freshkats report and my fubar-learn from my mistake

fresh Kats open - First off I would like to thank the tournament directors for putting on an amazing tournament this morning. Michael Lavoie and Jim Meier. You guys did an amazing job and I had a blast.

Today started off just like any other tournament for me. I woke up 30 minutes before my alarm went off to get up. 3:30 am holy smokes it was early. Woke up loaded the kayak and I was off. I ended up at the port of sac around 5:30 with lots of kayakers whom had already shown up and were getting ready to go. I met up with headwaters team member josh and went about the early pre light morning getting our kayaks ready to hit the water. After checking in and hanging out with a great group of guys I was able to hit the water. I started off trolling for what ever might bite. First with a swim bait and crank bait. After getting hung up under the bridge and talking with a few guys who were on the water before me I decided that hopeing for a striper or salmon was probably out of the question. So I switched to my comfort zone and targeted bass. Fishing slow with a texas rigged worm I picked up my first fish along a rock wall under a tree. Score! A few minutes later I picked up my second bass this one being short. At this time I thought I had a good little pattern starting. Met back up with josh as his staff dutys were over and we started cruzing around trying to see if my pattern would hold out. NOPE!!! we fished for an hour or 2 without a single nibble and I was starting to think it was going to be a really rough day. I picked up a flat sided crank bait and started running it over the top of the grass beds in a cove and first cast hooked up. A few casts later and I got another. And came a third. Sweet a new pattern! Yeah I was wrong again, went another couple hours without a fish. Then about 11 oclock josh picked up a white spinner bait and hooked a nice fish. Ok well since what I was doing wasnt working I switched over also. Bam first cast! In a 20 minute span we fished our cove and picked up 10 bass between the two of us. He had a really nice 15+ inch fish that I wish I had got but hey thats fishing. We reset and make the drift again and not a single fish >_< by this time It was time to motor back to the launch.

This is where my major fubar comes into play. Time was getting short and I rush up to fill out my score card. 5 fish limit from 12-14.25 after talking with a few anglers in the open I knew I was sitting in the top 3 which really had me excited. I go and pull my kayak out of the water with help from dan at headwaters and go have some great conversations with the other anglers. The toc guys come in an hour later and its not time to verify pictures. After looking at my card and pictures I noticed I made a mistake before one of my fish were verified. At this time I was told that once the score card was turned in it could not be modified and my fish would be disqualified. As I have never fished a freshkats event I had no idea of this and its my fault for not knowing the rules I guess. The rule states all fish must be rounded down the the nearest quarter of an inch. Dont risk a disqualification if its to close to call. To me this rule is very grey and does not state that if you make a mistake even if you catch it before picture is verified that the fish would be disqualified. Well my fish was disqualified and I was super bummed. I made a mistake. Also knowing the species of bass would have been good to know. Lmb were given 8 pts per inch and spots and smallies were given 9 ppi. Well after talking to a few other anglers I found out 4 of my fish were spots. I counted them all as lmb. So I gave my self a huge deduction >_<. my total score for the day should have been 593.5 and I ended up in the mid to low 400 range. Again a bummer. Dont make this mistake in the future dont rush to get your scores in.

the potluck was soon to follow and some awsome food was to be had. After the pot luck awards time began. Having a dq fish I was really down and didnt have any hope for placing in the top 3. Amy
 came in first. Kevin Wilson came in 2nd- he also had a dqed fish and I came in 3rd!! even after having a dqed fish. I walked away with a new ego s2 slider net system with 2 nets a hoodie hat and a few other goodies. It worked out cause I really needed a net anyways. First place won a lowrance elite 7hdi which I will kick my self for messing up because I could have really used the larger fish finder screen on the new eddyline c135. Awards finish up some great raffle prizes are given away and I got to hang out with some of the best guys I know I had an awesome day on the water.

Sweet ending with the 3rd place! Right on that sounds like a fun day and tourney. I wont miss the next one.

Awesome report and thanks for sharing the lessons learned.  Congrats on placing!

Great report Gecko....sorry about the DQ but we all had a great time regardless.   Thanks again to all who promoted, contributed and participated in this epic event.  NCKA/FreshKats rock.

Nice report. Thanks for sharing your experience. Pretty good to come in third after a dq. So do I have this right? You can turn in a incorrect score card and only have one fish dq'ed? Pretty nice of the judges. NCKA rocks. 

I too slit my own throat, and as much or more than anyone I should know better. My first and biggest fish of the day cost me a place in the TOC. I took the pic released the fish, then realized a few minutes later I did not have my wristband in the pic. Lessons learned the hard way. I admit it was all me and no one else's fault but my own. Still had fun.