Capital City Kayak Fishing Tournament Report by Brett Humphries
Capital City Kayak Fishing Tournament
Series stop #2 was held
this past Saturday, Feb. 16. The destination was "Lady
BirdLake", aka "Town Lake". A cold front had blown through
the night before, which added to the challenge. I was fishing the "fly"
division, so I knew I had my work cut out for me to catch a fish, much less
multiple fish.
After checking in,
I headed to Red Bud Island, hoping LCRA was releasing water from Tom Miller
Dam. They were, and I thought that would help stimulate the bite.
Not so much! Three hours and a 1/2 dozen lost flies later, it was
time to change tactics. I headed over to shallower water, hoping to find
some bass on "beds". The beds were there, but the cold front
the night before had driven most of the fish off. The day was warming
quickly, so I figured the bass might return to resume their mating ritual.
My hunch was
correct, and slowly more bass started filtering back in. I spotted one
bed in about 4 feet of water, and started working it over. I spent at
least an hour casting and re-positioning my NuCanoe Frontier before I got the bass to eat
my fly. Finally! Not huge, but a legal fish at 151/2 inches.
A few quick pics and back in the water it went. On the board!
I moved upstream a
ways, and spotted more beds. A couple were in shallow water, and the fish
were really spooky! By a complete stroke of luck, my Frontier drifted
over another bed in about five feet of water, and this fish was pretty good
sized. I was using a heavily weighted black jig fly on a sink tip line,
so I was able to get the fly on the bed quickly. After three missed
chances, I got a solid hook set and bam, fish number two on the board.
The bass was a solid 17 incher, so 32.5" in the bag. More
quick pics and back it went. Feeling pretty good!
It was getting
late, so a few more casts and off I went to the weigh in. Joe's Crab
Shack hosted us, and they did a great job. Fish were tallied, a few beers
consumed, and time for awards. My 32 1/2 bag was good enough for first
place, and I walked away with $312! Not too shabby! Adam Hansen
caught the only other fish in the fly division, and won second place.
Congrats! I also won a guided trip with "Living Waters Fly
Fishing" in the raffle.
I would like to
thank Dan Walker at "MOC Kayaks",
and Beau Reed with "Papa Chops Rod &
Reel Repair" for putting on a first class tournament series.
The next 2 stops at Lake Bastop and the lower Colorado River should be
pretty competitive. I think full "stringers" (5 fish,
70" +) will be mandatory to get into the winner's circle. Also,
thanks to Blake and NUCANOE for their
great boat, and for helping make this new tournament series a great success!
See you all next time!
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