Reflecting on AOTY 2014

Reflecting on my AOTY 2014 experience

The best part of AOTY for me was getting to know other anglers. I especially appreciate the camaraderie of LingLingHerro, Yaktastic, and UplandSandpiper. And in a different way, but most of all, my wife, without whom having this much fun fishing over the course of a year simply would not be possible.

When I decided to participate I knew that my competitive side would try to strong-arm me into unrealistic goals. Reviewing the 2013 results made me realize that I simply could not compete with the highest achievers. Most of all I simply don’t have the experience to make those catches from a kayak, but there are a lot of other things too: I was unable to fish for about six weeks total due to a vacation and a minor surgery, my wife and I both have full time jobs, and I have two kids in grade school. I’m not complaining about any of those things, but they are facts of life which keep me off the water for a lot of the days in the year.

So rather than set myself up for failure by setting some unrealistic goal of competing with the best of the best, I set up goals that would challenge me, but were possible to attain. I decided on this list:

• Register 10 eligible species. This was was my primary goal, and I projected it to be the most achievable. I could count a dozen species, easily, that I caught during 2013, so it can’t be that hard, right?
• Finish in the top 10 overall. It looked like just getting 10 eligible fish should get me in the top 10, so this was a natural goal.
• Finish in the top 5 in Oregon fish.
• Average 150 pts/fish. I figured by doing this I could push myself to seek out quality fish.
• Catch all my fish in Oregon. I’ve got a lot of Oregon pride - I was born just a few miles from where I live. I wanted a top 10 finish of just fish caught in Oregon.
• No fish finder. I don’t know why I feel like there is some virtue to handicapping myself. I do like the efficiency of finding structure using sonar but it just feels weird to me using it in a kayak. I do use a small handheld GPS unit to monitor speed and drift and to track total miles.

“No plan survives contact with the enemy”

I never got my 10 species. I missed ocean perch and freshwater catfish in the summer, and that really put me in a bind on my species list. I put effort late in the summer into halibut and salmon without any catches to show, but I learned a lot and had fun doing it. I spent a few long, boring sessions getting skunked chasing reports for various species in the fall. Funny enough, though, even those times on the water are good memories for one reason or another. It is hard not to appreciate your time on the water when you’re surrounded by natural beauty, even when the fish aren’t cooperating.

I finished in 9th place overall, and 6th in Oregon, with an average of about 145 points per fish. I’m pretty happy with that. I think I could have done better, but given the constraints I was working under I feel pretty good about how things turned out. I truly couldn’t have done it without valuable input from other NWKA folks and an adventurous wife.

My highest scoring fish of the year gets a second wind and returns to the sea floor.

My ORC2014 official tourney entry.

I’m fortunate that I got nice cabezon at ORC2k14 to help offset some of my smaller fish. I was disappointed to register such a small largemouth (I had a horrible year for ol’ bucket-mouth) and I missed a few points on a larger trout that I didn’t get clear pictures of. Good lessons for next year: nothing is a given!

My best largemouth of the year was not eligible for AOTY due to an unfortunate technicality.

Not all of my fish came from Oregon, unfortunately. As the air chilled in November I realized I’d have to make a last ditch effort at some different species if i was going to get 10 eligible entries, so I took a few trips to Washington. I wasn’t efficient, but I scratched out a single kokanee for all my effort. On the upside I saw some truly beautiful scenery.

My favorite catch

My smallmouth was my most prized catch for AOTY. I’ve spent almost my entire life in Oregon, but the few years I spent in Maryland, fishing the rivers there and in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, endowed me with a deep love and respect for smallmouth bass. It is my favorite sportfish, and in my opinion the hardest pound-for-pound fighter outside of saltwater. I have a long way to go yet understanding how to catch them consistently year-round in these non-native waters. I find them sometimes, but not other times. It’s a process that I hope lasts a lifetime.

My best smallmouth spits the lure just as I get her head in the net.

My favorite catch of the year. I could ease up on the long-arming a bit I guess.

One of my best fishing memories of 2014 was a day alone on Prineville Reservoir where I caught upwards of 30 smallmouth. None of them were over a foot long, but that did not make it any less fun. I can’t really relate to people who only have a good day on the water if they catch a trophy. A day of non-stop hits on light gear is heaven to me.

A Prineville Reservoir smallmouth in action.

Room for improvement?

If anyone cares, I have a few ideas for improvement for next year’s AOTY. Some of these points I’ve made before.

First, I know that it is not an opinion or experience shared by everyone, but in my experience in NW Oregon, it is much, much easier to get a long yellow perch than it is to get a long crappie/bluegill/sunfish. I really don’t understand why yellow perch are included in the “panfish” category to begin with. I think it would be much better to separate them into one category for yellow perch, and one for “panfish” (crappie, bluegill, sunfish, pumpkinseed, etc.).

