Kayak Koz and the Lake Fork Adventure

[Koz]

Tournament Day: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

 

My plan was to fish Mustang Creek for a little bit, then make a mile plus run down to Little Mustang Creek and Williams Creek. I caught one undersized bass in Mustang, then tried to run south. It was not to be.

 

The waves were stacked up two feet high and the water was crashing over the bow so fast that my scupper drains were overloaded and I was taking on water. I couldn't even make it back to the ramp to pack up and go to another ramp. So I turned around and literally road the tops of waves back to Mustang Creek where it was somewhat protected from the winds.

 

I hit a few of the coves and caught two more 13" bass, but the minimum was 14" to score. I pushed to the back of Mustang, rode a wave, and sat down smack dab on flooded timber. For 20 minutes I tried to motor and paddle, but couldn't get unstuck. I waved down another kayak angler, tossed him my tow rope, and he motored me off the timber.

 

I pushed deep into a creek channel to fish some lily pads and my phone began blowing up with calls and texts from work. For the next two hours I barely fished as I was on the phone with work the entire time. and then I started my run back to the ramp, and missed the last hour of the tournament heading back and packing up. I went straight to the hotel, packed my gear, and drove back to Georgia so I could be back at work on Monday. With that, I canceled the last 4 days of my vacation.

 

My phone had been blowing up with texts from work the previous 2 days as well. Running a small hotel stinks as it's 24/7/365, even on vacation. I think I've had enough and I'll be looking for another job. When I'm on vacation I shouldn't have to deal with work. That's the whole idea of vacation.

 

I'm really happy for @LrgmouthShad and it was great to meet him for a few minutes. I'm really sorry that I had to bug out and we couldn't go to dinner or grab a beer.

 

In hindsight, maybe I should have gone to Florida instead.

 

EDIT: In the next few days I'll post a video of the waves I was riding out. It was nautical out on the main lake.

[LrgmouthShad]

Yeah man. I didn't want to say anything about your tournament experience on here because I didn't want to speak for ya in any way. I felt bad for Koz when he was getting bothered about work while fishing the tourney. Koz is a gentleman and I wish I could spend a little more time with him. His kayak rig is also awesome!! Hope things get better for you quick, Koz. If you are ever around in Texas I'll be happy to fish with you. 

[Susky River Rat]

Glad you are safe! Sounds like you had a lot of scar situations this trip but came out unscathed. It’s a true bummer work got in the way. I have a work cell phone and do not take it home with me. I’m not salaried they cannot make me answer calls or take emails outside of my clocked in time. Hence why a welding machine sat for 3 days because no one knew how to trouble shoot it but me. 
 

the susky is looking better and better for you!

[Fishingmickey]

On 11/16/2024 at 6:13 PM, LrgmouthShad said:

This is going to require some storytelling later

Congratulations Lrgmouthshad!!! A good friend of mine won the 7th hour.

FM

[TnRiver46]

@Koz, they can’t talk to you about work if you don’t answer 😂 

[Koz]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Koz, they can’t talk to you about work if you don’t answer 😂 

Unfortunately, I don’t have that option. Hence my starting to look for a job with normal hours.

[Koz]

Here’s how bad the fishing was at Lake Fork:

 

173 anglers in the tournament 

 

Only 278 fish submitted 

 

That’s an average of less than two fish per angler. And remember, this was a NO LIMITS tournament. If you caught 30 keepers (14” and greater) all of those fish would count.

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

@KozI want to know what Jorge Rosas was doing with his jigs! 2 big fish hourly prizes and third place overall in the tournament! I figured it was going to be a pretty lopsided tournament. TX can be a bit of struggle bus sometimes. 

[Swamp Girl]

20 hours ago, Koz said:

Here’s how bad the fishing was at Lake Fork:

 

173 anglers in the tournament 

 

Only 278 fish submitted 

 

That’s an average of less than two fish per angler. And remember, this was a NO LIMITS tournament. If you caught 30 keepers (14” and greater) all of those fish would count.

 

 

 

Whoa, that's slooooooowwwwwww fishing. 

