Tournament Preparation Part 1

It has been said that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. To increase your luck, i.e. opportunity for success, you must be as prepared as possible, physically and mentally. If being ready is most of the battle then your groundwork should be completed before you ever hit the water.

The key to tournament fishing is being efficient, thereby maximizing your time out on the water. No wasted time looking for you pliers or fumbling around trying to get your net untangled while you have a fish on the end of your line. No digging around the inside of your kayak looking for your stringer or ruler.

Fishing, like most hobbies, is all about personal preference; we do things as we see fit. My approach to tournament preparation is by no means the best way or even the most efficient, but it works for me. If you find a method that better suits your needs incorporate it into your preparation regimen.

I’ll start with tackle. I am a tackle enthusiast, a more flattering label for tackle junkie, and have accumulated quite an “investment” (idle collection) of tackle over the past few years. In the past I was one of those fishermen that carried everything I owned on every single trip and at the end of the day less than one percent of all that tackle was actually used.

And while I still carry way too much equipment, tournament fishing, as well as kayaking in general, has forced me to tone down the quantity and quality of what I cram into my tank well and hatches these days. Fishing tournaments you want to pack the bare essentials only; things you know you’re going to need over the course of a day of fishing. Toning down your tackle helps you stay organized while on the water. Organization and efficiency has also carried over into my recreational fishing, which has allowed me to be more productive at catching versus just fishing.


Essential equipment to bring aboard your kayak for tournament fishing purposes include a net, rods and reels, pliers, drinks and snacks, stake-out stick or some other anchoring device, the minimal amount of tackle needed, accurate measuring device, scale, stringer or livewell, drift sock, and a camera if necessary. Although you could add or subtract a thing or two these, more or less, are the necessities.

Knowing how to operate your equipment and making sure all your gear is functioning correctly is also a vital component in being prepared. Tournament day is not the time to test if your tackle is in proper working condition; this should be done days beforehand. Check to see if your rods and reels are functioning properly. Make sure hooks are sharp and all knots are cinched down appropriately. Look for cricks or frays in your line or leaders. Replace hooks, knots, leaders, and line as needed.

Depending on what type of tournament you are fishing, CPR or live weigh-in, you are going to need to know how to use the equipment required submitting your catch. Practice keeping fish alive in your livewell or taking pictures of fish on your measuring device. Although these tasks may seem easy, and they usually are after a little practice, you never know what problems you might encounter until you make an attempt yourself.

Another important consideration is to remember to bring plenty of liquids and quick snacks along with you to prevent dehydration and hunger. If you’re fishing hard you’re going to burn a ton of calories. There’s probably no smaller deed you can perform that will help you refocus while fishing than eating a snack and taking a drink. A loss of concentration can make a world of difference, especially considering the disparity between winning and losing can boil down to just one bite.

One of the most important aspects of tournament fishing and efficiency is time management. The simplest way to manage and keep track of time is by wearing a wristwatch; I always have a watch on my wrist on tournament day. You’re on a time limit, and catching winning fish does you no good if you can’t make the weigh-in. Calculate how long it takes you to drive from your fishing spot to the weigh-in. Know precisely how long it takes you to load up and connect your livewell. By the morning of the tournament I usually know when I have to be back to the launch to make the weigh-in almost to the minute. Another thing to consider is how long it will take you to paddle back to your launch site from the furthest distance you plan on fishing.

Fish hard until the very last minute as long as you don’t have fish. Many tournaments have been won in the crunch with literally minutes left of possible fishing. If you do you have fish to weigh-in then give yourself plenty of wiggle room to make it back on time. If you’re trying to upgrade then you have to make a decision if it’s worth not making the weigh-in to possibly upgrade. If you’re in an area where you know there’s fish then it might be worth the risk. I like to have all possible scenarios played out in my head before my kayak touches the water so when the time comes to make a decision I know what to do without hesitation.

