Category Archives: Results

News, Results, Tournament

Recap: 2017 Alabama Classic on the Coosa River

What a weekend at the first Alabama Kayak Fishing Classic held on the Coosa River in Wetumpka, Alabama this past weekend!  48 anglers from Alabama and surrounding states came to this beautiful river to fish against some of the best anglers in the region.

The beautiful Coosa River in Wetumpka, Alabama

Jared Atwell, with his 56-inch three-fish stringer, took home the trophy and title of “Alabama State Champion” while Michael Cooper, a just 40.74 inches, took home the title of “Open Division Winner”.  Lance Coley, an angler known for many podium finishes on this and many other rivers in the southeast, finished just a half inch behind Atwell to take second place.

Jared Atwell, the 2017 Alabama State Champion

The Classic represented a year-end grand finale for all the major kayak fishing clubs in Alabama.  The event was co-hosted by the North Alabama Kayak Anglers, Coosa River Kayak Anglers, Iron City Kayak Anglers, Coosa Riverkeeper’s Coosa Canoe and Kayak Fishing Tournament, and the Mobile Bay Kayak Fishing Association.  Each club was able to send the 10 top anglers from their 2017 kayak fishing trails to the Championship Division ensuring the top anglers in the state were battling it out on the same body of water.  Note, due to a leadership change, the now defunct Shoals Kayak Anglers were not able to participate in the event meaning 10 fewer anglers than anticipated were in the field.

Results: Championship Division
Results: Open Division

Atwell, who gained entry into the Classic’s Championship Division by way of the Iron City Kayak Anglers, also claimed the “Best Bass”.  His 21.25 inch Alabama spotted bass was the longest bass caught on tournament day.  That fish would go on to anchor his stringer along with two other Alabama spotted bass of lengths 18.75 and 16 inches.  Coley’s stringer consisted of 20.5, 17.75, and 17.25 inch bass.

Atwell’s winning stringer
Biggest bass of the Alabama Classic

Atwell ended up taking home over $600 for his first place finish and $100 for the biggest bass.  Of note, Atwell likely caught the largest fish of the weekend as he netted a 25-pound catfish on Friday while prefishing.

Jared Atwell with a Coosa River catfish during prefishing

The Classic brought out several anglers who had never fished the Coosa River as well as an angler who had never fished in a kayak fishing tournament.  In attendance were also anglers from the Mobile Bay Kayak Fishing Association and their large 14-foot-long kayaks, some of which actually made the pass through the rapids on the Coosa River.  On Friday, the river saw packs of anglers who had never met each other guiding one another through the rapids and sharing fishing tips.

Chris Gravely in his NuCanoe Pursuit on the Coosa River

While large stringers were reported by those at the top of the scoring board, many anglers struggled to find large fish through the day.  Strong headwinds as the sun got higher in the sky was just another element anglers had to deal with on the day of tough fishing.  On tournament day, it seemed like the bigger fish were in the deeper pockets of the slow moving water.  Many small fish were caught on soft plastics, fish that normally would not have been worth pursuing expect on a tough fishing day like this.  Grinding out small plastics to catch three 14-inch fish would have paid off as it would have taken just 41-inches of fish to take home the Open Division title and trophy.  The topwater bite was near dead and we are close to declaring the death to the Whopper Plopper.  Had Lake Jordan been open to competitors it is quite likely that there would have been different winners in each division.

Coley’s stringer just 0.75 inch shy of 1st place
Dylan Mason’s 3rd place Championship stringer
Michael Cooper’s winner Open Division stringer

The Classic event brought out some anglers from as far away as South Carolina.  Stewart Venerable (we heard he rented a house on Lake Jordan for the weekend) is a member of the NuCanoe fishing team and it was a pleasure to see such a talented angler with Coosa River experience in the field.  With Venerable unable to boat multiple large spotted bass, it should have signaled to the field it was going to be tough day of fishing.

It was a pleasure to have Brian Carson, the leader of the Heroes on the Water South Alabama Chapter, participate in the event.  Carson made the trip up from lower Alabama with Kayak Bass Series angler and noted lake fisherman Stacey Martin.  Carson was able to quickly share details about upcoming Mobile Bay Kayak Fishing Association events and a bit about what Heroes on the Water does.