 

Next time, if you can finagle some summer vacation time, come to Maine, where you'll have a shot at two bass on one cast:

 

[Mike L]

23 hours ago, Koz said:

Here’s how bad the fishing was at Lake Fork:

 

173 anglers in the tournament 

 

Only 278 fish submitted 

 

That’s an average of less than two fish per angler. And remember, this was a NO LIMITS tournament. If you caught 30 keepers (14” and greater) all of those fish would count.

 

 

Never heard of a tournament without a catch limit 

It must take to midnight to finish weigh in!

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[JHoss]

1 hour ago, Mike L said:

Never heard of a tournament without a catch limit 

It must take to midnight to finish weigh in!

Ever heard of Major League Fishing? It's the same format they use, but with photo submissions for length instead of a marshal weighing and logging each fish. Typically, results are finalized an hour after lines out. 

[Mike L]

4 minutes ago, JHoss said:

Ever heard of Major League Fishing? It's the same format they use, but with photo submissions for length instead of a marshal weighing and logging each fish. Typically, results are finalized an hour after lines out. 

C’Mon

Of Course 

 

Not in an amateur tournament where only pictures of the length is the deciding factor, No

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[JHoss]

4 minutes ago, Mike L said:

C’Mon

Of Course 

 

Not in an amateur tournament where only pictures of the length is the deciding factor, No

Haha glad you're not entirely under a rock. The MLF style kayak events have been gaining popularity for a few years now. 

[Mike L]

2 minutes ago, JHoss said:

Haha glad you're not entirely under a rock. The MLF style kayak events have been gaining popularity for a few years now. 

Nope 

Thats why my head is only flat on one side 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Koz]

4 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Whoa, that's slooooooowwwwwww fishing. 

 

Next time, if you can finagle some summer vacation time, come to Maine, where you'll have a shot at two bass on one cast:

 

Back in the 90’s I lived in Maine and ran a hotel in the Portland/Scarborough area. I was there when the big ice storm caused power outages for weeks across the state.

 

I used to hop on my Cannondale bike and ride up to Freeport, grab an ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s, then ride back. The bike lane on Route 1 was like a car lane.

 

I also remember getting twin 1 pound lobster dinners for only $9.99.

2 hours ago, Mike L said:

Never heard of a tournament without a catch limit 

It must take to midnight to finish weigh in!

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

We just submit pictures of the bass on a Ketch board through the TourneyX app. They verify the catch and we have live scoring.

[Swamp Girl]

@Koz: I'm glad you've got those good memories! Did you fish for bass when you lived here?

[Koz]

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

@Koz: I'm glad you've got those good memories! Did you fish for bass when you lived here?

No. For fun I occasionally raced cars at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

 

I had stopped fishing when I was in my teens and didn’t pick it back up again until I was in my 40’s.

[LrgmouthShad]

I am subscribed to Ken Smith fishing so this popped up in my YouTube feed... Ken Smith fished this tournament!! It was his first time fishing in a kayak tournament, as well. What a great video. Love Ken Smith and love his content. This is a good video. It's funny... I saw his name listed before I fished the tournament and I thought... nah surely it ain't him. Sure was! I did not see him at the weigh-in but may have missed him.

 

They posted some photos for the tourney. Here I am on two hours of sleep.

[TnRiver46]

@LrgmouthShad= big carboard checks 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@LrgmouthShad= big carboard checks 

😂 yeah I went up there and they hand me a big piece of cardboard and I think, well I guess I just stand and look pretty with this

[Koz]

2 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I am subscribed to Ken Smith fishing so this popped up in my YouTube feed... Ken Smith fished this tournament!! It was his first time fishing in a kayak tournament, as well. What a great video. Love Ken Smith and love his content. This is a good video. It's funny... I saw his name listed before I fished the tournament and I thought... nah surely it ain't him. Sure was! I did not see him at the weigh-in but may have missed him.

 

They posted some photos for the tourney. Here I am on two hours of sleep.

Ken is correct that many times, setting the hook is much harder in a kayak. Fishing from a boat or the bank I rarely list fish but I have lost a ton in a kayak. I have never been one to cross their eyes on a hook set and I need to condition myself to do that. 

 

Being old, my balance is not as good as when I was young so I’m a bit hesitant to stand and fish. I have zero concerns that my kayak will flip. My concern is that I will fall out of it. That being said, when I was out of the wind at Fork I spent time standing and fishing.

