B.A.S.S. KAYAK SERIES

[Harold Scoggins]

Hmmm

March 5, Lake Logan Martin, Pell City, Ala. 
March 14, Lake Fork, Lake Fork Marina, Texas
May 23, Chickamauga Lake, Dayton, Tenn.
Aug. 15, Mississippi River, La Crosse, Wis.
Aug. 29, Clear Lake, Lakeport, Calif.  

[Fishingmickey]

Huummmm is right Harold! 

FM

[CountryboyinDC]

I don't fish tournaments, I'm a donor to enough causes, but there seems to be a bunch of equally prominent leagues cropping up.  KBF is the one folks fish around me, but there's the Hobie series, River Bassin' (haven't heard much out of those guys lately), and a bunch of state organizations.  Even as many folks as there are around me, they sometimes have trouble getting 30 anglers to show up.  How many leagues do you need?

[BassNJake]

BASS getting their hands on that kayak money too!!

 

[OCdockskipper]

The first thing I thought of is this the kind of thing that is in MLF's wheelhouse?

 

I have been vocal that I believe a problem with the BPT structure is that it is run by the anglers and looks at everything from their viewpoint.  Therefore, how the organization changes and grows will always have a "whats in it for the pros" mentality.  I don't see MLF looking outside their current interests to form tours or leagues other than what will be participated in by their pros.  I understand they purchased FLW, but they existed prior to BPT so owning it or not owning it made no difference to the BPT pros, it was already there.  There will always be an exception, a Boyd Duckett or two, who are business oriented first and tournament fishing second, but it seems obvious that most BPT anglers would not have any interest in sharing the spotlight with any kayak series (or college or anything else) that draws eyes away from them).

 

That is BASS's ace in the hole, being a "fishing organization" first and a company that has an Elite pro series second.  If the Elite pros have an issue with the amount of coverage given to the kayak series, or the Bass Nation or the college series, too bad.  BASS, because of their organizational structure, has the ability to start and run whatever kind of tours that are of interest to bass fishermen over the years.  A while back, fly fishing was tried, kayak fishing now, who knows what would be in the future.  By having their organizational focus on what their members want, what bass fishermen are doing at that time, they are much more flexible to change with the times.

 

Now when is the Pond Boat series going to get started up...?

[WRB]

B.A.S.S. scheduling at west coast Clear Lake during the height of the algea bloom time period is interesting. April is open on their schedule and that time period is the height of the big bass bite at Clear Lake.

Tom

[Smalls]

On 11/14/2019 at 6:00 PM, CountryboyinDC said:

I don't fish tournaments, I'm a donor to enough causes, but there seems to be a bunch of equally prominent leagues cropping up.  KBF is the one folks fish around me, but there's the Hobie series, River Bassin' (haven't heard much out of those guys lately), and a bunch of state organizations.  Even as many folks as there are around me, they sometimes have trouble getting 30 anglers to show up.  How many leagues do you need?

Hobie BOS and this will probably be the two major national trails. KBF is slowly, but surely dying. 
 

It’s literally no different than the boat tournaments, though. You have MLF/BASS/FLW, tons of regional trails, and countless state trails. 
 

Options are never a bad thing, and growing the kayak stage is a great thing. 

[CountryboyinDC]

16 hours ago, Smalls said:

KBF is slowly, but surely dying.

I haven't seen the ranks swelling around here, but I don't know who would replace them.  There seems to be a growth in the numbers of people fishing from kayaks (particularly the more stable and comfortable they become), but the number of folks participating in tournaments is about the same.  I only know about what it looks like in places other than here, but in the past year or so Hobie, FLW, and now B.A.S.S. have all thrown their hats in the ring.  I just wonder who's going to be fishing these tournaments.

[Smalls]

7 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I haven't seen the ranks swelling around here, but I don't know who would replace them.  There seems to be a growth in the numbers of people fishing from kayaks (particularly the more stable and comfortable they become), but the number of folks participating in tournaments is about the same.  I only know about what it looks like in places other than here, but in the past year or so Hobie, FLW, and now B.A.S.S. have all thrown their hats in the ring.  I just wonder who's going to be fishing these tournaments.

I’ve only been in my state a year, but I have already seen an influx of anglers show up throughout the year. And almost 20 guys that fish our trail made the trek to Lake Fork (and are making it again this year) for the BOS. One of them won it last year. And the Hobie TOC was successfully filled the field in only its first few years.  
 

We all have jobs and lives, so there’s no way a majority are hiking across the entire country for the chance at a couple grand. But it’s definitely a start, And looking back, the sport has taken leaps and bounds in the past few years. 
 

It’ll never be as big as the Elites. But I don’t think it’s meant to be. I can’t speak for everyone, but I think a lot of people really enjoy the grassroots feel to fishing kayak tournaments. But it’s nice to have a little piece of the spotlight, and it’s always nice to win a little bit bigger of a pot. 

[CountryboyinDC]

@Smalls, I think you've probably confirmed my suspicion.  There other places like Texas where the tournament scene is a little more vigorous for kayak anglers.  I definitely agree that the sport has grown by leaps and bounds.  I look back at all the stuff I repurposed and made out of PVC and zip ties, and it's all available from Yakattack or someone now.

[Smalls]

39 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

@Smalls, I think you've probably confirmed my suspicion.  There other places like Texas where the tournament scene is a little more vigorous for kayak anglers.  I definitely agree that the sport has grown by leaps and bounds.  I look back at all the stuff I repurposed and made out of PVC and zip ties, and it's all available from Yakattack or someone now.

I don’t understand why these trails don’t have more events in Texas. It’s definitely the kayak fishing capital of the country. And they all seem to have been born with rod in their hand. 
 

And I’m relatively new to the whole deal, even here in NM, I see new faces every tournament. It’s fun watching it grow. 

[James Engle]

More exposure for the sport, more opportunities.... Hope to start seeing  a page or 2 in bass times every month, with kayak results and featured anglers.
 

KBF is a family, they’re here to stay. I don’t know the stats, but up in the northeast a lot of the bigger kayak clubs are kbf partner trails. Seems the clubs making moves on local and regional levels are all part of a pretty tight network. And big things happening next year .  
 

2021 kbf national championship is back on Caddo... and I mean they just had 1/2 the kayak population there last March and also have their own region on the trail series . Texas sounds nice right now! icing up here in Maine ?

[Hawkeye21]

I'm very excited for this.  To be a kayak fisherman and be able to fish in a BASS event is a pretty big deal.  I've already registered for the La Crosse tourney.

[Hook2Jaw]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye21 said:

I'm very excited for this.  To be a kayak fisherman and be able to fish in a BASS event is a pretty big deal.  I've already registered for the La Crosse tourney.

Rooting for you.  I have a wedding to save for this year, I had hoped to make the KBF SE Opens this year, but it was the first thing I budgeted out.

[Hawkeye21]

Next weekend is the La Crosse event and we have 126 anglers competing.  It should be a great event!