Phil Thompson running a rapid on the Coosa

Plans for the 2018 are still in the works but for the most part the Classic Board has agreed that the format for entry into the Championship Bracket will remain the same.  Goals include getting more dealers, clubs, and organizations involved in 2018 as well as standardizing the requirements to be co-hosts in 2018.

Club leaders from each of the Classic co-hosts gave quick talks about what to expect in 2018.  For the most part, 2018 will look a lot like what 2017 did for each club.

Thanks to our amazing sponsors, every angler walked away with something.

Josh Tidwell scoring a large Alabama spotted bass on tournament day

Big Will’s Outfitters stepped up in a big way at the event giving away $500 worth of products included 10 Hawg Troughs to anglers in need of a measuring board.  BWO also donated a pair of polarized Costa Del Mar sunglasses, 100 koozies, a Gillz fishing shirt, an Orion Coolers tumbler, a Gerber River Shorty knife, and a VIBE Kayaks 20-quart cooler.

YakAttack, the leading kayak fishing accessory maker, provided various items including Anchor Trolleys, Rotogrip Paddle Holders, Vertical Tie Downs, YakAttack buffs, and Multimount Cup Holders.

Eric Atkins won the VIBE Kayak giveaway

VIBE Kayaks provided a SeaGhost 110 kayak to one lucky Open Division angler.

Bending Branches, a premiere builder of paddles, provided nine hats, six shirts, and two buffs among other items.

Red Fox Wireless provided a Rover which is a battleproof, weatherproof, drop-in-the-bottom-of-a-lake-proof waterproof speaker with YakAttack mount.

They stayed happily married!

The Coosa Outdoor Center provided outstanding hospitality as usual.  They allowed us to camp on several acres of land along the river and provided 100 hotdogs and fixings to the field during the weigh-in as well as multiple shuttles to Jordan Dam to retrieve our vehicles.

Robby Cook with a nice Alabama bass

Robby Cook provided several dozen of his custom shaky head jig which would have come in handy to the pesky spotted bass on the Coosa River that day.

The North Alabama Kayak Anglers graciously donated a $100 gift card to Academy Sports and Outdoors.

The weigh-in and awards ceremony at the Coosa Outdoor Center

Frank Chitwood, of the Coosa Riverkeepers, did another great job hosting the Captain’s Meeting, weigh-in and awards ceremony as well as manning a jet boat during the tournament.  His professionalism and river-conscious attitude helped make this event the success it was.

Frank Chitwood handing the winning check and trophy to Atwell

We look forward to the 2018 club trails and 2018 Alabama Kayak Fishing Classic.  No doubt this website and Facebook page will provide coverage of kayak fishing news and events happen in 2018.

Pat Hoffman of Mobile paddling a Moken 14 through the rapids

Of note, this event on the Coosa River ended up being the largest kayak fishing event held on that body of water this year.  To boot, so far in 2017 Alabama club event attendance has always topped attendance by national and regional trails hosted on the same body of water and that has been the case for at least the past two years.

Events, News, Results

Weekend Results: CRK, CRK AOTY, TVKA, YakTribe, KBF

There were four kayak fishing events in Alabama on May 6th, 2017. Let’s break them down:

  1.  44 anglers attended the Coosa Riverkeeper’s Coosa Canoe & Kayak Fishing Tournament (CCKFT) on Lake Neely Henry making it the largest kayak fishing event in Alabama this past weekend.  A new “Angler of the Year” was crowned and the second longest bass in CCKFT tournament history was caught.
    Robbey Stanford, CCKFT Neely Henry 2017 winner. Photo: Coosa Riverkeepers

    Robbey Stanford won the Neely Henry stage with a big 57.5-inch three-fish stringer.  His large stringer was anchored by a 20.5-inch spotted bass and takes home $500 for his effort.  Brian Wilkes finished second with a very respectable 56-inch stringer.

