Anyone fishing the Bassmaster Guntersville Kayak Championship?

[Koz]

I’m jumping into the deep end and I’ll be in that tournament in a few weeks.

 

I’ve never fished there before so I’m going in blind, but I will be practicing on the 17th and maybe in the afternoon on the 16th.

 

I have a few spots picked out to fish, but some are 3 - 8 miles from boat ramps. That’s probably too much travel time and not enough fishing time.

 

It’s time to go study some maps for a week and find spots other than Goose Pond.

[Tennessee Boy]

I know nothing about kayak tournaments.  Can you launch from any place you want?

[gim]

14 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I know nothing about kayak tournaments.  Can you launch from any place you want?

 

I was wondering that too.  I think they can.  I think they can load up, drive around the lake, and launch at another location in a yak tourney.  Obviously you have to decide if its worth doing that during your limited fishing hours because you are losing fishing time doing it.

[Choporoz]

 

 

31 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I know nothing about kayak tournaments.  Can you launch from any place you want?

I have not fished any Bassmaster kayak tournaments,  so I don't know what their launch restrictions are.  

   I fished KBF National on Guntersville a few years ago, and we were allowed to use any public ramp.  Had to be a public launch - guys at 'private' campgrounds had to load up and drive to a ramp.  Yes, @gimruis, we were able to load up and move in middle of the day.

  Good luck, @Koz, it is a pretty intimidating body of water first time in a kayak.  Impossible to learn a ton in two days of practice.  Sounds like you've been doing some homework already.   I went in pretty blind and it showed in my fishing.  Just hope there's not serious fog in the mornings.   Crossing that lake in a kayak in the fog is one of the scarier things I've done in a kayak.

[Fishingmickey]

It has to be a publicly accessible ramp. Not sure about this Tourney but on the Hobie BOS trail, I think they have a allowable ramp list for you to choose from. It varies, but it has to be accessible to everyone/anyone in the tournament. I always read the rules for each tournament a couple of times.

 

FM

[gim]

Let us know how the event goes @Koz.  I'm always fascinated by these kayak events.  @Bluebasser86 fishes kayak tournaments and chronicles them pretty well here.

[Koz]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I know nothing about kayak tournaments.  Can you launch from any place you want?

You have to launch and land from their list of published launches. Lots of guys launch at one place and fish for a bit, then load up on the trailer and launch from another spot,

[Koz]

7 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Let us know how the event goes @Koz.  I'm always fascinated by these kayak events.  @Bluebasser86 fishes kayak tournaments and chronicles them pretty well here.

Yes, but @Bluebasser86 is a better and more experienced tournament angler than I am.

 

Honestly, while my goal is to win I’ll be happy with 2-3 keepers.

 

But I will say this - as I better understand FFS it has changed the way I fish on my kayak. I’m also experimenting with perspective mode to better pick apart shallow water and find structure.

 

My goal for practice is to get the lay of the land, er, water, and find some brush piles, rocks, etc.

[Tennessee Boy]

Are you allowed to get information from random people on the Internet?

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Are you allowed to get information from random people on the Internet?

Isn't that what we are?

[Bluebasser86]

5 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Are you allowed to get information from random people on the Internet?

No, you can get information from other competitors though. 

 

I couldn't talk to my friends that were camping with me in Oklahoma because they weren't in the tournament. It was a weird deal not being able to talk fishing with my fishing buddy.

 

@Koz

Just have a positive attitude and try to learn as much as you can. I was just hoping for a limit both days and everything else was a bonus.

[Tennessee Boy]

7 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Isn't that what we are?

Yes,  although I identify more as a random fool on the Internet.

5 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I was just hoping for a limit both days and everything else was a bonus.

I know it's catch, photo release.  Is a keeper the lake's size limit or is it different?

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Yes,  although I identify more as a random fool on the Internet.

I know it's catch, photo release.  Is a keeper the lake's size limit or is it different?

Usually for BASS, it's a 12" minimum length limit.

[Koz]

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

 

@Koz

Just have a positive attitude and try to learn as much as you can. I was just hoping for a limit both days and everything else was a bonus.

I should have stated I'll be satisfied with 2-3 keepers each day, not in total.

 

It's a big lake and that makes it tough seeing it for the first time and being on a slow moving kayak. Because of the distances need to travel, I'll have to pick out 3 or 4 spots via map and research before I get there and hope for the best.

 

Lake Murray had 250+ entries. I expect at least that at this event, plus there's another kayak tournament going on that Saturday and I'm sure at least 2-3 boat tournaments. But it will be crowded with kayaks alone.

[Bluebasser86]

High percentage areas like marinas, bridges, and dams are always good places to just get some fish, not always a winning area though.

[Choporoz]

1 hour ago, Koz said:

Lake Murray had 250+ entries. I expect at least that at this event, plus there's another kayak tournament going on that Saturday and I'm sure at least 2-3 boat tournaments. But it will be crowded with kayaks alone.

That lake fishes so big, I wouldn't worry too much.  The tournament I fished there had over 400 entrants...maybe 450, and there was only one time I recall having to adjust due to someone in an area....and, frankly, he was a bit of an ass

[Tennessee Boy]

I used to live in north Alabama and fished Guntersville a lot.  It's been 25 years since I fished it regularly.  If the size limit is 12 in,  I would expect it to be pretty easy to catch 5 this time of year.  Fishing out of a Kayak on a very big and very busy lake should be interesting.  For the most part,   places I would fish a tournament in bass boat I would not touch in a Kayak.

[Koz]

***Note: If you respond, please do not provide any advice on fishing Guntersville. It’s tournament week and this is a blackout period.***
 

I finally started studying the Guntersville depth map and I did not realize how shallow (2 feet) it is on most of the lake.

 

This changes everything, especially with the size and width of the lake.

 

I’m looking at 30 minute runs from my primary launch point to areas that I find interesting for morning fishing.

 

I’m assuming I will be fishing grass and mats in the afternoon, but that may change. It looks like I might even fish one area in the morning, then trailer my kayak and drive to another launch point.

 

I will have about a day and a half for practice, but I also may spend time driving around looking at the official launch points. A lot of them look to be in the woods.

 

This is going to be interesting.

[TnRiver46]

Good luck @Koz! Bring toilet paper if you eat at the Chinese buffet in scottsboro the night before……

 

also the wal mart there has more lures than any other one I have ever been to, it’s like a bass pro shop

[Koz]

26 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Good luck @Koz! Bring toilet paper if you eat at the Chinese buffet in scottsboro the night before……

 

also the wal mart there has more lures than any other one I have ever been to, it’s like a bass pro shop

Don’t tempt me. I have enough gear. In fact, I’ve spent the last two days paring down what to take.

 

I don’t like to take the entire kitchen sink out on my kayak. I pate down, especially with soft plastics. But I will bring some additional options and keep them in my truck.

[casts_by_fly]

good luck.  keep us posted how it goes.

[Koz]

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

good luck.  keep us posted how it goes.

 

Only if I'm catching fish! If not, I'll slink away from BR for a few months and hang my head in shame. 😀

[MN Fisher]

43 minutes ago, Koz said:

 

Only if I'm catching fish! If not, I'll slink away from BR for a few months and hang my head in shame. 😀

No you come back here and commiserate with the rest of us. "Pain shared is halved, joy shared is doubled".

[nso123]

Good luck down there. Guntersville is not too far from me. A buddy of mine used to organize tournaments down there. Don’t forget about Scottosboro Tackle Company is down that way too if you forget any of your tackle.