The day before the tournament is usually when I like to unwind and relax. If I do fish it’s usually a short trip to check if the fish I found prefishing are still in the same location or get a gauge or feel for the conditions the next day. This is the time I use to make sure all my tackle in order after previous days of prefishing put everything in disarray.

Besides for registration purposes, captain’s meetings are more or less mandatory, mechanical gatherings that usually offer no more relevant information but do bestow participants with the opportunity to converse (fabricate stories) about past successes and blunders. Remember to sign up for the tournament you plan on participating in well beforehand, and have all paperwork filled out prior to attending the captains meeting. It saves both you and the tournament director trouble from having to verify registration and payment, and helps you avoid any late fees.

The captain’s meeting is usually the best time to mingle with your fellow kayakers but don’t overlook the weigh-in as a likely source of information. Anglers are usually willing to enlighten you about how their day went regardless of whether the outcome was good or bad. There is wealth of knowledge that leaves the mouths of participants and floats around the air, like a cloud on a foggy morning. I’ve heard about many David versus Goliath or the one that got away stories at these gatherings. Don’t be bashful, open your mouth and become a sponge if and when someone opens theirs.

Get plenty of rest the night before the tournament. You don’t want to wake up in the morning and feel groggy or scatterbrained while on the water. Remember to have fun; you’re fishing after all, not trying to get that hot blonde to go on a date with you. Don’t put undue pressure on yourself; go out and do what you love, just fish. If you’re not having fun you won’t do well, and you’ll probably lose interest in tournament fishing fairly quickly. Be confident in your game plan and fish efficiently and let the cards fall where they may.

I’m sure I didn’t cover everything and it would be impossible task, so if there’s anything I left out or if you want any more information regarding a specific issue feel free to send me a message.

Fisherman’s Addiction

When it seems like everything in your life is total blur. Everything seems to be happening so fast that you feel like your racing down a highway at a hundred miles per hour. You catch a glimpse of things here and there but nothing seems to make sense or have any meaning.

Life’s throwing so many things at you at once you feel overwhelmed. It’s like you’re at a buffet that has all your favorite foods combined in one place. You walk down the aisles contemplating what to eat but with so many good choices you throw a little of everything on your platter and before you know it it’s piled high and too much to handle. You get the feeling that you’re just a helpless bystander of your own existence.

There’s only one place to go when everything seems to be crashing down on you at once. The place that helps you to get away from it all and clear your mind from all the world’s pressures. The place that makes you feel like a new person and gives you a renewed sense of meaning and worth.

The feeling you get inside every time you go to this place is indescribable. It’s like you’re in another world. The feeling that you’re at peace with your surroundings. The feeling that you’re one with nature. It’s this feeling that lets you know you’re alive.

When you’re at this place you wouldn't trade seats with anybody else in the world. You don’t have a care in the world. All your worries erased. All your problems gone. Nothing else matters. There’s only one place in this world you want to be. You know this place well. Ah, that great place all too familiar but yet so distance in your memory.

Fishing in its purest form is you against Mother Nature. You armed with a rod and reel, and Mother Nature with all her elements. Tides, wind, current, pressure, rain, cloud cover and everything else she has in her arsenal that she can dish at you over the course of a day. Your ability to combat these external forces is what makes you successful or leaves you in the dust of her wrath. Sure catching adds to the experience but just being in the presence of her elements is more than enough to satisfy your craving.

You have no obligations tomorrow so you decide it’s been long enough it’s time to reacquaint yourself with this wonderful place. You load up everything the night before going through your mental checklist making sure you haven’t forgotten anything. After all preparations have been made you’re off to bed.

You feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. You toss and turn all night opening your eyes every so often to see if it’s time to get up and head out for the day’s adventure. You’re so excited about the prospect of being able to get on the water that you’re up and can’t go back to sleep long before the alarm clock goes off. You get up and go through your morning routine and then hit the road as quickly as possible for the journey ahead.

As you make the drive to your favorite spot you think about all the memories this special place has brought you over the years. You know the spot that over the years hasn’t let you down very many times. The spot that you know you can count on to produce even in the toughest conditions.

