This is pretty short notice (sorry, I always seem to forget to post this kind of stuff on this board) but the "Speck"tacular Tournament is this weekend in Galveston.

The main division (where all the boats fish) is for trout - hence the name "Speck"tacular but the kayak division is for redfish. The stringer of the two heaviest reds wins it.

Anyway, you can still register if anybody is interested.

All the info can be found here: www.specktourney.com Hope to see some of you guys there. They always have some really good raffle stuff at the weigh-in also. You guys try to come on out even if you aren't fishing it. The weigh-in is at Tops & Towers in Seabrook.

how did you do in the tournament?

We won! I teamed up with Scott Null of Wilderness Systems Kayaks for this one. The forecast was pretty sketchy and we had to make a last minute decision on where we were going to fish but we were fortunate and it paid off. We weighed in two redfish at 27" and 25" for a total of 11.72 lbs.

Scott caught all his fish on topwaters and I caught my biggest redfish on a spinnerbait pictured below. We caught quite a few nice flounder too.

looks like you made a hell of a day out of not so great of a day. On average, about how far do you think you are kayaking from where you put it in the water during a day?

On average... MAYBE a mile. I have some spots where it's a pretty good haul -- 3 or 4 miles one way. But I usually don't hit those spots unless I need some good fish for a tournament that I can't find closer.

Most of the spots I fish average about .5 to .8 of a mile from the launch (one way). The spot we fished this weekend is about a 1-1.5 mile paddle one way.

The trick is finding launch spots that let you access the same water with less paddling distance. Sometimes you really have to go "off the beaten path" if you know what I mean.

Do they have a map out that will show some decent yak launching spots?

There is a book by Ray Crawford called "Wade and Kayak Fishing in Galveston Bay" that is EXCELLENT.

He has detailed pictures of launch spots, directions, and everything else you could ask for.

Here's the link to his site:
http://www.texascoastalfishingbooks.com/index.html

Also, the Hook 'n Line maps have started putting kayak launch points on there maps. You can get those at www.hooknline.com.

Congrats man!