    Calloway’s giant fish. Photo: Coosa Riverkeepers/Calloway

    A 23-inch long largemouth bass was caught by Brandon Calloway making it the second longest fish in CCKFT history.  Unfortunately, Calloway could not cull the 13.5” fish on his stringer and he finished in 5th place 4-inches behind the winner Stanford.

    Top 5 – CCKFT Neely Henry 2017:
    1) Robbey Stanford – 57.5
    2) Brian Wilkes – 56
    3) Coley McGowan – 55.75
    4) Lance Coley – 54
    5) Brandon Calloway – 53.5

    Nine anglers had stringers longer than 50-inches.  For complete results, see this Facebook post.

    Lance Coley, 2017 CCKFT Angler of the Year. Photo: Coosa Riverkeepers

    On the year, Lance Coley’s consistent presence atop the season’s leaderboard landed him the 2017 Big Will’s Angler of the Year award for the CCKFT series.  Coley scored a 159.75” cumulative stringer on the year and won a 2017 Jackson Kayak Coosa for his outstanding fishing this season.  Last year’s CCKFT Angler of the Year, Jared Atwell finished 2nd in this year’s AOTY race and was 11.5” inches out of first place.

    Jack Freeman, CCKFT Best Youth. Photo: Coosa Riverkeepers

    The Best Youth Angler in the CCKFT series this year was Jack Freeman, a very respectable angler no matter what his age is.  The Best Female Angler this season was Kristen Woods.

    Kristen Woods, CCKFT Best Female AOTY. Photo: Coosa Riverkeeper

    For more information about this year’s best anglers and the AOTY race, see this post.

    Due to their terrific performance on the year, ten CCKFT anglers have qualified for the “Championship Division” of the Alabama Classic, an end-of-the-year kayak fishing celebration hosted by the bass fishing clubs of Alabama.  CCKFT will be sending the following anglers to the “Championship Division” of the Alabama Classic:

    CCKFT Qualifiers for the Championship Division of the Alabama Classic. Photo: Coosa Riverkeepers

    Lance Coley – AOTY
    Jared Atwell – 2nd Overall
    David Meeks – 3rd Overall
    Patrick Smith – 4th Overall
    Josh Tidwell – 5th Overall
    Jack Freeman – Best Youth
    Kristen Woods – Best Lady
    Barry Walker – Lay Lake Best Bass
    Lanny Watkins – Logan Martin Best Bass
    Brandon Calloway – Neely Henry Best Bass

    These anglers have earned a shot of the title of “State Champ”.  Others not qualifying for the “Championship Division” are welcome to enter into the “Open Division” and to try to win prizes there as well.  See the CCKFT website for more information.

  2. 41 anglers attended the Kayak Bass Fishing stop on Lake Jordan this past weekend. Georgia’s Mitchell White scored an 87-inch 5-fish stringer and won $2,000.  Alabama’s top finisher was Jake Garner with an 82” 4th place finish.  Twenty total Alabama anglers participated in the event.
    Results from the KBF event can be found here.

    The KBF Lake Jordan Top 5 were:
    1) Mitchell White – 87
    2) Ron Champion – 85.25
    3) Joshua Stewart – 84.5
    4) Jake Garner – 82
    5) Stewart Venable – 78.5

    Check our Alabama Kayak Fishing Events page for a look at KBF and other tournament events in Alabama this year.

  3. The Tennessee Valley Kayak Anglers held their fifth event of the year, this time in Alabama on Upper Lake Guntersville from the BB Comber Bridge to Stevenson. 26 anglers battled tough fishing conditions and struggled to put together a three fish stringer.  However, Robert Barnett managed to trick a 21” largemouth into biting earning him the longest fish of the event.
    Tennessee Valley Kayak Anglers Lake Guntersville. Photo: TVKA

    Seth Lassitter won the tournament with a 49.75” 3-fish stringer.  The top 5 finishers were:

    1. Seth Lassitter – 49.75
    2. Couth – 47.00
    3. Ryan Lambert – 43.00
    4. Jake Davenport – 42.50
    5. Steve Owens – 40.50

    Those aren’t typical Guntersville numbers.

