The Tournament

As I’m sitting here in my kitchen typing this, it is below freezing outside, and just a few leaves are clinging to the trees surrounding my house. Geez, where did all that time go? Since I last wrote an entry back in July, I have sold and bought a house, graduated from college (FINALLY at age 33), and fished waaay to little. Okay, my “too little” is probably about normal for your average dedicated fisherman, but still. Even with all that said, I do have some pretty dang interesting stories to tell. Here is the first of some overdue stories from the last half of the 2018 season.

The Tournament:

Every year the local kayak club, Indiana Kayak Anglers, organizes one of their series tournaments on the White River. This is something I look forward to every year….like a lot. It’s no secret around the local kayak fishing community that I am somewhat of a river rat. Although I probably take this a little too seriously, I do feel pressure to perform. Not so much that anyone cares how I do, but it’s somewhat of a validation of my skillset, and something I take pride in. Over the past 3 seasons I have fished this twice (finishing 3rd and 4th out of 50-60 anglers), so this would be my third time. I was satisfied with my previous finishes, and to be honest, initially I just wanted to go out and give another decent showing this year. No matter what any tournament fisherman says, you can’t control the fish. You can give yourself a good chance to catch them, but ultimately there is an element of luck involved. This is what always makes me nervous leading up to a tournament. I know I have the skill to do very well, but you just never know how it will go come D-day.

Drawing from my previous experience, I try to get out at least once the week leading up to the tournament. My main goal is to just key in on general behavior of the fish and queue up a couple of confidence patterns. Sometimes this helps come tournament day, but other times it’s completely useless.

This year I was pretty busy around tournament time, so I decided to just fish the day before. I had been out a few times in the previous couple of weeks, but the river was completely different now. Recent rain had spiked the flow, and muddied up the water to about 12 inches of visibility. As long as the water temp is above 55-60, I’m good with semi-muddy conditions. This puts me in power fishing mode. Some guys will go on bottom here, but I’m all about covering water. Big, dark colored lures that put off the most vibration possible. I only fished for 4 hours or so, and it was in the middle of the day. I was fishing a different stretch than I would on tournament day, so I wouldn’t be sore lipping any fish. The fishing started off slow, but I was eventually able to get on a consistent pattern. A 1/2 oz. single Colorado blade was the ticket. I found a couple 17’s pushed up against the bank in a current break. This was all I needed to give me an idea of where to start the next day.

My alarm went off around 3:30 am, so I loaded up and headed to the meeting spot to get checked in. I expected to be one of the first guys there, but to my surprise the parking lot was full of trucks and kayak trailers. After chatting with a couple of guys I hadn’t seen in a while, I got my measuring board certified, and headed out to the put-in. This stretch of river has a dam at the head of it, and is a 1/4-mile paddle upstream from the put-in. After paddling up and getting to my spot, it wasn’t long before several guys came and settled in beside me. In all I think there were 7 or 8 guys planning to fish the same dam. While it is big enough to accommodate that many people, it was not going to allow me to pick apart the entire area. My plan was to spend about 30 min there, get the bites that I could, and take off downstream (hopefully with virgin water in front of me). Being the first to arrive at the dam, I had the clear-cut best spot, and I knew it. I have fished this dam many many times, and there is a very specific spot where fish usually stack up, and I had it. Here’s the thing though, they weren’t there that day. To my unpleasant surprise, I couldn’t get a single bite in the first 15 minutes. This might have been the only times this has ever happened in this particular spot. To make matters worse, the guy next to me, Tyler, pulled an absolute monster out on his first few casts. While I was happy for him because he is a cool guy, it wasn’t helping me stay calm.

I had to make a decision here: Either stay and beat this spot up for another 30 min or cut my losses and head downstream. These are the types of decisions that can make or break a tournament. With some hesitation, I decided to cut bait and move on.

After passing some unproductive water, I decided to stick with my spinnerbait pattern and proceed to run-and-gun style the river. Concentrating on every little nook and cranny with even a slight current break, I started to get bit. Nothing huge at first, but within the first hour I had logged 3 smallmouth with the biggest being 16.5 inches. I knew that these fish wouldn’t cut it for long, but it at least got the proverbial monkey off my back.

Knowing this stretch of river well, I knew there was a money spot coming up. A couple weeks prior I had pulled 2-19’s off of this bank, so it was going to get some extra attention. This was a steep bank with a line of chunk boulders breaking up the current and creating small pockets of calm water. These were perfect ambush spots for river smallmouth. The first pass didn’t product anything, so I decided to swing my kayak around and position myself so that I could throw parallel to the boulder line. It was only a couple casts in and I got slammed. A solid 17.5” smallmouth was in the net. This wasn’t a winning fish or anything, but it gave me the confidence that I was on the right pattern. These are also the kind of fish that you typically need in order to put together a solid bag. I put the fish on a fish grip and dropped it into the water so I could prep to take the picture. It was about this time that the heavens opened up and it started pouring. It ended up raining on and off all day, but this was the worst that it got by far. As I pulled the fish off of the grips, and positioned it on my board, I was having a heck of a time getting my camera deployed on my phone. The rainy conditions were making it hard for the screen to recognize my inputs. Just as I raised my phone above my head to snap the pic, the fish flopped and slid right off my measuring board and into the water. I was so pissed. This exact scenario had transpired during last year’s tournament and ended up costing me 2nd place. I slapped my hand on the side of my kayak and buried my head in my hands in frustration. “Breathe Josh, just breathe” is what I kept telling myself. I knew that this fish wouldn’t be the winner, but it was a good one. All I could do is gather myself and keep fishing.

