Port of Sacramento Striper Tournament

This was the last tournament of a three tournament series and in my opinion, the most exciting. One of the highlights of this tournament is that rather than fishing in a lake or reservoir with stocked fish, we were in an open water system chasing wild fish. Don't get me wrong, I like fishing for planted trout just as much as anyone, but chasing wild fish whatever species they may be, is always more gratifying.

I had never fished the Port of Sacramento before last weekend and I was very excited to do so. It is very close to the office I work out of, and if the fishing turned out to be good, it would make a great place for fishing quickees either before or after work. Since I had never fished this location before, I decided to make a weekend of it, scouting on Saturday and participating in the tournament on Sunday. My wife was kind enough to grant my request and take care of our new baby all weekend.

Saturday Dknight (NCKA handle) and I arrived with kayaks, minnows and some red worms. Our intention was to use the red worms to catch bluegill and then use the bluegill to catch stripers. The minnows were a back up plan in case we were unable to catch bait. I had read the post on NCKA by Steveislost, which outlined all of the fishing spots at the port, and felt confident I could accomplish my goal. By the end of the day, however,  we had big fat goose egg to show for our effort. Despite getting skunked, Saturday was educational. Even though no fish were caught by us, other folks out there caught fish and were kind enough to share what they were using to be successful.

On Sunday, I was nervous that I would repeat getting skunked. I was also excited to see such a great turnout. There must have been 50 kayakers launching. I was also looking forward to fishing with one of the other Headwaters Fishing Team members, Victor. He's usually a good luck charm for me. We signed in and launched, headed for the a locke that controls water inflow from the Sacramento River. We were marking fish everywhere and I had seen 2 stripers caught here on Saturday afternoon, but no luck for us. We then decided to drift down toward an overpass that borders Lake Washington, another place I had seen fish caught the day before. About half way down,"zzzz," my reel went off. I was so excited! No skunk! In my excitement however, I tightened my drag down too far, and despite Jim's recommendation for at least 12 pound test, this reel only had 10 pound test. "Snap," no more fish. Obviously a lot of yelling followed. I re-rigged and put on another minnow and in another half hour hooked up again. This time I left the drag nice and loose. About 10 minutes later I had a 19'' striper in the boat. If I hadn't been in the kayak, I would have been doing a happy dance. Victor and I ended the tournament with one fish each and were both ecstatic. I didn't take my usual 3rd place, but I was still happy to not have got skunked. Not to mention it was great to see so many fish. People submitted catfish, largemouth bass, crappie, and bluegill. Jim even accepted an entry that was mudsuckers They also awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall for the series. I took 4th, but was happy that a fellow team member, Adam Koons, had taken 3rd. Maybe I'll have better luck next year. If you haven't fished the Port of Sacramento, I highly recommend checking it out. It's as if they designed it for kayak fishing and it's free to park and launch.

My striper. Sweet!

Striper in my new measuring station

Victor proudly displays his catch of the day.

FreshKATS Final standings! 

Folsom Fling:

1st Place: Adam Koons- Headwaters Fishing Team

2nd Place: Rob Knowles- Team Wilderness Systems

3rd Place: Bill Becket- Headwaters Fishing Team 

Fall Trout Guys:

1st Place: Rob Knowles- Headwaters Fishing Team

2nd Place: Cawingshooter

3rd Place: Bill Becket- Headwaters Fishing Team

Trash Prize: Jim Schnider

Port O Sac Stripers:

1st Place: Ron Weimarian

2nd Place: Rob Knowles- Team Wilderness System

3rd Place: Joel (Sandbag)

Trash Prize: Victor Woolworth- Headwaters Fishing Team

Series Champs:

1st Place: Rob Knowles- Team Wilderness Systems

2nd Place: Cawingshooter

3rd Place: Adam Koons- Headwaters Fishing Team

Great work guys! Thanks to Jim and FreshKATS for putting on such an amazing series!