On April 11th, Backwoods Fort Worth will be hosting their first ever roadrunner style paddle sport tournament on Fort Worth's own Trinity River. Exact boundaries and official rules will be posted on this thread shortly. Expect boundaries to be within Fort Worth city limits.
This event will have a
conventional and a
fly fishing division. To raise the stakes a little bit, Backwoods will award a full cash prize to the winner of the event in both divisions with 2nd and 3rd receiving gift cards redeemable at Backwoods in Fort Worth. Entry into both divisions will be $40 with an optional $5 Big Bass side pot.
Registration will take place at the Panther Island parking area on Purcey (32 45 21.92N -97 20 34.77W). The awards ceremony will take place at Backwoods Paddlesports at Panther Island Rentals (32 45 33.44N -97 20 19.11W).
The timetable will be as follow:
5:30 am - Check in (Free Coffee!)
6:30 am - Captains meeting
7:00 am - First cast
3:00 pm - Scorecards in (Free Beer and Food!)
4:00 pm - Awards ceremony
Sage Fly Rods will be the weigh in location and watercraft from
Hobie,
Wilderness Systems,
BOTE Watercraft and
Diablo Paddlesports will be on hand for demo from 2:00 - 5:00 pm.
What to expect out of the Trinity in April:
Bass on the Trinity typically begin to spawn during the first full moon in March (depending on water temps). With that being said, if cold weather persists, the tail end of the spawn may still be on. Expect most of the post spawn fish at this time of the year to be keying in on shad and bream starting to move shallow. Females on the river tend to stay shallow and active through the beginning of May. I'd expect bluegill colored jigs and fly patterns to take a lot of the bigger fish turned in, with shad patterned crank baits, spinnerbaits and flies filling limits. I'm expecting a few kicker fish to be caught early in the day on frog and shad imitating topwater baits.
One thing is for sure, the fish EAT at this time of the year on the river, and it should be a blast with a lot of limits turned in!
Oh, and don't think because it's a river in downtown Fort Worth, that big fish don't exist... This 6 pounder was taken last week!