It was still early now, and I had a 15, 16.5, and a 16.5 for a total of 48 inches. My goal going in to this tournament was to have at least 52, so I had some work to do. After picking up a couple of smaller fish, I pulled into an area that is boom or bust. It is an old dam that was torn down years ago. A nice riffle flows through the middle, and the concrete that used to make up the dam litters the area. After striking out on the main area, I saved the best area for last. At the back end of this riffle was a small island with a deepish hole off the of the back end. I have caught several nice fish throughout the years in this spot, so I made it a point of focus. I backed off the island and made several casts directly on the backside with no luck. I then decided to paddle up and fish the primary seam that was created where the island and the main river intersected. First cast and BAM, I had a nice one on. After letting the old girl tire herself out, I had a beautiful 18” smallmouth on the board. No mistakes this time, as I was able to get the picture secured. This put me at 51 inches, so I was only 1 inch away from my goal and I still had about 4 hours left to fish.

The next section was somewhat historically unproductive water. This was a section where there wasn’t much flow, but instead of paddling it out, I continued to make casts at juicy looking spots. One such spot was a nice, big, root wad that sprawled into the water like octopus tentacles. I placed my cast so that my spinnerbait bounced off the base of the tree and into the water. I got hit immediately on the first crank of my reel handle. This one was heavy, but felt a little different…maybe a catfish? As the fish surfaced near the boat, I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice largemouth on the end of my line. I normally scoff at the green ones, but at 17.75”, this one would cull nicely.

I was now over my goal of 52” and was playing with house money. I had peeked at the leaderboard earlier and I knew guys were on fish, and that this would not likely be a winning score. I had done what I had come to do though, and would just enjoy myself from here on out. Whatever happened for the rest of my day was just icing on the cake.

I was extremely familiar with the first 2/3 of this stretch, but the last third I had only fished a handful of times. I could vaguely remember what it looked like, but my big fish target spots weren’t gonna be there. However, I did have one last spot where I knew big fish lived. Right before a concrete bridge was a depression in the river with really nice substrate. There is one tree in this area that sits at the top of it creating a current break. I had got all my fish either in or adjacent to current breaks all day, so I figured I’d get bit here. I pitched my spinnerbait up into the slack water, and as I pulled it through the seam I got absolutely slammed! I immediately knew that this was THE fish. My Curado K’s drag was peeling off at an alarming rate, and I cinched it down a little tighter so that I could get a better hold on this fish. It didn’t take long before this fish took a huge leap into the air. It was then that my initial thoughts about this fish were confirmed. It was a bonafied 20”, and likely would win me this tournament. I kept cool though, and methodically wore this fish down without horsing it in. Typically, the large single hook of a spinnerbait won’t throw easily. This fish took 2 or 3 more jumps before it started to tire a bit. I sensed the opportunity to land it so I started to bring my rod up and put my other hand on my net. Just as I was about to scoop it up, the fish decided to take one last jump. Not more than 5 feet in front of me, the fish went one way and the spinnerbait went the other. Just like that it was gone. Just. Like. That. Adios, Sayonara, Goodbye. This was the biggest blow of the day. I knew I wouldn’t get that opportunity back. These things happen sometimes, it’s just a roll of the dice. I did everything right, but it just wasn’t meant to be. That one is gonna stick with me for a long time though.

As I collected my last remaining bit of calmness, I knew I only had about an hour to fish. I wanted to make the most of it, because realistically I just needed one more bite to give myself a chance. I pulled up on a spot that looked promising: A solid riffle with a couple of boulders creating current breaks. I cast on the opposite side of one boulder and pulled my spinnerbait through the backside, and got hammered yet again. This was another nice fish. With the loss of the monster earlier fresh in my mind, I kept my rod tip down and tried to do everything I could to keep this fish underwater. Luckily this one cooperated, and I was able to add an 18.5” fish to the total. This put me at 54.25” for the day, which was everything I could’ve hoped for given my misfortune earlier.

The leaderboard was blacked out at this point, so I wasn’t sure where I stood, but I knew a couple of guys were having phenomenal days, so it wouldn’t be a gimme. After getting to the take-out I locked up my kayak to a tree, stashed my rods in a patch of brush, and called an Uber to take me back to my car.

At the results meeting, the atmosphere was very relaxed. This is what I love, and truly look forward to, about these events. Even if for only 20 minutes or so, I had an awesome time chatting it up with guys I have so much in common with. Kayak fishing is such a cool community, and i’m luck to be a part of it.

As the results were tallied it was announced, that Adam Debard won the tournament with 55”…wow, what a great day! Adam concentrated on largemouth and it paid off. He spent most of his time picking apart a gravel pit adjacent to the river. Adam and I have messaged each other on Facebook for the past year or so, but this was the first time we had met in person. He is a very cool dude, and very deserving of the win. I actually ended up tying for 2nd with Tyler Perdue, the very guy who caught that monster next to me at first light. Since Tyler’s biggest fish was bigger than my biggest (Yes, that SAME fish), he took the tiebreaker, so I ended up officially in 3rd. Although I wanted the win, I had a good showing, and also got some walking-around money to boot. Can’t complain about that for a day’s worth of fishing!

Special thanks go out to Jason Young, Nathan Pickering, and Joe Armstrong for putting on a first-class event. Those guys make it possible for the rest of us to enjoy these events every season. Also shout out to Derek Burton, one of my fishing buddies for finishing 18th with a solid 45” in his first every kayak tournament! I think he’ll give me a run for my money next season!

As for me, I’ll still be on the hunt for that 23-incher. Stay tuned for a couple more catch up episodes, and also some winter smallmouth adventures!