    Full results from the TVKA event can be found here.

  4. Ambassador Club, the YakTribe, held an impromptu gathering in Gulf Shores over the weekend.  A dozen like-minded kayakers showed up to fish together and socialize along the bays of Gulf Shores.
    YakTribe members in Gulf Shores, AL. Photo credit: YakTribe
    Gulf Shores yakkin. Photo: Xavier Raymond

    If you are looking for a lifestyle club, check them out at yaktribe.com.

Events, News, Results

Results: Coosa River Kayak Anglers Throwdown May 3rd

22 anglers showed up to fish the Wednesday night tournament held by the Coosa River Kayak Anglers.  Fred Minyard took first place with a 32-inch two fish stringer.

Wednesday evening anglers. Photo: Robby Cook

The Coosa River Kayak Anglers seem to have great turnouts during their evening quick events with their attendance rivaling many weekend tournaments.   In fact, most of the CRKA events will be evening tournaments held during the weekday.

Full results from last night’s event can be found here.  This event factors into the CRKA Angler of the Year race.  Here are the latest standings according to CRKA.


Here’s a lot of the CRKA schedule for the rest of the year:

It isn’t too late to get involved with CRKA or the other clubs in Alabama.  We’re tracking dozens of other kayak fishing events to take place in Alabama.

 

News, Results, Tournament

Tournament Results – April 8th, 2017

There were four kayak fishing events in Alabama this past weekend held by host clubs: the Coosa Canoe & Kayak Fishing Tournament, Shoals Kayak Anglers, the Kayak Bass Series, and the Mobile Bay Kayak Fishing Association.  Also, the Kayak Bass Fishing series finally released their results from their Open and National Championship events held last weekend. The recaps and event links are below.

Coosa Canoe & Kayak Fishing Tournament Lake Logan Martin – The CCKFT held its second event of the year—this time on Lake Logan Martin and its tributaries.  Torrential rains earlier in the week and weather conditions were a major factor on this tournament.  Despite that, Lance Coley won this event with a respectable 52.75-inch three-fish stringer out of 31 anglers.

Lance Coley with his winnings. Photo: CCKFT

Results from the weekend via CKKFT:

Best Angler: Lance Coley | 52.75″
Best Bass: Lanny Watkins | 19″
Best Young Angler: Ethan Floyd | 50.25″

2nd Overall: Brandon Calloway | 51.75″
3rd Overall: Ethan Floyd | 50.25″
4th Overall: Shaye Taylor | 47.5″

Full results can be found here.

After two events, the Top 5 in the CCKFT Angler of the Year Race:
Lance Coley – 105.75 inches
Jared Atwell – 99
David Meeks – 90.75
Lanny Watkins – 88.25
Patrick Smith – 87

The last CCKFT regular season event of the year will be May 6th on the Neely Henry system.  It will be your last shot to qualify for the Championship Division in the Alabama Kayak Fishing Classic  through the CCKFT club.

Shoals Kayak Anglers – The SKA club held their second event of the year on Lake Wilson in the Tennessee River chain. North Alabama angler Tony Dean bested a dozen other anglers and took the top spot with a 74.25-inch stringer anchored by the 19.75-inch biggest bass of the tournament.  Dean won $260.  Richard Woodruff was second with 72.25-inches and won $100.

SKA Lake Wilson Top 5:
1st place- Tony Dean with 74.25 inches
2nd place- Richard Woodruff with 72.75 inches
3rd place- Will Green with 71.25 inches
4th place- Chris Bracken with 69.50 inches
5th place- Blake Hamm with 67.25 inches

Full results and a recap can be found here.

Kayak Bass Series Lake Eufaula – North Alabama angler Jon Lessmann won first place and $1400 out of a field of 17 anglers.  To our knowledge, this was the first kayak fishing event held on Lake Eufaula.  Alabama angler Stacey Martin was in 2nd place with 80-inches on his five fish stringer.  Results can be found here.  Congrats Jon.

Lessmann with his winnings. Photo: KBS

Mobile Bay Kayak Fishing Association – MBKFA had an event at Heron Bay.  The heaviest fish went to Will Holberg with a 25 3/4″, 5.86 lb. redfish.

