Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Lake Fayette - 2012 KATS Tournament Stop #2 (Feb. 25)

This tournament could not have been any more opposite from the season opener of Lake Bastrop.  It was still a little bit chilly, but what do you expect for February.  Unlike the Bastrop Tournament, there was virtually no wind here, which is good considering how rough I have been told that Fayette can get on a Kayak.

I live a long way from the lake, so we camped in a trailer in Oak Thicket Park.  It is a nice place, and if you are ever heading to the area I would highly recommend it.  I hung out with my buddies the night before the tournament discussing strategy and rigging up.  I had never been to Fayette and had no idea what I was going to do, so I was just listening and absorbing info.  But to cover my bases, I rigged up one of everything, haha.  I tied on a P. H.Kellner Custom Jig in a Chartreuse/Brown pattern, a Carolina rigged Watermelon Red Zoom Lizard, a shad colored Strike King crankbait, and a chatterbait.  I had all my bases covered.

We launched from Park Prairie Park around 7:15 or 7:20 am (I wasn’t paying attention).  I did not know where to go so I did what anyone would do…just paddled to the right.  I paddled my Jackson Coosa past a cove bordering the park that had several large trees protruding from the water (that was also full of anglers) and on into the second cove I passed.  I was the first kayak angler to enter this cove, but I did enter right after a power boat (who was fishing one of the two boat tournaments going on that same day.)  They were working along the bank, but were moving fairly quickly so I tucked in behind them and worked the bank slower, flipping my Jig into laydowns and brush piles.  After about 10 casts, I hooked into my first fish of the day.  It was a nice 18.25” largemouth, and I was feeling pretty good about having 18.25” inches within the first 10 min.

 I continued to work my way around the cove, flipping my jig in to laydowns, brush piles, and a few reeds in 1-3’ of water.  I missed another fish on the same jig as I bumped it into a log, then shortly after I missed another fish.  By this time “my” cove was filling up with other anglers in the tournament, and I had see a couple of them catch a few nice bass on Carolina rigs.  I couldn’t stand missing fish the way I was, nor could I stand watching everyone else catch fish on the Carolina rig (knowing I had one rigged up and ready to go), without throwing it myself.  So…I made the change.  I only made a couple casts before deciding to go back to the jig and work my way around the cove in shallower water.  I knew there were some fish up there, I had caught 1 and missed 2.

As I was working my way around again, some of the kayakers left the cove and another bass boat pulled in.  The bass boat was fishing in a little bit deeper water (6-8”) and picked a small bass up on his first cast with a drop shot.  He switched between a drop shot and a Texas rigged creature bait.  He picked up countless fish in a short amount of time, and not getting any more bites, I had to make a change.  The fish he was catching were not going to win the tournament, but I thought, “If he is catching all the small males up shallower making the beds, maybe the big females were out a little deeper.  So that’s where I moved; Right to the middle of the cove.  I am guessing I was fishing between 8-14” of water.  Almost immediately I picked up a 17.25” bass on a red Creme worm rigged on a Confidence Baits Draggin Head.  I fished it for another 15 minutes with no more bites.
  I there were only about 3 kayakers including myself in my cove now, most had left because they were not catching the big fish they were looking for.  I decided to throw a crankbait for a few casts to see what would happen.  I chose a white, chartreuse, and blue, fat free shad and applied some shad scent from BioEdge.  I made 4 or 5 casts without a bite and was just about to go back to the worm.  I made one more cast.  I burned it back to the boat, stopping it dead just before it got to my boat.  I was just about to take the bait out of the water when, wham!  A 15” bass nailed the crankbait, almost pulling the rod out of my hand.  That little guy hit hard!
So…I reapplied some fresh shad scent wand, and I stuck with the crankbait a little bit longer, and I was glad I did.  It was about 11:15 at this point, and I was the only kayak angler left in “my” cove.  I had 50.25” of fish and it was still early, so I wasn’t feeling too bad about the day.  I kept casting the crankbait and picked up another bass going 16.25 inches.  
But then, at 11:30 a light breeze picked up.  The breeze was just enough to push me into the cove, so I paddled to the mouth of the cove and let it slowly push me back in while I cranked.  The fish just turned on.  In a matter of 45 minutes, I caught about 15 bass.  I slowly kept culling, increasing my stringer to over 80” of fish, with another nice 18” kicker.
 I right after the 18” bass was released, my crankbait was pummeled and I was dragged around the cove hauling in a nice 20” fat and pregnant largemouth.  My biggest bass of the day.
 So it was about noon and I had just over 90” of fish at this point.  If I could cull my 17” and 17.25”, I would be sitting pretty.  Quickly I caught a 17.75 inch bass…
 …and an 18.5” bass….
 I felt very confident.  I had a limit of fish, after everyone gave up on “my” cove, that was over 90 inches.  All I needed to do now was continue to cull.  But, just as soon as the crankbait bite turned on, it was off.  I went the next hour and a half switching between a DD22 in deeper water, a small chartreuse Rebel crankbait in shallower water, the Crème worm, and my jig.  I did not get another bite.  But nothing would trigger a strike.  Right around 2:15 I caught two more 16” bass on the same Fat Free Shad from earlier, and thought the bite was about to turn on again.  But it didn’t.  Just before I left the cove, I set the hook on what I think was a fish and my line went slack.  I reeled it in to find just the lip left from my crankbait.  It was 2:30 at this point and I wanted to hit up the trees I saw before I “weighed” in.  I flipped a jig around the trees for 10-15 minutes to no avail and paddled back to weigh in.

I was still confident with my stringer, but not as confident as I was at 12:30.  I heard a couple fellow anglers talking about a few nice stringers, and I knew I didn’t win. But another top 10 finish would be great, and would keep me solidly in the top 10 for the Angler of the year and a guaranteed spot in the Classic.

I fished the day in 9th.  Not bad, I couldn’t be disappointed about that.  I had 92.25 inches of fish.  Unlike the Bastrop Tournament, in which only 29 anglers managed to catch at least one keeper, all but 4 anglers caught a keeper and 26 anglers caught a limit.  It was a great fish catching tournament.  Two anglers came in with over 100 inches of fish, Brice Sanchez with 100.5 inches and Steve Garcia with 102.75 inches.  From what I heard, the Kayak Anglers came in with better stringers than the power boat guys (not that this is unusual.)

Five of the top 10 anglers at this tournament were P. H.Kellner – Quality Custom Fishing Pro-Staff anglers.

Other related articles:
Case for a "Big Time" Kayak Tournament Trail
Lake Bastrop KATS Tournament Re-Cap

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