hung up in one or two certain spots and never really stick to my plan so one other thing, i'm curious how they scored/weighed them? i've heard of different ways, but curious how a kayak tournament of that size did it? Quote
Hanover_Yakker Posted March 18, 2014 Author Posted March 18, 2014 Thanks Dwight. Mike, I tried in earnest your brush jigs, but they weren't the ticket. I had it tied on all week though - loyal my friend! Quote
Hanover_Yakker Posted March 18, 2014 Author Posted March 18, 2014 hey man, i applaud you for having such a detailed plan and at that, sticking to it.... I never fish in tournaments, but even fun fishing i try to lay out a game plan and always seem to get sidetracked and hung up in one or two certain spots and never really stick to my plan so one other thing, i'm curious how they scored/weighed them? i've heard of different ways, but curious how a kayak tournament of that size did it? Most kayak tournamens, as this one was, use CPR (Catch, Photo, Release) and require you to use a common measuring device (most use a Hawg Trough) and a token/identifier provided the night before at the captain's meeting. Requirements vary but in general follow these.... 1. Fish must be presented facing to the left with the dorsal fin up 2. Mouth must be closed and the natural lay of the tail - no pinching 3. Token must be clearly visible in the picture 4. Entire length of fish must be visible and picture must be taken from within the kayak Quote
Super User buzzed bait Posted March 18, 2014 Super User Posted March 18, 2014 very cool, i received an invite and wanted to fish a tournament on lake norman once with some kayak fishers. they would present everyone with a playing card the day of the tournament and your playing card had to be visible in the pics. I could do that! i just need to get me a hawg trough and maybe get into some kayak tourneys! congrats on being in the top 25% and besting over 90 anglers.... i need to get in on this one of these days..... Quote
macmichael Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 Sounds to me like you did great. Congrats. 1 Quote
Super User Grizzn N Bassin Posted March 20, 2014 Super User Posted March 20, 2014 Congrats on your finish! 1 Quote
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