You pull off the highway and start making your way down a tattered, dirt road that leads you to what feels like the Promised Land but it only dead ends to the water. You bring your truck to a stop and crack open the door to get that fresh salty breeze running down your nostrils for the first time in what seems like forever. You get out of your truck and quickly unload everything you’re going to need for battle ahead.

With everything unloaded and ready you jump in the water with your heart beating as if you just run a marathon. You’re on the water well before daylight when most souls are still at rest. All your other senses are significantly magnified due to the darkness and silence in the air. You hear every bug buzz by, every blade of grass move, and every splash in the distance. You feel every breeze and drop of water hit your body. With every breath you inhale the aroma of salt and marine life in the air.

You make you way to favorite area just as the sky begins to light. You begin to see the tale tell signs that fish are in the area. Nervous water, the occasional fleeing of baitfish, and birds hovering above. As the sun begins to peak over the horizon you sit back and enjoy one of the universe’s most magical performances. A new day has begun. You can’t but help to think about possibilities that lie ahead.

You are so overcome by your emotions you temporarily forget the reason you are here. You regain your concentration and make your first cast to a swirl off in the distance but it lands nowhere near your intended target. Second cast a little closer but comes up short. As your about to make your third cast, off in the distance you hear the sound of a constant beeping. Beep, beep, beep.

The sound seems to be getting louder & louder. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. You open your eyes and turn your head to see the alarm clock shows 6:00am. It's time to get out of bed and get ready for work.

This feeling is all you can think about on a daily basis. It makes bad days better. It makes major problems feel like minor annoyances. It keeps the work week bearable and puts life into perspective. It’s engraved in your soul. It runs through your veins. You can’t get this feeling anywhere else.

You are an addict.

Spring Fishing Pictures (Updated 4/7)

Albino Bluebonnet


Bluebonnets


Surf Sunrise


New TTF Color

Tournament Thoughts and Lessons Learned

Well, the first tournament of the year is in the books and it was a predictable one. The Xtreme Redfish Tournament Trail kayak tournament (http://www.xtremeredfishtrail.com/) was just that extreme. If there’s a tournament in early spring, odds are the weather is going to be horrendous. No psychic (meteorologist) required. It blew and it blew. And if the wind wasn’t enough, the tides hovered around extreme winter lows and a cold front blew in the day before the tournament.

All of the participants fished in downright brutal conditions on tournament day. You could not have scripted worse fishing conditions: extreme low tides, high winds, high pressure, and a cold front that drop the water temperature several degrees in less than 24 hours. My hat goes off to my fellow competitors that were brave enough to battle and/or able to find fish in these extreme conditions.

Some of my best fishing lessons have been acquired through trial and error, especially error, while prefishing or preparing for a tournament. I learned a few things this past weekend that will be helpful to me in future and that made me a better angler.

First, I learned that my teammates Tony and Chris hate the Corpus area. Second, the T-Pain iPhone App is well worth the money. The entertainment it provided us throughout the weekend was worth every penny spent.

Next, Tony and Chris hate Corpus. In addition, don’t try to fish the marsh when the tide is extremely low unless you want to be completely muddy and exhausted by the time you make it back to the launch. Dave (Nueces Bay) can attest to this.

Furthermore, Tony and Chris hate Corpus. Also, don’t make an hour and twenty minute paddle one way when the wind is forecasted over 20 mph all day. Sometimes the weather guessers are right. Additionally, carrying a spare paddle might not be such a bad idea. You tend to learn this type of lesson when you’re over 4 miles away from the launch and you’re holding what resembles two oars.

Did I mention that Tony and Chris hate Corpus?

All joking aside I actually did learn a lot about a few areas I have been fishing over the last few years and how certain conditions affect these areas. I was able to cross out a bunch of unproductive water (36 miles worth over 5 days of fishing) given certain conditions and I even found a pattern that I’m sure I’ll be able to reproduce in the future.

