Hilltopper and I awoke at 4a only to see torrential rains and lightning, left overs from a storm system that has been dumping on central Texas the past day. I checked the radar only to see a storm that was 100 miles wide by 200 miles long moving very slowly across the state. Oh well, some things you can't change, so we hit the nearby Whataburger for breakfast. Around 530a we arrived at the lake and it was still raining hard with lots of lightning. As anglers showed up, I informed them that the tourney would be delayed and we all sat in our vehicles watching the internet reports and listening to the AM radio. Finally, the event got underway at 8am with the field being split between launching at park Prairie and Oak Thicket.
The rain continued to fall but luckily the water was warm, winds were fairly light and only us die hard kayak anglers went out...we had the lake to ourselves! There were several times that lighting struck nearby but everyone used their common sense and tragedy was avoided..thank God!
Around 11am the rain came to an end, the winds went flat and the sun started poking its head out. By 3pm, it was a bright semi sunny day with mild temps and the winds remained light.
The rough start ended up being a blessing as almost all of the 35 anglers caught fish and more than half the field scored good limits. 3 anglers broke into the 100" range. Newcomer to KATS competition,
Dave Lyon, won with a total of 103.5". 2 anglers tied for 2nd with another newbi , Mark Nordstrom, getting the position by catching a 3/4" longer big fish over local kayak fishing guide and 2007 KATS AOTY, Mike Bayer who took home 3rd place money and trophy. Perineal favorite, Robert Dockery took home Big Bass honors with a 22'5" HUGE bass that secured his spot in the top 5 ( 5th place).
The big story was
Troy Lawson who had a solid 4th place finish at Fayette which sealed his series win and is named
2010 KATS Angler of the Year. Congratulations Troy on a job well done. His best 3 finishes of a 3rd, 2nd, and 4th place goes to show you that consistency counts in this sport. For his efforts Troy received a big trophy and entry into all of the 2011 KATS events from
AustinKayakFishing.
Doyne Bailey with Allure Rods gave Troy a custom built rod certificate and
Burt Briggs of Alamo City Guide Service presented him with a certificate for a fishing trip...nice haul of loot for a job well done! =D>
After the judging and awards, we went to the drawing of prizes. Chris Coufal was the lucky guy that won the grand prize of a $500 gift certificate from
Academy Sports and Outdoors. Others enjoyed receiving some great stuff from
Austin Canoe and Kayak, Hook 1, KayakFishingSupplies, Yak-Gear (who also gave each angler a free paddle leash),
HooknLine maps, and Gibson Tackle. A big THANK YOU goes out to these sponsors as well as
HOTKayaks for their donation of a new kayak at the decker event and
Angler Magazine.
Please do remember all these business names outlined in red when making a buying decision. Support those that support our sport of kayak fishing!
This event concludes the 2010 KATS so a few more thanks need to be expressed to Robin Fuller (trophies), Chris, Doug, and Dave from ACK (judging/prizes/drinks), Vincent McGlone, Dan Campbell, Bob Dockery (judging help/support), Lesvia Hermes and Linda McDermott (food prep/serving), Rick Rice (timekeeper), and to all that helped out with the little things like lending a hand, cleaning up, etc.
Personally. I had a wonderful time! I got to meet a lot of new anglers/ sponsors and was able to compete against some fantastic bass fishing talent..it pushed me to think out of my box and try new things. I can't wait for the 2011 KATS and will start work on that this Sept.
Link to pictures...
http://austinkayakfishing.com/forum/vie ... 0590#30590BTW- I am thinking of doing an event on Bastrop this summer when the bass are schooling hard. It will be called "Skool Daze" which will be a fun, low cost tourney that everyone can enjoy...stay tuned
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