I recently did the Ike foundation tournament on the upper Chesapeake Bay. I am not a tournament angler by any means. I just wanted to do this. I put on my big boy pants bit off more than I can chew and forced myself to swallow it.

The plan:

My plan having a shallow running jet boat against bass boats was to run about 15 miles up in to the lower Susquehanna River to shallow rocks. Now I can do about 32 mph on a good day. With lots of number crunching a little hope we would have about 2-3 gallons of gas left round trip.

The Execution:

We were boat 44 out of almost 100 boats. Flight 5 Weigh in time 2:40. We launched and made the run to the rocks. The water was very calm other than the wake from bass boats blowing by us at 70mph. We knew none of these guys would be going where we were.

We had the turn up into the Susquehanna and when we got past the no wake it looked like there was a bunch of boats up just below the rocks we wanted to fish. There ended up being about 15 boats a few kayaks in this area. We start fishing and about 10 casts in I hook up. I yell back to my teammate this is a good one this will really help. He starts getting the net. Once the fish surfaces I grow very concerned. It’s a striper. If there is one there’s going to be more. They are only in this area for a short time but, will be here in numbers. I catch about a dozen more. Which I should have left this area sooner because of this. I start going down a channel near there drop shotting and than caught a catfish.

I notice the wind picking up and know we need to start getting back. This is roughly 11 am. We had back get to the no wake area and flipped some down trees. My partner ends up getting a largemouth here so in the live well it goes. The wind is picking up more and we end up in a small craft advisory. This wouldn’t be an issue but, this is the down fall of a jet. For the next 10 miles back to the ramp I can’t get over 8 mph or I will suck much air. This will cause my motor to over rev and eventually do damage. We limp it back towards the ramp.

We fished a spot near the ramp ended up getting two more keepers. It was 20 minutes left till we had to weigh in. We ended up letting them go. We knew 20lbs is where we needed to be to have any shot. We figure it would be better for the fish instead of putting them through weigh in.

Finishing thoughts:

I was very thankful I got to do a tournament this big. It was an eye opening experience. I know if the right fish were up in that area we had a chance. It was a blow to my ego that I failed that bad. I did learn that water that big is the limit for my boat set up. I knew I would struggle in wind. I was never in an unsafe situation. I was just at a huge disadvantage. I would not do a tournament on water like that again. I wish the Susquehanna had some more tournament options other than kayak tournaments. I will not be getting a kayak 😂

Good story telling. Even if it didn't work out how you planned.

@gim thanks man. It was tough but, that’s the way it goes.

Sorry your plan did not work. It seems well thought out

@pdxfisher aren’t they all till they don’t work 😂😂. I though it was solid for sure.

Nice write up.

Tournament fishing is a whole other ballgame.

Tick, tick, tick...

It can make you doubt what you know about fishing.

Tick, tick, tick...

It's also a huge mind game.

Tick, tick, tick...

Keep at it.

Whenever I’m at Conowingo there seems to be a tournament and a few are running jets. Even though the upper Chesapeake is closer, I’ve never fished it. The BassU guys are always talking about how good it is. I worry about the size and dealing with low tide / shallow water.

@Kayak Koz i knew my biggest issue was putting. Pretty much all my eggs in one basket. I fished the area I knew best. With normally pretty good success and fished my strengths.

@T.J. When I fish down there it’s almost always from the Amtrak train bridge up to the top of last big island toward the wingo. Sometimes I’ll go a little further up depending on tide and outflow. The issue with the jet was the wind out on the flats blowing up The Chesapeake.

4 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

@Kayak Koz i knew my biggest issue was putting. Pretty much all my eggs in one basket. I fished the area I knew best. With normally pretty good success and fished my strengths.

This is where I changed my approach lately. It's been the dilemma of "Should I stay or should I go?"

But my approach now is that I'm looking for five big bites, not to catch 10 fish. I also realize that my kayak isn't built for run and gun, so sometimes it means staying in what I know to be a productive area and waiting for the bite window.

This is really, really hard for me to do because when my spots or patterns don't produce I would get flustered, abandon my plan, and start casting everywhere. It paid off in my last tournament and I should have had a dang blue trophy.

If I had more speed, it might be different and I could run and gun or at least hit more locations that matched my pattern.

@Kayak Koz so I do blame myself for not taking charge more. It was a buddy tournament and after I got a few striper I said I don’t think the bass are here anymore. I asked him what he thought and if he thought we should leave. He’s more of a sound mind and I’m just run gun and catch fish. He said wait it out we have plenty of time. I knew deep down it was a bad idea but, he usually ends up being the grounded one and making better choices.

Sorry you didn’t do as well as expected, but thank you for sharing your experience. I haven’t fished any tournaments yet but I think I’d like to. It was an interesting read.

@Bazoo I was for sure bummed. The mindset of tournament fishing is completely different than just going on. You have to catch the right fish to be competitive. It’s something to experience. Especially a bigger event like that one.

I am trying to build that mindset in my bank fishing. For me it isn’t “fun” rather it’s work. Bit to say I am not having fun, but I am serious fishing.

I am learning to concentrate while fishing with my kids, while the people around me blare music, having interactions with others, and trying to stay hydrated and fed.

Basically I’m learning to deal with pressure the best I can with the conditions I have to work with.

@Bazoo i am always fully locked in while fishing. I have a blast doing it though.

The mindset isn’t about serious or not having fun. It’s finding and chasing the fish you need to catch to win. A bag of barely legal fish aren’t going to cut it. Even in the measure kayak tournaments most fisheries it takes 90plus inches to be in contention. You are looking for the big bites. If you’re catching a certain size range that aren’t helping you have to make a change and make it quick. 8 hours sounds like a lot but, it goes faster than any work day I’ve every had in my life.

Thanks. Locked in would be a good way to word it. I have had a hard time being locking in whenever I have the aforementioned distractions, which is why I’m working on it.

@Bazoo focus on what your bait is doing and any feed back from nature or electronics.

Focus on how it feels when you hit bottom. how you feel it coming through the water. If it has rattles can you hear them? Focus on controlling your bait every inch of the cast. Not just reeling it in or letting it drop etc. count your seconds for pauses. How far when you hop a jig is it moving? That’s the stuff.

I know I down play myself or come off as a fool but I pay attention to all that every cast.

Will say it was a good learning experience for you at least. “Good or Bad”

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks a bunch.

@Dooger thank you!

@Bazoo you’re welcome man. Reach out if you need anything.