Next, carp should be considered (hook and line only). While many anglers consider these to be trash fish, they have a significant following, even here, and can be a fun and challenging catch on hook and line. There is even a quickly growing niche of fly-fishermen who target them (note the article in the Winter 2014 edition of Kayak Angler magazine). I suggest a low pts/inch for these fish to encourage quality entries of large fish.

There are so many cool rockfish species that it seems unfortunate that we lump them together into one category.
You can successfully target Red Irish Lord and China Rockfish; they're not just bycatch.

The next one is simple: More frequent updates of the leaderboard and fish submissions would be greatly appreciated. Do we need a bigger pool of judges? I’ll throw my hat in the ring.

And lastly, we do pay for this competition so I see no reason why it’s too much to ask to know what the prizes are in advance. I realize that in reality the entry fee is basically a donation, but it seems odd to pay for a competition and not have any idea what you stand to win (besides bragging rights).

Looking forward to next year

I’m definitely participating in AOTY 2015. I honestly don’t know if I’ll do better or worse, but it’s too much fun not to give it a go. I really appreciate all of the effort and time the NWKA volunteers put into this, and knowing that the proceeds go to a good cause is the icing on the cake.

What are my goals for 2015? Well honestly one of my goals is to do better earlier in the year so that I don’t get obsessive about it come cold-weather time. But overall  since I didn’t meet my goals yet they are similar. Mostly I just want other people out there who are in a similar situation as me (full time job, other commitments, etc.) to know that you can do this and be competitive and have a great time.

See you on the 2015 leaderboard!

I'm encouraging Mrs. Redbeard to participant in 2015. Lookout, boys!

Nice report.  I'll probably toss my money in, but I'm under no illusions of being even remotely cometitive.  Between work, grad school, and kids I'll be happy if I can log more than my 4 days on the water that I managed in 2014, and get more than the 3 species I logged in AOTY.  So, 5 days and 4 species will be a victory for me.

Awesome recap! It looks like you had a lot of fun in 2014. I agree with you regarding SMB. Those things are fun to catch. I also like your thoughts on AOTY. I couldn't have said it better myself

Nice recap and I will be in for 2015, as well. It's interesting to see how well one can do and also what others are up to. I've got to admit I am kind of ashamed of some of the small fish I posted this year but I didn't want to leave any points on the table either. I hope that can be turned around this year. I know I passed up some low hanging fruit in the area of warm water species and should have gone out more times early in the year.

I'd hope to see some more folks sign up this year. Also, I'd agree that more frequent updates would be nice. If it's possible to get "recent catches" back in the sidebar, I think that would make it more interesting to everyone.

Thanks to the judges for putting in their time to keep AOTY running.

Die fish!

OH and unfortunately for 2015 competitors, Yaktrap's already caught a 200pt fish. It's only a matter of time before it shows up on the radar.

I'm brand new to Kayak fishing, but after reading your post I think I'll pony up and set some personal goals as well.  I'm in the same boat as you.... have a full-time job, wife and young family to look after/be with.  Gosh, being able to share an hobie oasis with your wife catching fish... I'm not supposed to be jealous, but I soooo am... forget AOTY prizes, you've already hit the jackpot.

OH and unfortunately for 2015 competitors, Yaktrap's already caught a 200pt fish. It's only a matter of time before it shows up on the radar.

This surprises me not even a little bit. 

I'm brand new to Kayak fishing, but after reading your post I think I'll pony up and set some personal goals as well.  I'm in the same boat as you.... have a full-time job, wife and young family to look after/be with.  Gosh, being able to share an hobie oasis with your wife catching fish... I'm not supposed to be jealous, but I soooo am... forget AOTY prizes, you've already hit the jackpot.

Thank you! Believe me: I do feel fortunate. She's amazing.

That was a great re-cap, well done!

Great post!

Nice post. I need to do a better job this year.

Nice recap.  You had a great season.  Dealing with a surgery and then finding time to fish had to be difficult.  Really cool to see you and your wife fishing together.  Do the kids fish?

Someday I hope to find a cabby like that.  Definitely not long armed.  Would that fish have won the Mrs the bottom fish prize in 2014 ATOY?

Nice recap.  You had a great season.  Dealing with a surgery and then finding time to fish had to be difficult.  Really cool to see you and your wife fishing together.  Do the kids fish?

Someday I hope to find a cabby like that.  Definitely not long armed.  Would that fish have won the Mrs the bottom fish prize in 2014 ATOY?

Thank you, and congrats on your awesome year!

My kids aren't too crazy about fishing yet, but I get them out several times a year, and on calm days they come out in our singles to play while we are in the tandem. I keep hoping one year they'll be more into it. My boy did pretty well on stocker trout last spring, so I'm going to do that with them again.

I'm not sure about her cabezon, but it was a beast! As I recall it was 28" and 15lbs. She caught it the day after ORC... it would have put her in 6th place if she'd caught it at the competition. I know some other AOTY people caught really nice cabs this year too, and MojoJoJo had one that looked identical to this one.

Looks like my first day of the season will be Saturday... can't wait!