This past Sunday I was able to participate in the Yakhopper Kayak Fishing Series at Clear Lake sponsored by Fisherman's Wharehouse. The event was held at Edgewater Resort in Kelseyville. The target for this event was Bass. I arrived on Saturday night and was welcomed by the NorCal Kayak Angler crew with open arms and food. It was nice to sit around the fire and think that camping season has finally arrived.
I woke up at 5:45 AM to the sound of everyone getting there gear together. After making some coffee to get us going, my friend Lisa and I were headed down to the launch with our kayaks. The lake looked so magical and one could only imagine how beautiful the day was going to turn out. At 7 AM kayaks headed out in different directions. Some went to the Island, while others headed towards the state park. It seemed like everyone had a game plan.
Lisa and I decided to work the docks in front of the houses and weren't having any luck at first. I was throwing a worm wacky style and Lisa was throwing a night crawler. After about 30 minutes I headed over to Lisa to see how she was doing and she said that she had a fish on and it was big. The fish jumped and came unhooked. I couldn't believe that I had missed all this but it gave me hope that we were in the right area. This time I decided to drift a minnow on my other Rod, while I continued to cast out the wacky worm. Had some small bites on the minnow but they were really light. It was now close to nine so I decided to paddle in to check on the wife, I knew that she wanted to get out on the water.
On the way back in I started to get some bites near the docks but nothing was sticking, it almost felt like the minnows were just moving frantically. When I got near the Edgwater Resort the rod was getting a little bit more action but nothing was sticking. I got to the beach to find the wife ready to get out on her kayak and I was eager to get back on the water. I quickly ran back to camp got some more coffee and something to snack on. When I got to the water I found my buddy Glen launching after taking a break and he stated that he caught a 21" bass. I knew that was going to be a high target to shoot for.
I headed the the other direction and found last years winner fishing an area near the docks. As soon as I pulled up to him he had some major bend on his rod only to lose what looked like a winning fish. I paddled around the area with minnows drifting and was thinking that this was going to be a great spot.
About 10 minutes later I felt my rod move and thought to myself this could be it. It had a couple taps and then Bam, the rod goes bendo the line takes off and then stops, I lost the fish. I was bummed thinking its 12 and that was probably my only chance, since the weigh in was at 1. I then proceeded to drift the area. About 10 minutes later its fish on again, this fish put up a great fight. I was afraid that I was going to lose it. I saw it come to surface and it looked like a good size fish, went to grab my net and the fish took another dive, going under my kayak. I was able to grab the net and reel the fish in closer to the kayak and netted the fish. My heart was pumping, this was the first bass caught off my kayak. I was worried it was going to jump out of the net. I started to take the pics so that I could submit to be judged, then let the fish go. The fish measured in at 17.25".
I continued to drift and not more then 10 minutes I had another fish on. This time I was a little worried because it was on my 5' Ugly stick. The rod was bent so much I thought it was going to snap, the fish kept taking line even when I tightened the drag, this had to be a big fish. When I finally saw some color, it was big and it took a few dives under the boat. When I got the fish in the net it had some great weight to it and measured in at 19".
It was now 12:30 and I didn't know if I would have time to keep fishing. Without knowing what had been turned in I thought that I might be a contender for third place. I decided to paddle in and not take a chance at missing the weight in. When I submitted my photos, I found out the third place Bass measured in at 20.5". I was so close, it was great to know that I almost placed.
Lisa and I were one of the lucky ones to win one of the goody bags. They had different items from the various sponsors of the event.
I had such a great time out there with the NCKA crew. It was my first time catching Bass from my kayak and what a great way to start. I am already looking forward to the next event at The Alemeda Rock wall. I would like to thank the Fisherman's Wharehouse and Eric Kaai for putting on this event. Also a big congrats to the winners of the event.
-Victor Woolworth
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