KayakFishng Bass Tournament Trail

Hello NCKA   

I met with the Future Pro Bass Tour Director yesterday and we talked about a Kayakfishing Bass Tournament Trail....

To be truthful, I was not to optimistic about this but decided WTF, check it out. After meeting with him and knocking a few things around, there may be something here.

The short of it looks like we are going to be invited to 4 tounaments this year with the first being March 27th at Berryessa, then Folsom, DELTA, and Clear lake.  we will be fishing the same day as the Bass boats but in a different division with Belly Boaters. Then sharing in the festivities with everybody....

The Cool thing is the Bass Boats are going to be forced to watch as their stringers are crushed by Kayaks!!!!

The other more important thing is we start to get more recognition/sponsors and publicity, maybe that's not a good thing, I'm still not sure, but the reality is, we really don't have many tournament type things going so far, so it might be fun, we'll see.

One issue already is the LMB's need to be kept alive. I think Belly Boaters use a flexible steal cage...

Entry Fee would be around $25 or so with 80% pay back with money/prizes going into the 10 place or further. And no, I'm not on the take,

Just contributing more of my time to further our Great Sport... 

Other possibilities go into the idea of a point system towards the end, where only 4 or so of the top point contenders would compete for the Grand Prize of a Kayak....  or Belly Boat...
 
If won by Belly Boater.... 

So,

Hows does this sound to you?

Ideas welcome per this is the planing stage....

And YakHopper,   

Hats off to you Again for doing this first and doing it well.

If your planing a trail again I'll find out all the dates of this Gig and get them to you ASAP

Sounds interesting.  Bass-n-tubes already do a tourney trail thing on their own, and kayaks are welcome to compete.  The snag for me has always been how to keep the catch alive, because they require a 10 gallon aireated (where's that damn spellcheck button????) live well. 

Thanks for the post Danglin.

HB

Livewell was my first concern.  Not impossible but gonna take some serious rigging and they're gonna weigh the yak down a ton. I'd give it a go. 

Livewell would be a challenge.  What do you think of these live bait bags from Cabela's. Haven't seen one but they look like they might work for temporary holding for bass and then could use a few PBs to bounce around and weigh fish periodically or when someone calls on the radio.  I guess another option would be to not use weight at all and go for top 5 fish based on self-measured length, like we do for AOTY, though that would not be as objective and accurate as having a standard weight or measurement taken by "officials".

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0074727020950a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&No=36&Ntk=Products&QueryText=live+bait+&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0

Livewell would be a challenge.  What do you think of these live bait bags from Cabela's. Haven't seen one but they look like they might work for temporary holding for bass and then could use a few PBs to bounce around and weigh fish periodically or when someone calls on the radio.

That's a Good Idea, There are support boats out there and they could do the weigh in OTW, not what this type of venue is used to, but Frankly for me, I don't want to drag around 10 gallons of water or a huge steel cage.

I guess another option would be to not use weight at all and go for top 5 fish based on self-measured length, like we do for AOTY, though that would not be as objective and accurate as having a standard weight or measurement taken by "officials".

I suggested that too,  He thought I was Speaking French....

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,20977.0.html

Weigh boats are the way to go. We've done this for years and years down south. 10 gal tanks are pushing it for kayaks. The standard is 3 to 5 gal.   

I'll be interested to see how this develops. Good luck!

In my opinion, a weigh in boat would change the tournament format too much to cater to kayakers.  Also, no bag to bring to the scales.  Too much room for error, no evidence to back up your day's work.  It would be dificult to cull as well.  To do it right, and be accepted by other tournament bass anglers, you would have to tackle the whole live well thing. 

Danglin,

Some of the NCKA members have a kayak and PB and I'm sure they would not mind holding the fish in their live bait tank for the team.  I have a 32 gallon live bait tank on my PB which can be used during a tournament.  I also have another live bait tank I can use to supplement the 32 gallon tank that is 36 gallons.  Consider the boat a "mother ship fish tender".  Let me know if your interested in this model.  I can help with Berryessa and the Delta.  Folsom and Clear lake is a little far for me to pull.  I'm sure someone can cover them with their PB.  I can lend them the 36 gallon tank for those two.

Your going to have to figure out how to label the fish while they are being kept alive in the tank(s).

Luis

right-on Danglin !!!  i relish the thought of us yakkers outfishin the big-boy bass boats.

Sounds like fun, keep me posted.   

My Thread was moved by the Great Mooch!!!!

 I'm Honored !!!    

Great Input guys.. keep it coming...

Just dreaming of a yak having the Heaviest Stringer of the Day....... 

and then to escape the HIT Squad from Ranger Boats   

so how many fish would a competitor have to carry? what about pulling them around on lip-grippers? i have pulled striped bass around all day that way and they did just fine. i does cause some drag. A 48qt igloo ice-chest fits perfectly in the back of my-t140. although it would get pretty heavy if it were full of bass and water.hmmm.........

Usually a 5 fish limit.  I don't think dragging them around on a lip gripper is a viable tourney option. I'm thinking along tyhe same lines as xsquid.  This isn't a yakfishing tournament, its yakfishing as a subset of a larger format. I'd want to be in line with the others.  Plus....who doesn't want to walk their 25lb stringer up to the scale.   

The livewell would be a pain to paddle ....be glad your not in a belly boat

Wait a sec. Did I miss something? Kayaks would be in a separate division with belly boaters, yes? That's not exactly head to head with the bass rockets.

The goal should be to do what's best for the bass. Its not going to be pretty when a bunch of fish roll. That'll only make the yak guys look bad. Live wells come with a bunch of problems, not the least of which is the weight. Batteries die, pumps get clogged, fish are crowded. The last I checked good LMB are bigger than our spotted bay bass down south.

Don't be afraid of the weigh boat option. The culling system isn't that tough. Set a weigh limit such as 10 fish. That'll make someone think twice before getting on the horn for a boat. Those that take the time to engineer a superior tank can and should hold several fish on board to make for easier sorting.

I can't wait to see the kayak tank that can handle a 25 lb tournament limit of LMB. Maybe a Cobra Triple? 

Whatever happens, you'll have fun sorting it all out. I get the desire to compete on an even level. Don't settle for sitting at the kid's table - we're all big boys here.