 

I do disagree with his assessment regarding the motor controls. It takes time, but I can grab the remote hanging around my neck and punch the correct buttons without looking. Old Town did a great job with both button orientation and size.

 

I do think that the next big revolution with trolling motors is going to be voice command.

 

As for his comment regarding rod holders, the Yak Attack system will allow you to mount them on an angle.

 

As for trailering kayaks, if you have a winch it’s quick and easy. If you don’t it is difficult to pull 250 - 300+ pounds of kayak and gear onto a trailer with a tow rope.

 

That being said, I just saw a video of a guy who remotely backs his autopilot onto his trailer. But he cut the video before pulling the trailer out of the water or even clipping it to the winch cable.

[Swamp Girl]

8 hours ago, Koz said:

Ken is correct that many times, setting the hook is much harder in a kayak.

 

And a canoe too. As I have shared many times, my canoe is Kevlar, 32 pounds, and 15' 6". The only way you can make a canoe that long that light is to make it skinny and being skinny, it's very tippy. So, there's no standing and there's no moving forward or aft, for the canoe tapers, making it even tippier away from center.

 

8 hours ago, Koz said:

I have never been one to cross their eyes on a hook set and I need to condition myself to do that. 

 

I tried to cross their eyes and failed. You might remember me reporting my pathetic landing percentage in early 2024. Other BR anglers reported landing 90% of their bass* and I had a couple mornings where I landed 50% of mine.** Over the course of 2024, I developed a way to land 80% to 90% of the fish, which wasn't crossing their eyes, as I tried that and just didn't have the footing under me to do it well.

 

A canoe is the opposite of a bass boat weighing thousands of pounds, where you're standing on a casting deck. A long, 32-pound canoe is slippery. It slides over the water. Newton's physics are at play. For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Crossing their eyes means my canoe is yanked toward the bass, substantially negating my hook set. 

 

So, I de-emphasized hook-setting and focused on playing the bass well, which meant not giving them a milli-second of slack and keeping them underwater and off-balance as much as possible. Keeping my line taut sets the hook in the course of the fight, I'm guessing, for by the time they reach my canoe, it's solidly in them.

 

Maine bass pull hard. One of my favorite YouTubers, Old Lady Angler, fishes both Florida and Maine and all the states in-between and she noted in an early 2024 Maine video how hard Maine bass pull. They'll set the hook if you can stay connected to them.

 

I am not suggesting this for everyone. If you're standing on casting deck or on shore, whale away, but if you're on the aquatic equivalent of a skateboard, a canoe, focus on your mechanics. 

 

*One or two even reported landing 100% of their bass.

 

**To cut myself a little slack, I was fishing reeds, which are as fibrous as an oak tree and as dense as a jungle. When I hooked them, they were surrounded by dozens of reeds and each one could free them.

 

P. S. - I started watching the Ken Smith video embedded above. 

 

At one point, he's struggling to land a 14" bass in weeds.

 

And when he does land it, he says, "Well, that was a fiasco for a 14" fish."

 

He also mentioned missing some bigger fish due to "funky" hook setting angles.

 

I've been there, Ken. Even when it's utterly calm and you've coasted to a complete stop, just retrieving my lure will rotate my canoe, producing funky hook setting angles.

 

P. P. S. - At the end, Ken says, "If you can catch them in a kayak, you can catch them in a bass boat. If you can catch them in a bass boat, maybe you can catch them in a kayak." 

[Darth-Baiter]

On 11/9/2024 at 5:20 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Bucees is the worst place you could imagine, 0/10 would not recommend 

unless you had to take a errr...had a BM brewing.   then it is the best place on the planet.  the restrooms are clean!!

I find the hook setting power in a kayak is just marginally less than in a boat.  of the two ends, the fish is the "looser" end in both cases, and is the side that moves the most.  

 

I love a kayak hook set.  

[TnRiver46]

19 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

unless you had to take a errr...had a BM brewing.   then it is the best place on the planet.  the restrooms are clean!!

I find the hook setting power in a kayak is just marginally less than in a boat.  of the two ends, the fish is the "looser" end in both cases, and is the side that moves the most.  

 

I love a kayak hook set.  

I had to wait in line forever at the bathroom, had it been a BM they would have been in trouble. Still the worst gas station in America in all categories 

[Swamp Girl]

20 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I love a kayak hook set.  

 

Do tell.