MBKFA Anglers with a nice haul. Photo: osguitar1 on MBKFA.com

Full results can be found here.

MBKFA’s 11th Annual Bagwell Spring Tournament is coming up on May 20th.  Details can be found here.

The 2017 MBKFA AOTY Race standings can be found here.


Kayak Bass Fishing – after much delay, KBF has finally released the results of their KBF Open and KBF National Championships held on Kentucky Lake on March 31 and April 1.

KBF Competitors awaiting results: Photo: KBF

KBF National Championship Leaderboard (359 anglers)
Alabama KBF NC Finishers (two day 5-fish per/day stringers) were:

#15 – Tim Perkins 175.25
#22 – Brandon Watson 172.25
#66 – Shane Young 159.50
#101 – JR Young 150.25
#165 – Lanny Watkins 134.25
#182 – Greg Riddle 126.50
#258 – Todd McBride  86.50
#290 – David Kittrell  66
#331 – Justin Tadlock  31
#340 – Bryan Tadlock 18
#347 – Jon Lessmann  12
#351 – Tammi Collins  0

KBF Open Leaderboard (326 anglers)
Alabama KBF Open Finishers (two day 5-fish per/day stringers) were:

#13 – Tim Perkins 175.25
#127 – Lanny Watkins 134.25
#142 – Greg Riddle 126.50
#168 – Chris Odem 111.25
#203 – David Earnest 87.50
#209 – Todd McBride 85.50
#216 – Jon Lessmann 81.50
#270 – David Kittrell  66
#280 – Justin Tadlock  31
#309 – Tammi Collins 0

Congrats to all the Alabama anglers that qualified for the National Championship.

You can track events happening in Alabama with our Alabama Kayak Fishing Events tracker page.

News, Results, Tournament

4 Events This Weekend. Results From ICKA’s Black Warrior Event.

Central Alabama’s Iron City Kayak Anglers held their first tournament event of 2017 this past weekend on the Warrior River system.

Black Warrior champ Allen Fowler (photo courtesy: ICKA)
Black Warrior champ Allen Fowler (photo courtesy: ICKA)

Allen Fowler won the event with a decisive three-fish stringer of 57.5 inches besting second place angler Robby Stanford by eight inches.  Stanford’s second place finish was anchored by a new ICKA club longest bass record 22.5-inch largemouth.

Robby Stanford’s big fish (photo: Stanford)

ICKA’s next event will be on Neely Henry on May 6th in a joint event hosted by the Coosa Canoe and Kayak Fishing Tournament.

The top 10 results of ICKA’s Black Warrior event were:

  1. Allen Fowler – 57.5
  2. Robby Stanford – 49.5
  3. Brian Wilkes – 49
  4. Mason Kerth – 46.25
  5. Gabe LaCally – 46.25
  6. Devin Vaughn – 42.75
  7. Jake Garner – 41.25
  8. Nick Austin – 39.75
  9. David Meeks – 38.5
  10. Richard Sanders – 37

ICKA’s full recap is available on their website.

This weekend, the follow Alabama kayak fishing events are taking place:

  1. April 8 – CCKFT Lake Logan Martin
  2. April 8 – SKA Wilson Lake
  3. April 8 – MBKFA Heron Bay
  4. April 8 – Kayak Bass Series Lake Eufaula
News, Results, Tournament

2017 NAKA Guntersville Results

The North Alabama Kayak Anglers held their first event of the year on Saturday.   70 anglers braved the persistent breeze, whitecaps, and the threat of strong afternoon storms on a mild weather day on Lake Guntersville.  Many anglers had spent the night camping out at Goosepond Colony in Scottsboro, AL, the site of the early Saturday morning Captain’s Meeting.

