Charley’s Fishing Tournament Report

Sunday, May 4^th I fished a Kayak Tournament in Matagorda, which has to be one of my favorite places to fish. We got there around 10pm Friday and set up the tent for the night. Saturday morning I got up bright and early to pre-fish for the tournament, while Mom and my brother slept in late. It was a pretty calm morning, with low winds, which was nice for getting out and finding where I was going to fish. But around lunchtime it started getting a little breezy, which most fisherman should know, makes everything just a little harder. After fishing all day and catching several flounder and trout, I started heading back in. Around 6 that evening was the Capitan’s Meeting where all the participants gather to sign in and go over the rules. That night the wind really kicked in and didn’t stop. Sunday morning around 5:40 I woke up and drove down to my spot. I pulled my Hobie Revolution off the racks and got it ready for the day. Participants weren’t allowed in the water ‘till day light, which was around 6:30, so I had enough time to put new line on my reels and organize my kayak. At 6:30 I sent a text message to the tournament directors saying that I was heading out (they required all participants to do this). I pedaled down a long canal that opens into a bay only to find that the wind was pounding just about every fishable shoreline. So, I went down several canals, fishing small coves that were protected by the wind. I caught several more trout, one of which was 24.5 inches, just under the limit. Unfortunately only redfish could be weighed in, so my trout didn’t count for anything. After calling it a day and packing up, we went to the fishing center to watch the weigh in. The winning Redfish weighed in at 9.01 lbs.

I’m looking forward to fishing the next Texas Kayak Series Tournament in July at Rockport, TX.