Results From the Next Adventure Kayak Fishing Tournament

Thanks to everyone who showed up today to make the First Annual Willy Dino Tournament a success.   There were ten competitors who for the most part split into two groups, one on the Willamette and one on the Columbia.  Even though I was fishing the Willamette I was hedging my bet towards the Columbia but in the end the Willamette ended up being the hot river.  First place went to Mark, “Spot” with a 39 inch fish.  Andrew, “Deepcolor”  came in second with a 30 incher.  Michole, the wild card came in third with a fish of unknown length.  In total 6.5 sturgeon were caught by 3 people.  More pictures are available on Next Adventure's Facebook page http://tinyurl.com/4v7uju7

Nate,
Thanks to you and all at Next Adventure for a great get together and celebration!!!  Now to retrieve my anchor in a week or two... 

Congrats Spot. So what was the magic bait? Looks like a good time had by all out there. Nice looking trophies and glad the hear the Dogg, Jammer, Rawkfish etc. and NA pulled off a nice event.

Z

congrats to Spot and all the winners. Glad you had fun. How was the weather?, It was dumping here...

Congrats to Spot and all the participants!  Sorry I missed this one, looks like fun was had by all.

Sorry to have missed what looks like a great time.   Will definitely make it next time.  Congrats to the lucky fishers!!!

Congrats Spot and everybody else that participated.  Looks like everybody had fun.  Sorry I missed this one.
Dana

congrats to Spot and all the winners. Glad you had fun. How was the weather?, It was dumping here...

I didn't fish, but I hung out at NA to see the pics, and nobody came prancing/skipping in. Those guys toughed it out. They had three days of unusually warm weather and a sh!tload of rain. It sounded like the current and debris was no joke. There are at least two anchors still out there on the bottom. The shipping traffic combined w/fog sounded especially spooky.

My hat is off to these competitors, they put their a$$ out there. Especially the wildcard, in his undersized SIK.

Probably not a tourney you want to pop your cherry on.

Next Adventure really stepped up to the plate. Everything was well thought out, prizes were nice, accommodations were made for family friendliness, and the new SKU's in store seem to show their effort to making a serious commitment to our market segment.

L.B.

In total 6.5 sturgeon were caught by 3 people. 

Congratulations to all.  How does one catch half a sturgeon?

In total 6.5 sturgeon were caught by 3 people. 

Congratulations to all.  How does one catch half a sturgeon?

Caught, brought to boat, then released due to high water and being in a SINK! This was a wise choice and still earned 3rd place.

Thanks guys, and Thanks Next Adventure!  The NA crew really stepped up for this tournament.  The logistics and format worked really well and the post fishing wrap up was awesome.  Pizza, beer, kayak fishing videos and a slideshow of the days fishing on the big screen made for the perfect post event gathering.

While I took home the big trophy, my victory wouldn't have been possible without Deepcolor.  DC not only shared his hard won knowledge of the site we were fishing but actually provided me with the bait that took the winning fish. 

A libation (Σπονδή spondee in Greek) is a ritual pouring of a drink as an offering to a god or spirit

Midway thru what was a very slow day of fishing, I edged up next to Andrew to chat and beg a little bait.  "We need to change the momentum here" he said as he handed me a Gatorade cup with just enough JWB to take the soaked chill off my bones. 
"Karma and comraderie will surely grant you a fish for this" was my thanks for the much needed warming.
And, as if on cue, DC's rod shook violently.  Taking the rod in hand, he waited for the 2nd hit and slammed the hook-set. 

Back on anchor, I called Steelheader over to take advantage of the extra clip on my buoy system.  "The spirit of karma and comraderie worked for Deepcolor so I'm expecting a fish any minute" I joked....just before my rod tip bounced....

  How does one catch half a sturgeon?

It was my Spot of time.  The monster that got away.
Using the secret Gothic Postage Stamp bait, I'd hooked up on something big twice, only to be broken off on a rocky ledge.  After the 2nd loss, DC moved anchor to put him right over the slot I'd been casting to.  So, just to be funny, I pulled up next to him, held on to his kayak with my free hand and dropped a fresh bait.     Andrew took the opportunity to freshen up my cup. 

When our combined drag on the anchor line sent us into a spin around the eddy, I let myslef drift away.  The joke had run its course anyway.

As I prepared to paddle back over to Steelheader and my anchor buoy I felt that telltale vibration on my line and set the hook.... into the biggest fish of the day.  This fish was no joke.  All I could do for the 1st 10minutes was meter the amount of line it took.  As I wasn't on anchor, I found myself towed upstream, against a heavy flow then back down stream, then back upstream again.  When the fish headed for the shallows I called for support and my NWKA brothers didn't disappoint.

With Steelheader on one side and Deepcolor on the other, I brought the beast closer.  First to surface however were the two rigs I'd previously lost complete with hooks, sliders and sinkers?!?  They'd tangled around my mainline and forced me to handline my prize the rest of the way in.  With the leader in my hand, the full size of this fish became evident and I struggled to get it in a position to be tailed.

Y'all know what comes next....  The fish rolled and slipped off the hook(s), disappearing into the murky depths.

But, I wasn't disappointed.  I'd just had the best Slayride of my life and my friends were there to share the moment with me.  I'd gotten my prize.

-Spot-
   

     

I had a blast everyone.  Thanks to Nate and Next Adventure.  Congrats to Spot.  And a toast to old man river, who always responds well to a small offering.

Another great contest! Congrats to the winners &, as always, enjoyed Spot's report!

Thanks to Next Adventure for putting on a classy kayak fishing tournament.  It was a lot of fun, and gave me a chance to get out and break in the new year.  I opted for the Columbia, and was not disappointed when I saw other kayaks out there getting after it.  It was a good chance to open the 2011 season.

This was a quality tournament.  Captain's bag (a nice dry bag) with some swag, a tee shirt, pizza and a raffle, all after some fun on the water.  Everyone at Next Adventure was nice and friendly, easy to work with.  They are on my radar now when I need any kayak gear.

I'm looking forward to doing it again.  Thanks Next Adventure for putting on a classy event -

Alan

It doesn't look too good for anchor retrieval any time soon...