Out of the five days I spent in the area, I was only able to find fish on my first day in the area. Although the fish were plentiful, the bites on the other hand were almost nonexistent. That first day I literally had fish swimming all around me and I didn’t go a few paddle (oar) strokes without seeing a fish. But they refused everything I had to offer and I finished the day with only one fish landed.

Tony and Chris both despise fishing around the Corpus area but not without good rationale. Most of their fishing experiences in the area have been bad and nonproductive. I was supposed to be the gracious host for them this weekend showing them a few spots to hopefully change their outlook about the area.

I think I failed miserably in helping change their minds and if anything, I made their viewpoint even worse. I apologize and assure you both that the fishing is not always as bad or tough as your experiences suggest. We’ll have to make a trip to the area when the conditions are more favorable so I can redeem myself.

Tournament day was comedy of errors. The area we decided to fish was blown out almost completely. We struggled to find fishable water much less any signs of fish. By the time we reached an area where fish might inhabit, most of our fishing time was used up.

Chris saw an area that looked similar to fishing back home and went to work almost immediately. He put on a display by quickly landing a nice mid-slot redfish and bunch of undersized reds. Sam also managed to pull out and bunch of rat reds out the same area. I remember mentioning to Chris that “you can take Chris away from Freeport but you can’t take Freeport away from Chris.”

We found these fish in small deep creek that fed off of main channel. Plastics and gold spoons bumped slowly along the drop-off produced the best bite. We worked the creek and main channel without much more luck and our day was coming to an end. Tony and Chris decided to head back to the launch to make it to the weigh-in on time.

Me and Sam decided to check out one last area that we had scouted on Google Earth in hopes of pulling out a last second miracle. Making our way to our last spot was definitely not easy with the wind and tide. I considered turning around a few times but Sam alleviate my hesitation by reminding me that we had absolutely nothing to lose.

We made our way into the area and Sam immediately hooks up with a solid redfish. After a few minute battle, Sam gets the fish close and by this time visions of a last minute Hail Mary are going through both of our minds. Within sight, the fish makes one last run and headshake for survival and the hook pops out. We both just stand there and stare at each other in amazement at what could have been.

We fish the area for about an hour more and we both managed to catch numerous undersized redfish. By this time there was no hope of making the weigh-in so we relaxed and began to fish solely for enjoyment. In the midst of the mayhem Sam managed to catch, the biggest red of his life, a 35” beast that ate a ½ gold spoon. This was by far the fattest redfish I have ever seen with my own two eyes. The fish bottomed out a 15lb Boga Grip. It was probably well over 20 pounds and as fat as can be.

By now it was about 2:30pm and we were a long way from the launch so we decided to make our way back in. On the way in we decided to make one last cast before leaving the area and we both hooked up simultaneously with undersized reds. We smiled at each other and decided it was the perfect way to end an otherwise arduous day.

We found all of our fish sitting on drop-offs where the water went from 1'-2' to 4'-6' deep. Gold spoons out fished plastics 3 to 1. If only we had found this area sooner who knows what the outcome would have been. Live and learn.

I love the format and the potential this tournament series possesses. The inaugural event had some setbacks but nothing that can't be easily fixed. Overall things were very professional and well-run. I’m looking forward to fishing the entire series this year. Hopefully the conditions will be more favorable for the remainder of the series.



Paddle or Oars?










Testing the new Fish Grip


The Beast


Just under 35"


Big Red Released

Elite Angler and New Paintings

Ever since I first heard about the Elite Angler program I knew it was something I wanted to work towards achieving. Over a year ago I submitted all the paperwork and pictures for five different species but some of the fish were not accepted because I overlooked the rule that requires you to submit everything in less than 60 days after the catch.

I took me a lot longer than I expected to get the last species I needed but I finally got it a few weeks ago. I submitted all the information and receive my award this past week. Not a very hard award to achieve but very few anglers are aware of the program.

