LOL I’m new to the kayak tournament world, but just finished in the top half of anglers in the Dale Hollow Bassmasters tournament. Ok, I was 116th out of 233 but that puts me in the 49th percentile!

Wish my mom were still alive to tell her I finally finished in the top half of my class at something haha. 
 

I dumped an 18 incher with a few minutes to go or I would have placed in the top 100. 
 

I want a participation medal 🤪

 

I love that lake, only been once. Did you have fun? Sure is pretty 

Good Job Chris!!

Don’t cut yourself short, finishing in a spot higher than you ever have is telling you you’re doing things the right way and the time you put in paid off. 
 

BTW 

Mama knows 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

I’m proud of you, buddy. I’m really sorry my new job prevented me from getting there. But I will definitely fish the No Limits tournament at Guntersville in June.

 

For those of you not familiar with the Bassmaster Kayak Series, what Chris accomplished was amazing. The kayak fishing world is very competitive, and there were 233 anglers in this tournament.

 

In a boat you can cover a ton of water. Get to one of your waypoints and there are no fish there? No problem. Hit the big motor and you can be miles down the lake in 10 or 15 minutes.

 

In a kayak, you’re moving at 3 miles an hour. You can gut it out at that spot, make a 90 minute run to go 4 or 5 miles, or head back to the ramp, load up, and lose 90 minutes or more driving to another ramp.

 

At the Bassmaster events, you’re also competing against 100+ men and women that fish the entire tournament trail across the country, pre fish for at least a week, and usually have fished these lakes many times before.

 

You’re also fishing against teams of 3-6 anglers that spread out to pre fish and skirt the no information rules by being part of a team.

 

Finishing in the top 50% as a part time angler is a big deal with these national events. Great job, Chris!

you impressed me ---- that's pretty good, being new to kayaks and finishing in the middle of the pack!  2 bad about losing that big fish... you'll get him next time

18 minutes ago, Koz said:

I’m proud of you, buddy. I’m really sorry my new job prevented me from getting there. But I will definitely fish the No Limits tournament at Guntersville in June.

 

For those of you not familiar with the Bassmaster Kayak Series, what Chris accomplished was amazing. The kayak fishing world is very competitive, and there were 233 anglers in this tournament.

 

In a boat you can cover a ton of water. Get to one of your waypoints and there are no fish there? No problem. Hit the big motor and you can be miles down the lake in 10 or 15 minutes.

 

In a kayak, you’re moving at 3 miles an hour. You can gut it out at that spot, make a 90 minute run to go 4 or 5 miles, or head back to the ramp, load up, and lose 90 minutes or more driving to another ramp.

 

At the Bassmaster events, you’re also competing against 100+ men and women that fish the entire tournament trail across the country, pre fish for at least a week, and usually have fished these lakes many times before.

 

You’re also fishing against teams of 3-6 anglers that spread out to pre fish and skirt the no information rules by being part of a team.

 

Finishing in the top 50% as a part time angler is a big deal with these national events. Great job, Chris!

Here’s a photo that also illustrates some of the challenge that Koz and I face as owners of Old Town Autopilots. Overall, they are a great, stable fishing platform… but they are the “Winnebago” motor home of the kayak fishing world competing against Ferraris of sorts.

In the high-tech world of kayak fishing now, the Autopilots are just plain slooooww.  In the photo is just before sunrise with our navigation lights on. Within a few minutes you can see the 2 white dots of the Torqeedo-powered kayaks that are a 1/4 mile ahead already. They get to the key spots we’ve all been practicing in the days prior.  Probably 5+ times a day, you get all the way down to your spot and they’re already there fishing.
 

With a slow boat to China you fish a lot of recycled water.  But you learn to adapt and maximize the water you’re in… 

7 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Here’s a photo that also illustrates some of the challenge that Koz and I face as owners of Old Town Autopilots. Overall, they are a great, stable fishing platform… but they are the “Winnebago” motor home of the kayak fishing world competing against Ferraris of sorts.

In the high-tech world of kayak fishing now, the Autopilots are just plain slooooww.  In the photo is just before sunrise with our navigation lights on. Within a few minutes you can see the 2 white dots of the Torqeedo-powered kayaks that are a 1/4 mile ahead already. They get to the key spots we’ve all been practicing in the days prior.  Probably 5+ times a day, you get all the way down to your spot and they’re already there fishing.
 

With a slow boat to China you fish a lot of recycled water.  But you learn to adapt and maximize the water you’re in… 

The trade off, of course, is those anglers don’t have spot lock. But they put their motors on Hobie pedal drives and use the pedals and fins as their spot lock.

