April 16th
Johnson Branch State Park
Lake Ray Roberts

Event Site

Spent a couple of hours at the Park and everyone is excited about the upcoming tournament and get together.

I spent this morning at Bass Pro Shops of Grapevine and Mariner Sails and both have generously donated items for the tournament and raffle.

I'll start a new thread for the Heroes on the Water Benefit Kayak Fishing Tournament in the next couple of days.

The day's event schedule. All time approximate, except tournament hours.

5:30-Park gates open and registration for tournament
6:45-Tourny anglers launching elsewhere may leave
7:00-Tournament begins, anglers may launch kayak
11:00-Demos will available to paddle from Mariner Sails and Bass Pro Shops of Grapevine
12:00-Fire up the crawdad pots
2:00-Tournament ends
3:00-Announce tournament winners
?????-Enjoy company, BS, paddle more kayaks, etc...

After the tournament, we will hold a contest where 3 judges will vote on kayaks that have been rigged for fishing. Mariner Sails will be sponsoring this and will award a winner a gift certificate.

A casting contest using a light up Barbie pole. Whoever can cast the farthest, wins.

May also incorporate a paddling contest around buoys, similar to barrel racing.

It's all coming together. So any ideas on what you'd like to see/do I'm all ears.

Also, because of the mudbugs, we'll need somewhat of an accurate head count of who will be there.

Josh

Because we are at a State Park, there will be a $5 park entrance fee per adult.

did you ever mention the tourney entry fee?

i think the casting contest should be sitting since we are all yak anglers.

should also have a tub with live gar to see who can
bob out the most in 60 sec winner gets the barbie light
up pole!
ZZ Top beards & Fu ManChus will auto disqualify you!
i wont mention any names but BRod, MR., Yota, Bert, Ren!!! you know who you are.

Sounds awesome. Looking forward to this.

I'm really looking forward to this also.

The tournament will be 2 divisions; bass and crappie. $40 for either division, $60 if you want to fish both divisions. Since this is a benefit tournament, half of the entry fees will be a donation to Heroes on the Water, with the other half going to payout. If 40 people fish the bass division and 25 fish the crappie division, the payout will be bigger for the bass division. By Bass I mean: Largemouth (black), small mouth, spot, kentucky & guadalupe (would be really shocking). No sand, white, stripers, & hybrids.

It will be catch-photo-release. However, I will not discourage people from keeping their catch. We all don't get to fish as often as we like, so it's ok by me if you want to keep your fish that day. However, if you keep any fish, it can NOT be used as proof of a fishes length during judging. Only your photos and scorecard will be allowed.

You will need a digital camera and measuring stick. I'll have a multi-card reader with me, but it's advisable that you also bring the camera's USB cord. I know I have had problems in the past with Olympus's card where I needed the cord to download the pictures.

This will be a "road runner" event. Meaning you will be allowed to launch else where if you like. Those doing so will be permitted to leave 15 minutes prior to start time (7 start, so 6:45 departure). This will allot some travel time, but you will be sacrificing fishing time if you choose to go this route.

I'll start a tourny thread in a couple of days, but this should give you a good idea.

The Fisher of Yakers Contest
After you return from fishing there will be a contest regarding rigged kayaks. Basically, we want to see how you rig your kayak for fishing, and it'll allow others to get new ideas on rigging their yaks as well. I'll choose 2 other people to judge with me. Mariner Sails will be sponsoring this event and we are discussing awarding a gift certificate. Aris is busy right now with the boat show, so the amount will be announced soon. Fishing rods and tackle can be put away in the truck for security reasons. This is open to those who aren't fishing in the tournament as well.

The Barbie Casting Contest
There will be a two divisions, 12 & under and 13 & up. I liked the idea of sitting in kayak to do so. You'll be given 3 casts, with the farthest cast counting.

Any chance to get a big fish pot added to the bass tournament? Say 5 or 10 bucks winner takes half, the other half goes to HOW.

April is the time the big girls are out on that lake and sharelunker is still open as well, I think it would be awesome to have the first sharelunker that I am aware of from a kayak be during a HOW tournament. All 4 of the sharelunkers from RayBob have come mid march to the end of april, one broke the 14lb mark and still holds the lake record. My biggest 3 fish on that lake came in April, all on rattle traps 2 on 3/4 oz one on 1/2 oz, I am not saying where or what color just saying. 2 taped out to 9+ one was 8.5 they were all slot fish at the time so I could not take them in for official weights.

I'm for a big bass pot. I'll let y'all decide if y'all want 100% of it to pay to the big bass, or make half a donation to HOW.

I think a Sharelunker was caught from a kayak on Ivie last year, I could be wrong.

Fishing to me is the icing, making money for HOW and getting to meet the 'support' group for my particular addiction is the real goal. I would not want to participate in a big bass pot that did not benefit HOW too.

We will not be attending.

+1 on a percentage of the entry fees going to HOW.

As for the kayak sharelunker, my fairly non-extensive research reveals that there have only been two submitted to the program since its inception.

One at Purtis last March...



And one at Lake Ratcliff in 2006...

Head count.....one angler (me), and I'll be brining the wife and one teen kiddo. The more my wife hangs out with my other "support group," the easier it will be to get those future kitchen passes.

BTW, although I'm fishing the tourney, would like to voluteer to help if needed.

I like the gar bobbing idea, Zombie. But you don't need facial hair to win.....just ask this guy.

A few split rings and treble hooks and this guy's the heavy favorite...