It seems to me if we all worked together instead of jockeying for our piece of the kayak pie our kayak community could grow exponentially. Unfortunately right now it's an us against them mentality that seems to keep things sect up. I think you are on to something Jay, the whole tournament scene is watered down with too many tournaments right now. If all of our shops played nice and worked together we could easily have something as awesome or better than Austin. I too look forward to a more united and better tomorrow. Fish on brothers and sisters

I have lots of thoughts on this. Take them with a grain of salt by someone who has been on every side of this fence. I'd love to see a big trail happen but it is more than just agreeing to work on it together.Here are some things to consider.

1. Kayak Fishing Tournaments are a money losing endeavor.
It is hard to put together a business plan as suggested above that people will be able to sign off on. You ask for shops to run it but they are also opened on a lot of tournament days. Saturdays are some of the busiest retail days yet you would ask for staff to run an event. That's a hard sell. Asking the same shop to donate some kayaks to entice more people to fish the trail is a $$$ drain for the shop as well. Even if volunteers run it for the shop, how weary will they grow of not being paid and spending 12+ hours at least one Saturday a month for a good part of the year watching everyone else fish? I work three big tourneys a year, they average 150 people at each. I get compensated for my time there. I am absolutely exhausted when it's done. A three day event takes seven days of time there for a big event with coordination of entities, lodging, tech, registrants prefishing, judging, prizes, cash, accounting, travel and the list goes on and on. If you are paying people, you have get that money from somewhere. You could pull it out of the prize money but then it would be shamed on the internet for not being 100% payback. That is why you see so many charge "membership fees" to fish their trails. It costs money to do events and anglers want everyone else to pony it up. What is the end gain of sponsoring a trail? Exposure, maybe you'll sell a few more kayaks? Brand awareness?

2. Location
Austin has hot water lakes with low fee or free access and spring fed lakes where fish are abundant and anyone can catch fish. We had a few guys locally drive to Austin to pay higher fees on a Thursday tournament because of the lakes. Pride eats at a lot of tournament fishermen. If the lakes are tough they'd rather not go than show and zero. Yes, you read that right. We had multiple guys drive 80 miles to Austin one way to fish a $25 entry fee on a weeknight against guys who fish those lakes weekly rather than staying local, paying $20 and fish their home lake. Austin is kayak bass fishing Mecca. Duplicating its success will be hard. I understand Lake Fork is in the DFW area but honestly it is two hours away from a lot of people. Monti is a ways off too. Austin has a 12 month fishing season and growing season. DFW doesn't. Realistically, 100+ anglers once a month when conditions can be as tough as they are is a hard ask. If Lady Bird and Bastrop which are both within 30 minutes of most of the Austin area anglers were instead located in Arlington, you'd have something.

3. The model
KATS, which is the big numbers trail, is supported by 1 shop. And a big one at that. In management systems you learn as the contributing voices get too many in number, progress slows. There is a happy sweet spot for contributors. Then, after all of that, who is going to run it and have final say? There has to be a buck stops here person. And from experience, I can tell you it ain't fun to be that guy.

4. The motivation
What is the motivation for wanting a big trail? Do you want more prizes or more money? Do you want to sell more kayaks or are you looking to grow the community?

Community growth is done over food, fellowship and fun times. Some people have a good time at tournaments but MOST new people who are thinking about kayak fishing aren't interested in fishing for money. The best times I've ever had have been at get togethers, river floats, buddy trips etc. I can't remember ANY tournament that I enjoyed more than a G2G. Not one. I've had fun and been entertained but when you take the money stress out of an event, the attitudes of so many people relax. That relaxation moment, the deep exhale of shedding the week's stress with that first paddle stroke is what we should share. Community growth sells more kayaks. Community growth helps everyone, especially the hosting shop.

Tournament growth is done over prizes and cash. You have to get out of the mindset of trinkets if you want to get big. You have to develop relationships with companies who will put money into the prize pot, not just a paddle or cup. Forging large company relationships help. Prizes and the like work well for social divisions but if it is a payout you are after, thinking beyond just three or four local businesses is a must. The way I see Dallas and the Metro getting 100+ people to events is by convincing bass boat guys to come chase kayak money. Show them that they could win $5,000, $10,000 or more with a good stringer out of a kayak that has pedals or a paddle or even a trolling motor. A $4,000 kayak setup is a drop in the bucket to what these guys are spending. People "graduate" from kayak fishing to power boats for money and sponsorship opportunities. Cultivating those same sponsorships in kayaks will attract them back and gain a new market share.



So is it possible to do community growth and tournament growth at the same time? Sure but you have to think bigger. People won't show up in droves for trinkets and a chance unless there is another draw. A G2G with a tournament is a good start. People will travel from 2,000 miles away for a chance at $25,000. If you could combine the two on a big scale and do an Outdoor Retailer style paddle fest, tournament, bbq dinner and fund raiser all on the same weekend then you would have the ear of the big sponsors. Chambers of Commerce would fight over you if you held events at a local venue that could draw 500+ people over multiple days. Especially if they are getting hotel rooms. Have something for the whole family to do while one of them is out chasing a check. Make it a show!


So, that's my feedback. Take it for what you will. You have a few things in your favor and a few that aren't but with enough people it might just happen.