Hobie's Fishing World Championship

Hobie's Fishing World Championship is coming to Texas in a few short days.  The event is to take place from November 4 - 9, around Austin, Texas.  The tournament will bring in 43 different anglers, from 13 different countries around the World.  The tournament will be held on Lakes Bastrop and Fayette.  Both are excellent lakes that can produce good numbers and decent size fish.


The event should bring different styles of fishing from around the world into play.  I do however expect Team USA to win.

Lake Bastrop is a 906 acre power plant reservoir.  The water stays warm year round, and some of the best fishing can be found during the colder months of the year.  Look for anglers to fish well defined creek channels, some standing timber, and reeds that line much of the shoreline.  Many of the larger fish can sometimes be caught flipping jigs and frogs deep into and behind these reeds.  The lake record largemouth is 9.98 lbs and was 24 inches long.  I fished two kayak tournaments on Lake Bastrop in 2013, here are the reports from those tournaments: January 2013, KATS Lake Bastrop Tournament Re-Cap; 2012 KATS Classic - Lake Bastrop.

Lake Fayette or Fayette County Reservoir is another power plant lake.  It is larger than Lake Bastrop, about 2400 acres.  Like Bastrop, the lake can get hot, especially during the summer, so oftentimes the cooler months produce better.  Aquatic vegetation plays a key role in fishing this lake.  Look for anglers to Carolina Rig large soft plastics along the weedlines.  Also look for anglers to fish coves with crankbaits this time of year.  The lake record largemouth is 12.25 lbs, and was 25 inches long.  We fished one kayak tournament on Fayette this year, here is the report: Lake Fayette 2012 KATS Tournament.

This will be a fun event to watch, and I would expect some good stringers of fish to be measured in.  And, although I do have my personal feelings about this tournament not actually being a world championship (I do think many manufactures need to get together to bring anglers from different kayak manufactures together for a true world championship), I think events like this are great for kayak fishing as a whole.  The bring attention to the sport , and will continue to help grow the sport of kayak fishing around the world.

For more information on the tournament, go to: http://hobiefishingworlds.com/

Here are my predictions for all three days if you are interested: Predictions for 2012 Hobie World Championship