 

We can put the airplane style props on our motors to fan speed, but it voids the warranty of the motor.

 

When my warranty runs out I may try it. I  have also thought of ditching my crate to lose weight. Bring two speed bags and four boxes of hard baits tucked in that storage area next to the seat. I’d also probably ditch my cooler.

 

It would be interesting to see if I can get 4.25 - 4.5 mph. it’s still not the 6+ mph the other boats are getting, but it’s an improvement.

On 4/28/2025 at 12:57 PM, Koz said:

We can put the airplane style props on our motors to fan speed

Funny, I hung out one night with a couple Old Town pro staff.  Great people, and one has the airplane prop on his Autopilot. He said it gains him .6 to .8 mph.  
 

Worth trying, but we’ll still be eating the bubbles of the Torqeedo team.🫧

Top half out of that many seems pretty good to me, especially if you're new to it. Seems like a good time. 

This is all sounds pretty awesome to me. You have to remember that all of these people are trying just as hard as you to either win the event, or at least place in a reasonable position. I think that's awesome you beat over half of the competition. 

 

Do they have kayak tournaments that are paddle or pedal only? I have no bandwidth/availability to fish kayak tournaments, but plan to some day. I always thought the format was pretty cool. 

17 hours ago, stk44 said:

Do they have kayak tournaments that are paddle or pedal only? I have no bandwidth/availability to fish kayak tournaments, but plan to some day. I always thought the format was pretty cool. 

For the major tournament trails like Bassmaster, KBF, etc. you can use peddle/paddle but since motors are allowed that’s what pretty much everyone has. Some of the smaller leagues and adventure groups may not allow motors. 
 

For my money, boat control and wind are such an issue in a kayak that I think you at least want peddle. If padding, I think you are adjusting as much as your casting most days. … And spot-lock is your best friend👍
 

 

52 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

For the major tournament trails like Bassmaster, KBF, etc. you can use peddle/paddle but since motors are allowed that’s what pretty much everyone has. Some of the smaller leagues and adventure groups may not allow motors. 
 

For my money, boat control and wind are such an issue in a kayak that I think you at least want peddle. If padding, I think you are adjusting as much as your casting most days. … And spot-lock is your best friend👍
 

 

Agreed. I have a paddle kayak and boat control is a challenge, but I still get by. I think of it as cardio. Tournament fishing while everyone else has a TM would make it difficult. Spot lock would be pretty cool on a kayak. Do you have a trailer for your kayak or can you load it in your truck? 

17 minutes ago, stk44 said:

Agreed. I have a paddle kayak and boat control is a challenge, but I still get by. I think of it as cardio. Tournament fishing while everyone else has a TM would make it difficult. Spot lock would be pretty cool on a kayak. Do you have a trailer for your kayak or can you load it in your truck? 

I have an Autopilot which is extremely stable - at a cost, it is quite heavy. Initially I loaded the yak in a vehicle and used a Wilderness Kart to roll it to the launch. It can be done but it is a beast to lift, and get positioned on the cart, especially when pulling out of the water. I still do it at remote launches where I can’t access by vehicle, but it’s a challenge. 
 

I ended up with a Right-On Ruff trailer for about $1000. Best investment yet. And unlike a lot of small trailers is rated for highway speeds above 65 mph. 

41 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

I have an Autopilot which is extremely stable - at a cost, it is quite heavy. Initially I loaded the yak in a vehicle and used a Wilderness Kart to roll it to the launch. It can be done but it is a beast to lift, and get positioned on the cart, especially when pulling out of the water. I still do it at remote launches where I can’t access by vehicle, but it’s a challenge. 
 

I ended up with a Right-On Ruff trailer for about $1000. Best investment yet. And unlike a lot of small trailers is rated for highway speeds above 65 mph. 

Cool. Now do you load and unload directly from the trailer or is the trailer just to get you close?

2 hours ago, stk44 said:

Cool. Now do you load and unload directly from the trailer or is the trailer just to get you close?

Trailer backs right into the water. People that have a stern mounted motor can load right onto the trailer without getting wet (although they lack the spot-lock feature). Those that own the bow mounts like me, just hop in the water (or wear NRS boots if super cold water) and pull onto the trailer. @Kayak Koz on this site got me into a winch that pulls the boat up tight to the rollers for a solid connection. Don’t absolutely need the winch, but it sure is nice when the total weight of the kayak, motor, batteries, equipment, etc out-weighs the angler.