Kayaks and Boats in the same tournament?
Bringing anglers together who share a common passion...
As the 2024 tournament bass fishing season winds down several Omaha based boat and kayak anglers came together with their respective clubs to fish an event on Flanagan Lake. It was a typical cool and dreary fall Nebraska morning with cloudy skies and a light drizzle. There were three boat clubs and one kayak club. The boat clubs included the Big O’ Bass Fishing Tourney’s, NBAA Division’s 54 and 55 and the kayak anglers represented the Heartland Kayak club.
The parking lot filled quickly with trucks, trailers, and of course, boats and kayaks before the 6:30 a.m launch. Conversations, warm coffee, and boat prep were the priority in the final hour before the event with darkness still in the sky. The idea for this event was started by Tony Cimino who runs the Nebraska Outdoors Facebook page and avid bass angler. With the help of Ethan Aschenbrenner and a few other anglers they put this event together. Tony had remembered an event that Heartland Kayak organizer James Leggett and others put on a couple years ago that included boats and bank fishermen, that got them talking about how it would be fun to do a kayak vs boat tournament.
Each club would have its season top anglers compete for cash which was supported by a $125 entry fee by each team. There were four teams with 10 anglers on each. Each boater division had 5 boats would have two anglers in each. The kayak anglers would have two on a team as well but would fish in separate kayaks staying within 30 feet or so of each other during the day. The next part is what intrigued us the most. How would we weigh, measure, or score our bass caught? The boaters usually use a live well or video catches with the bass attached to a pair of fish grips hanging from a scale. The kayak anglers usually use a bump board with an identifier and submit their fish with an online app that records the catches. Today’s fish would be scored using the video and scale method. Each set of anglers was given a scale and scorecard to record their best five catches. For the kayak anglers, this would be something very new. The scales were supplied by the Big O’ Bass Tourney’s Fishing club.
Prior to the tournament my thoughts veered toward a memory from ten years ago when I participated in my first tournament with boats while fishing from a kayak. It was a catfish tournament on Enders Lake in Southwest Nebraska and the organizers allowed me to fish from my kayak as long as I could keep the catfish alive for the weigh in afterward. I used a wire mesh fish keeper and attached it to a standing tree in the water while I fished. I was able to catch a limit and bring them in for a third place finish among the 28 teams entered. There were no apps, individual scales, or photos taken.
So, today’s tournament was also a first for me and my teammate Bobby Rubek weighing the fish on a scale while taking video with a phone. We worked together to record the weight. Bobby would attach the fish to the fish grips by its lip after we took a video of the scale as it was zeroed out. We then recorded the fish and showed the weight on the scale for the weigh in afterward. We also showed the release of the fish in the video to verify it. This took a little time at first but once we figured it out it became very easy to do.
Another unique aspect of this tournament was that we all turned in our starting spot based on the draw we received before the tournament. Each team had a number and this determined their draw for spots. We were 10th so when we submitted our spot to start it was approved. This allowed for everyone to start at the same time and know that they would have an area to start without having to race there. This was a “no wake” lake and keeping the launch safe was a priority. Speaking of safe, the organizers did a good job of keeping us at the launch until safe light. All of the kayakers wore their PFD’s at all times. The boaters and kayak anglers had some great conversation on the way out to our spots. Bobby and I traveled pretty far and found another boat just north of us but for the most part we had a very large area to fish without interruption.
Starting out we caught a couple of ditch pickles which would not count as catches. The minimum weight a team could turn in was one pound. It didn’t take long and we caught a couple over a pound. Then Bobby caught a nice 3.51 pounder! It was a lot of fun watching him bring it in. We got our limit by 9 a.m. and started looking for culls. I hooked into a very large fish thinking I had a nice five pound bass which turned out to be a monster pike! It peeled drag quickly and turned me in a circle within the creek channel we were fishing. I got it in the net only to have it cut it’s way through with those monster sharp teeth! I pedaled toward the shoreline and lifted it by hand so Bobby could get a quick picture of this slime rocket. I also caught a nice crappie!
After catching a few more bass and a couple of upgrades we worked our way south. I hooked into a giant bass on a tree using a jig only to lose it at the boat. It was like getting kicked in the gut as this fish would have put us in the money. We knew there wouldn’t be that many big bites and this one hurt! During the last hour the bite died down and headed for the 2:00 deadline to be at the ramp. We ended up catching more than 30 bass during the tournament. Even more impressive was that every team turned in a limit! Pretty cool!
The weigh in was easy and very well organized. Ethan Aschenbrenner did a great job observing the videos and charting our five heaviest fish. The “Champions of Champions” tournament had AJ Lincoln and Garrett Wookman representing Big O’ Bass Tourney’s run away with the overall win. They turned in a 19.36 lb. limit. In second place, Jeff Steward and Chris Schmidt representing NBAA Division 54 turned in 15.08 pounds. Third place went to Greer and Dave Thompson representing NBAA Division 55 with a bag of 14.08 lb.s and a big bass of the day at 5.84 pounds!
Taking division honors was Big O’ Bass Tourney’s with a total of 63.28 pounds. Full results are in the chart below.
The winning team:
It sounds like this event will continue as it was a great success today. Again, anglers were required to qualify for this tournament by their AOY finish in respective divisions and clubs.
Takeaways:
This event brought the boat and kayak world together for a great time on the water.
The catch, weigh, video, and release was a very efficient and conservation minded way to record catches. This method allows for competition between any type of tournament whether it be bank, boat, or kayak.
A great way to complete our fishing season here in Nebraska.
New friends were made between the boaters and kayakers.
For the kayakers, the team format kept us together sharing our strengths and learning even more from each other about kayak angling.
The fishery is one of the best in eastern Nebraska. Flanagan lake has a nice percentage of largemouth bass with a variety of size.
It wasn’t too crowded but once you started in a certain area it was difficult to find a new area due to the number of boats and kayaks because of the size of the lake.
We were fortunate to have a decent day of weather considering the recent storms and wind in the area. It rained on us for a bit but soon dried up and we had a nice brisk wind out of the south along with sunshine.
Staying close together in a kayak took quite a bit of communication and effort.
Maybe we will see more of these types of tournaments in the future!
Nice work everyone!