Elite Angler Award


You can find out more details about the program here...
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/programs/fishrecords/rules/other_awards.phtml#elite


The five fish that helped me receive the Elite Angler Award...

16.5" Sand Trout


29.75" Redfish


24" Ladyfish


25.5" Speckled Trout


19.25" Flounder


While in Corpus Christi fishing a tournament this past weekend I picked up three new paintings I had my grandfather paint for me. I think they all turned out great.

Clear Water Redfish


The Five Boats of the Texas Coast


Fly Fishing the Flats

Why I Fish Tournaments

I have heard all the excuses of why people don’t fish tournaments but most of these excuses come from people with little or no tournament fishing experience. I fully understand that tournament fishing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and all I can say to that is to each his own.

I still remember the first kayak tournament I entered over three years ago. I came into my first event with great hesitation but with good reason. At the time I just started kayaking and saltwater fishing with lures and had never fished competitively. I was also fishing alien waters that I had never fished before. I was in a completely unfamiliar world. Other than their avatars and online personas I knew no one with any familiarity. I felt like a kid at his first day at a new school. There was a myriad of emotions that triumphed internally during that first go-around, which included being nervous, overwhelmed, scared, and intimidated.

The tournament fishing community was no semblance of what I made it out to be. I came into competitive fishing thinking everyone I was fishing against was a pro or sponsored fisherman, meaning I had no chance to compete with these individuals because they were inherently better than I was. I also believed that these same people were egotistical individuals that were only competing for the bragging rights and to boost their own self-esteem.

My prognostication couldn’t have been more wrong. As a whole, the tournament fishing community is like one big family; everyone is not out for each other’s throats. Although the very nature of tournaments leads to competitive battles, I never once felt it was me against the field. It felt more like a friendly battle, like the kind between siblings. Tournament anglers are some of the most helpful individuals I have been around with regards to their willingness to share knowledge.

Participants were actually willing to help out greenhorn tournament anglers. They were eager to share their expertise about seasonal patterns, lure selection and presentation, and tactics that have proved successful in their past fishing experience. Some of my best fishing alliances have been formed through my involvement in the tournament fishing community. My proverbial “learning curve” was expedited tremendously by hanging around and fishing with fellow tournament anglers.


Who would have thought you could catch monster trout in the middle of the night on topwaters in shallow water during the winter time? I sure didn’t, but it was one of many things I learned from fellow kayak anglers whom I met at various fishing competitions.

What I gained from that experience and all the other tournaments I have fished since is what has led me to where I am today. I love tournament fishing for a number of reasons. I love the preparation, scheming, and strategizing that tournament fishing entails. I love the camaraderie of the tournament fishing community. And last but definitely not least, I love the competition.

Tournament fishing is great because it forces you to become a better fisherman whether you want to or not. You are forced to fish in whatever conditions Mother Nature decides to throw your way and at the end of the day you get to compare your results with others that had to battle the same set of circumstances. If you are one of the people fortunate enough to come out near the top, you get a great sense of accomplishment knowing that you were able to defeat a field of qualified individuals. Tournament fishing also forces you to fish foreign places throughout the entire Texas coast not just your home waters, which helps you become a more versatile angler. You are never losing money in a tournament because you gain so much through experience.

For anyone unsure about fishing tournaments, come on out and get in on the fun. Talk to some people you don’t know, meet some new fishing partners, and learn some new waters. You will have a good time and meet people that share your passion of fishing from plastic boats and if you’re lucky you might even walk away with a prize or bragging rights to take home.

Be aware though, tournament fishing, like kayak fishing as a whole, can be very addicting. If you are on the fence go ahead and give it a shot but you can’t say I didn’t warn you. If you are reading this and are interested in tournaments but hesitant of jumping in shoot me an email or PM with any questions, comments, or concerns you might have.

Sam holding two tournament quality reds from one of our previous prefishing excursions...

Spring Break Fishing

Future Ceviche


Greg with a nice flounder




Few for Dinner


Big Sandy


Hooked another near the pectoral fins




"Triple Hooked Slam"