Freshkats TOC/ Open 2015 Wrap up

I want to first thank Jim and Ricci for help putting on a great series for 2015. We knew that getting into freshwater events are a hit or miss. We tried to pick series locations that not only had good fishing but possibly had good camping. We first went to Berryessa for a little Brawl'n. John Patz, Daniel Cahvez and Pat Kuhl to took top honors. Great event and I always like fishing the Berry in the spring.

Next we went to Rollins which was a place I always wanted to have an event. This lake is a sleeper imo and if you hit it at the right time it can be very rewarding... well April 18th seem to be that date. Scott Vaughn, Alex Bernhard and Ron 18" crappie McGuire got it done. The camping was much better than expected with direct access from most camp site, it was a great weekend. We also gave away a Hobie from Hills Flat Lumber!

Lake Tahoe was a whole different deal. Obviously the area is beautiful but mother nature had other plans for our anglers. Winds up to 30 mph and 2-3 ft wind waves forced our anglers closer to shore and away from the koke grounds. But some anglers found fish early and fought for more. What a beautiful place to have an event. Ben Yu, Thomas Frey and Rob Knoles found the fish and took top 3. We gave away a Trident 13 from Adventure Sports.

Our last series location was Clear Lake. This lake has some monster fish in it. We did see some nice catfish come in but non of the huge bass and crappie the lake is known for. Again the camping was good and some of the sites had lauchability (yes, i just made that up). Uminchu Naoki, James Pratt and Gary Charles worked hard and were rewarded. We gave away a FeelFree Moken 10 Angler from Head Waters Kayaks.

So the stage was set for the Tourney of Champions and the Open event for Dec 5th. The port has such a variety of species yet she can be very challenging. I then decide to throw a wrench in the machine with a no live bait rule. Ohhh, man did I hear it from guys... oh boy."What do you mean no minnows"... waaaaa waaaa. Hahaha, well you don't need live or cut bait to catch fish at the port which our anglers proved. Did these anglers have to work and go through their tackle boxes to get it done, yes they did.

Tourney of Champions
1st Place - James Pratt 632.5 pts
2nd Place - Scott Vaughn 556 pts
3rd Place - Eric Roberts 548 pts

Open Event
1st Place - Amy Hopperstand 519 pts
2nd Place - Kevin Wilson 436.5 pts
3rd Place - James Snyder 434.0

These anglers won close to $2000 in cash and prizes. We also had another $3000 in raffle prizes including a FeelFree Lure 13 from Head Waters Kayaks in Lodi. None of this would be possible if we didn't have awesome sponsors who believed in our mission and vision. So Thank You Sponsors for all the product you gave us for our anglers! Also Thank you Ken Dye for the potti. 

To wrap this up, I had a great time and I appreciate everyone that ever helped or asked to help during the series and at the TOC, you all rock!. For me, it was a LOT of work from designing all the graphics and logos, building and updating the websites, Posters, flyers, forms and the time to stalk and pitch multiple sponsors and everything else. I have to say my wife Kara is a pretty cool chick for putting up with me and it all. She happily tagged along with me to all the events, she's awesome.

Unfortunately next year there will be no freshkats for me. But I am proud of what WE all created and I feel very lucky to part of such a great community of guys who believed in our series. Hope to see you all on the water sooner than later!

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Thank you very much for all the hard work, Mike!!!
Have a wonderful holidays!!!

Thank you Mike and crew for doing all you do!

Mike, Jim, & Ricci you guys did an awesome job and I enjoyed the events I was able to make. It sucks we won't have am the FreshKATS Serries next year but I totally understand. Enjoy the holidays and let's fish together soon.

Thank you Mike, Jim, Ricci, Headwaters and everybody else I might of missed. I appreciate all the hard work that you all put into these events. I could only imaging what goes into this stuff...and BS. I wish I could of participated more but thanks for keeping the spirit alive.

I forgot to add this to the pict. I caught this little fatty messing around while GoPro filming some of the TOC guys. Go figure!

Thanks for the all props guys, it really does mean a lot.

Mike

Thanks for all the hard work everyone put in. It was a fun tournament. Next year we can always do a FreshKats fish and chill.