Kayak bass fishing tournaments....

In light of Gordon's posts regarding Bass Fishing competitions among the tubers, kickboats and kayaks - I was wondering if we have enough interest in getting our own competitions going.....

Im in!

wait a minute, im still in the market for a yak guess I cant go after all

I say we keep all our tournaments any "human powered" vessel..  although I can't imagine someone fishing a mile off shore at Elk in a float tube.

Oh wait, yes I can......

Alex / Aliens used to float tube in Monterey Bay (before he WON the Prowler at the SC Derby with a gigantus Butkus) and I thought he was NUTS 

let's see.....a guy dressed like a sealion - complete with flippers.....sitting in a gigantic doughnut filled with air......with a stringer of dead bloody fish trailing nearby....sounds like trouble to me  ....a great example of a human bobber 

I don't remember his name but there was a well know fly fishermen that fish from a tube off the coast of Florida.
He hooked a fish big enough to drag him out to sea .When the fight was over he looked around and there was no land in sight. Fortunately he had a compass.

Will trolling be allowed?

MolBasser

Will trolling be allowed?

MolBasser

I don't see why not?

This is  a MAJOR bone of contention in SoCal kayak bass tourneys (and is banned by every major national bass tour).

That is why I ask.

I personally don't mind, but some people feel very strongly about this issue.

MolBasser

Why is that - I'm really curious    I personally like to to troll to cover more ground and maybe stop and cast every now and then.

The issue seems to lie in the opinion that trolling is not really fishing.  Bass anglers are a weird bunch.  They believe that you must have rod in hand, artificial baits, no trolling to have a truly "sportsmanlike" experience (their words, not mine).

At any rate, no national bass fishing tour (BASS, FLW, etc.) allow trolling, and no club tournament or kayak freshwater tournament that I have been involved in allows it either.  The big issues arose during the saltwater bass tourneys where a bunch of people got their panties in a wad over trolling being allowed.  (edit:  Trolling is allowed this sunday, and will be the first freshwater tournament that I have been involved in that allows the technique).

Like I said, I don't really care one way or the other, but if you start getting a large attendance at any bass tourney you ARE going to run into this argument.

MolBasser

WOW - I did not know that trolling was a big issue among the competitive bass anglers - thanks for the info. I never really thought about the trolling issue until you had mentioned it.

The way I see it, if a guy in $30,000 high powered flux capicitor boat - rigged with electronics only NASA can match...can cast his lure while his foot is operating the trolling motor, seems to me that's he's almost trolling. Oh well - to each their own. Don't get me wrong, I like casting - especially if it looks like a fishy spot. But tolling to me is like a "search light". If I miss a hit on the troll, I'll note the location and fan cast the area when I come around.

Mol, do you ever troll for bass?

The way I see it, if a guy in $30,000 high powered flux capicitor boat - rigged with electronics only NASA can match...can cast his lure while his foot is operating the trolling motor, seems to me that's he's almost trolling.

There have been issues about this too.  There is a technique called dragging which is essentially a trolling motor adjusted wind drift down a bank dragging drop shot or split shot rigs.  This has been banned by BASS and FLW also.

Mol, do you ever troll for bass?

Sometimes.  I trolled for spotties all the time in san diego.  I don't troll very often for largemouth because it is rarely the highest percentage technique, but if allowed to I will troll between place to place in a tournament.  You can't catch fish if your bait is not in the water after all.  I will probably troll some of the time on Sunday, but the areas were I have found bass recently are not at all conducive to trolling.

We can chat about it more on Sunday.

MolBasser

One of the many things I love about kayak fishing tournaments is as a fly fisherman I can compete against you conventional guys. Those same folks that say no trolling also say no fly rods. They'll soon be enough bass fishing yakers  for us to do a tournament.

They'll soon be enough bass fishing yakers  for us to do a tournament

Amen Rickey