Tips for tournament kayak fishing

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Tips for tournament kayak fishing

Author: josh

Published on Monday, 04 January 2010 21:33

Written by Josh

The 2009 Inaugural ABT / Hobie kayak fishing series tournament was the first I've entered and it would be safe to say that I entered into it not really knowing what to expect. This is despite reading up a fair bit of very useful information on bream tournament fishing (mainly in the ABT Tournament Angler Guide), as well as paying a small amount of attention to the experiences of those who attended the first round of the series, which I did not attend (held in Sydney). My relative noob-like inexperience, coupled with sheer unadulterated laziness very likely had a fair impact on my overall performance - I was no where near as well prepared as some others, especially in the information department. Having attended the final 4 events and since using the benefit of hindsight to think about it in more depth, I've made a few strong conclusions, a small collection of major do's and don'ts. Some of which simply occured to me through a natural progression of my leisurely learning curve, others that came up through observation and in conversation with other participants. Of course some lessons were simply learned the hard way. Here they are...

Hone your focus on the target species. And do it before you turn up for the day of the event. Live and breathe the target species, learn everything you can about their feeding habits, the habitats in which (and when) they thrive, the lures of which they adore and the techniques and tactics you'll need to deploy them with optimum effectiveness. And when you reckon you're well on the right track in that department, then apply what you know to the event destination and its geographical layout. Research the area as much as you can, using locals as a source for best effect and if possible getting 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinions on the way (look for consistent tips). The guys who ranked consistently throughout the series weren't just fishing for bream, they were thinking like bream. This particular point is probably pretty obvious although it's one I ignored to a fair degree, especially for the first 2 events... honestly, I was really just relying on some dumb blind luck. With the events all taking place during the pelagic season in my local area, I did find it difficult to concentrate my time and efforts on breaming - whilst I should have been thinking about bream, my mind was getting towed around off shore somewhere (pelagic fishing off shore gets me strangely excited). If I was to enter another event such as this (which I will) with a serious intention of trying to win (which I probably will) this is the first thing I'd change. I'd divert all of my fishing energy towards breaming in the weeks leading up to and during the event. It wouldn't just improve my confidence, it would most likely also improve my overall results by a large margin.

Prefish. Again, this is really very obvious when you think about it, but if you intend to win, getting in for a prefish is paramount. It was no coincidence that the guys who ranked well in most events were those who prefished the areas before the tournament began. Those who have fished an area - even if only for a few hours - already have a head start on those who don't. And consequently, those who haven't prefished typically end up learning what they need to know in a crash-course in those precious first few hours, while those who have are probably already upgrading fish. Prefishing will provide infinitely valuable information such as prime areas of habitat, where they're biting, what they're biting on (as well as what they're not) and what kind of tackle is most appropriate for the most productive areas. I didn't prefish rounds 2 , 3 and 4. Round 4 was like a prefish for the finals for me, however, and because of it I entered the final with a lot more confidence than I had previously.

Prefishing also elucidates the lay of the land, the characteristics of the water and offers a heads up on how long it'll take to get from point A to B, to C, and then back again. That last point is an important one. When it comes to a kayak fishing tournament scenario, this is where it differs from powerboat fishing the most. You can't motor along at 100 miles an hour with a trailing whitewater rooster-tail stretching 100 metres - you can only go as fast as that kayak will let you, and the further you travel, the less fishing time you'll have. This definitely adds some major tactical elements to the game... elements that can easily be blundered (speaking from experience, as can Greg Lewis, who was otherwise looking good for a win). Which leads me to the next point...

Create a plan and stick to it. Formulate a plan. Get in the zone, do a prefish, gather your research and construct a plan. And make it a solid one... a realistic plan that is actually physically achievable. You don't want to be 8km away from the starting gates and have to paddle into a strong current fighting against the clock. If you have done your homework and followed that up with a prefish you're in a much better position to develop a plan that is most likely to work. I entered all but the last event (the finals) without an effective plan. Flying blind made for unproductive fishing.

Leave the experimentation for practice and pre-fish sessions. Hobie MD spoke these words on the 1st morning of the finals and I couldn't help but stop to think how true that really is. Sometimes experiments can go well... but just as often they don't. It's not really a good idea to be experimenting during precious tournament time. Thats one of the reasons that its a good idea to focus your vision on the target species well prior to the event. Develop some techniques you know works for you, and figure out which lures you have the most success with in various scenarios. And take what you know and use that during the tournament. Don't get all experimental during the event - stick to what you know.

Use the very best gear and tackle you can afford and make sure it is in tip-top shape. Having a barb snap off a treble on your favourite lure in what would have been your PB target fish is heart-breaking. And there is nothing - but nothing worse than having a chronic tangle appear in the spool of your favourite rig (probably caused by sub-standard or aging line, and or reel). Have fun spending 5 minutes (or more) untangling and re-rigging. I made the mistake of using a couple of aging reels (both well overdue for a service) on a couple of my best bream rods, and fitted one with a braid I knew didn't really work well with my rods. I was too lazy to make sure those reels were suitably spooled and operational, and I paid for it. I knew they may let me down, and they did. I lost time to tangles in round 2 , 3 and 4. Leave nothing to chance.

Overall, the above tips can be summed up under a phrase commonly used by the british SAS, knowns as the '7 P's. It stands for proper planning & preparation prevents piss-poor performance and it's an attitude I'll adopt for my next foray into tournament kayak fishing. Beyond all of that, make sure you achieve the most important thing: have fun with it. Thats one part I got completely right, and why I'm keen to see more tournaments like the ABT / Hobie and KFT events.

There's a great post with some further tips on tournament kayak fishing by Carl Dubois (known as CID in the Aussie yak fishing community) at the Hobiefishing.com.au forums.