2017 NAKA Open Winner Jason Lack. Photo credit: North Alabama Kayak Anglers

Jason Lack won the Guntersville tournament with a 57.25-inch three-fish stringer.  He won $675 for his first place finish.  His big stringer was anchored by a 21.75-inch largemouth bass which won him the tournament’s “biggest bass” pot and a bonus $350.  Lack won $1,025 on the day.  His winning stringer:

Jason Lack’s winning stringer. Photo credit: North Alabama Kayak Anglers

NAKA is giving away a Jackson Kayak Skipper to the Top Youth Angler of 2017.  Riley Johnston jumps out to an early lead in that race by scoring an 18-inch fish yesterday.

Top 10 results from the 2017 NAKA Guntersville event:
Angler – Inches

  1. Jason Lack – 57.25
  2.  Brandon Watson – 51
  3.  David Meeks – 50
  4. Greg Massa – 47.25
  5.  Jeff Murray – 47.25
  6. Justin Geirhart – 45.75
  7. John Taylor – 45.5
  8. Chris Odem – 45.25
  9. Randy Butler – 45.25
  10. Bubba Jones- 44.75

Full results can be found here.

Of note, big congrats to NAKA members Lisa and Will Green yesterday.  Will was on the water fishing this tournament when he got the call from his wife that she was going into labor.  They have since had a healthy baby girl.

NAKA is hosting an online “biggest bass” tournament throughout the month of April.   Their next day tournament is at Smith Lake on May 20th.   NAKA is also hosting a demo day and tackle swap on April 1 at Jackson County Park in Scottsboro, Alabama.

The Top 10 NAKA  anglers in the NAKA Angler of the Year race will qualify for the Alabama Classic later this year in Wetumpka.

For a list of other kayak fishing events in Alabama, check out our Alabama kayak fishing events listing page.

Events, News, Results, Tournament

Weekend Results: Shoals and Coosa Riverkeeper Events March 11th

Results from yesterday’s kayak fishing events are streaming in.  The Coosa Canoe & Kayak Fishing Tournament (CCKFT) and Shoals Kayak Anglers (SKA) each held their own tournaments on March 11, 2017.  It was the first event of the season for both clubs.

Chris Bracken‎ with a nice one
Chris Bracken‎ with a nice one from yesterday. Photo credit: Chris Bracken

Shoals Kayak Anglers Pickwick Results

The SKA club had 12 anglers brave the weather out on Pickwick Lake.  5 fish stringer totals were:

1st place – Chad Terry with 76.5 inches
2nd place – Blake Hamm with 74.25 inches
3rd place – John Meares with 64.25 inches  (17.5 inch Big Fish)
4th place – Andrew Edwards with 42.75 inches
5th place – Ricky Hines with 41.25 inches
6th place – Chris Bracken with 16.5 inches
7th place – Robert Brown with 14 inches
8th place – Silas McGee with 11 inches.

The next SKA event is on April 8th on Wilson Lake.

CCKFT Lay Lake Captain's Meeting
CCKFT Lay Lake Captain’s Meeting. Photo credit: Josh Tidwell/@kreekn

CCKFT Lay Lake Results

(These are unofficial results.)

CCKFT saw 42 anglers attend their first event on Lay Lake.

Lance Coley took home the win with a 53-inch three-fish stringer edging out 2016 CCKFT Big Will’s Outfitters Angler of the Year Jared Atwell by a quarter of an inch.    The top anglers were:

1st place – Lance Coley with 53 inches
2nd place – Jared Atwell with 52.75 inches
3rd place – Barry Walker with 50 inches  (19.5 inch Big Fish)
4th place – Woody Woodruff with 49.75 inches
5th place – Hays Latimer with 49.5 inches
6th place – Brandon Watson with 49.25 inches
7th place – Jack Freeman with 48 inches (19.5 inch Big Fish)

The prizes were:

1st Overall: $500
2nd Overall: $300
3rd Overall: $150
4th Overall: $50

Best Bass: $250 Power Pole gift card + SaltLife Optics sunglasses

Best Young Angler (U-18): Duckett Fishing rod
Best Lady Angler: Bending Branches Angler Classic paddle
Best Fly Fisherman: Blue Water Rod Co. rod

The next CCKFT event is April 8th on Logan Martin.  Details can be found here.

The next major kayak fishing event in Alabama is the NAKA Open to be held on March 25th on Lake Guntersville.