The North Alabama Kayak Anglers have started a kayak fishing trail for youth. The trail is built to allow anglers 16 years of age and younger to fish in a competitive environment. The youth anglers will work towards winning cash and fishing gear throughout the year.
YakAttack, NRS, Duckett Fishing, and 412 Bait Company are just a few of the companies sponsoring this year’s trail.
The first event of the youth trail starts on April 7th at Forrest Ingram Lake. Click the links below to learn more about the events.
The North Alabama Kayak Anglers are holding their annual winter Tackle Swap at noon this Saturday, February 10th, 2018, at the Priceville High School gymnasium.
The event will have dozens of anglers selling new and used gear. There will also be representation from local clubs and organizations such as the Tennessee Valley Fly Fishers and Floating Features Kayak Fishing School.
This is great time to pick up new accessories for your kayak, trailer, and garage.
Event details and a preview of some items for sale can be found here:
The North Alabama Kayak Anglers are hosting their “River Stop” fishing tournament this weekend. Anglers can fish any small flowing body of water in North Alabama. Creek and small rivers are the targeted eligible body of water for this event. For a boundary map and rules for this event, check out the NAKA Facebook Event page for this event. Oh, it is also a qualifier event for the River Bassin’ Tournament Trail.
North Alabama’s new Heroes on the Water chapter is already positively impacting the lives of service veterans and others. The upstart club is hosting another event on August 5th at the Town Creek Fishing Center near the Guntersville State Park. The last event saw near 40 people and dozens of kayaks from 8 or 9 different manufacturers. This is a great time to relax and try out other people’s boats while supporting a good cause. Details about the event can be found on the HOW NA Facebook page.
Courtesy: Bayou La Batre Kayak Classic
The annual Bayou La Batre Kayak Classic is on August 5. This is a big laid back family-friendly event and all around good time. Check out their website for pictures of past events and details about what is going on this year.
Here’s an outlook of other events happening with Alabama kayak fishing clubs in the coming weeks.
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
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.
This raw drone footage shot from a flight by Jameson Redding gives you a look at what it was like when the North Alabama Kayak Anglers launched at their first event of the year in 2015 at Mud Creek BBQ.
The NAKA season starts in a little over a week from now on March 25th on Lake Guntersville. Who’s ready?
I remember making the drive from South Huntsville to Hollywood and passing dozens of kayak anglers loaded up, stopped at gas stations, and pulling off onto US Highway 72. As a tournament director, it was an exciting sight knowing that anglers were coming from so many different areas of Alabama to fish and that the event would be well attended. That day, we had 60 anglers at our event making it the largest kayak bass fishing tournament in Alabama to date. NAKA would break that record in 2016 with 89 anglers at their Open event.
One month from today, the North Alabama Kayak Anglers (NAKA) will hold their kickoff event for their 2017 season, the NAKA Open. This season, they are partnering with the Kayak Bass Series and River Bassin’ Tournament Trail and many of the sponsors from the previous years are returning again for 2017.
For the last two years, the largest kayak bass fishing tournaments in Alabama have been the NAKA Opens which are held at the beginning of the tournament season. The first year the event was held in 2015, it had 60 anglers and was the largest kayak bass fishing event held in Alabama at the time. The next year, NAKA saw 89 anglers enter their Open tournament making it the largest kayak fishing event in Alabama to date.
NAKA events are approachable and affordable. With $30 and $35 entry fees and a family friendly atmosphere, NAKA Opens are a great way to spend a day or two on Lake Guntersville surrounded by beauty, like-minded anglers, and potentially some very big bass. Some anglers will make a weekend of it by camping near the Captain’s Meeting location at Goosepond Colony in Scottsboro, Alabama.
The NAKA Open will once again be held on one of the most popular kayak tournament destinations on the planet, Lake Guntersville. For the Open, the eligible water will be all of Lake Guntersville except water above Crow Creek. Already a massive lake, there will be almost two dozen public ramps from which anglers will be able to launch their kayaks and crafts from the Guntersville Dam up to Crow Creek.
We predict there will be six fish caught over 20-inches with a 23″ big fish winning the big fish pot. Our fingers are crossed for some production this year.
I am often asked “where should I fish out of my kayak on Lake Guntersville”. I suspect a lot of folks think I am being crude when I say “anywhere there is a public ramp”. Really, I know of a 20-inch bass being caught within a short paddling distance of most all public ramps on Lake Guntersville. No matter the water conditions, no matter the time of year, every ramp can put out a monster fish. With the Captain’s Meeting being at Goosepond Colony, ramps along the west side of the Lake will likely see most of the tournament anglers.
We project 72 anglers will fish this year’s NAKA Open. We forecast almost $2000 in cash and prizes will be given out at the event with first place getting near $600 and big fish getting $350. Note, these are only projections and the number may vary greatly.
Lake G Getting Better?
Is bass fishing on Lake Guntersville getting better or worse? Speculation over the last couple of years suggest that the lake is not fishing as well as it used to. However, this year the crappie bite has been one of the best it has in a while and anglers are hoping Guntersville will be back to producing near 30-pound bags of fish in bass boat tournaments. That said, thus far, 20-pounds per day of fish seem to put most anglers on the podium so far in 2017 so it remains to be seen if the lake is going to better for bass fishing than in years past. Bassmaster no longer ranks Guntersville as a top bass fishing lake. Regardless, we are going to go out on a limb and say it will take 58-inches of fish to win the Open event this year. We predict there will be six fish caught over 20-inches with a 23″ big fish winning the big fish pot. Our fingers are crossed for some production this year.
Kayak Bass Series Qualification
The NAKA Open will be a qualifier for the KBS Classic to be held in September 2017 on Lake Guntersville. The top five finishers in the NAKA Open will be allowed to enter the exclusive KBS Classic where $2,000 – $4,000 are typically awarded to the winner.
2017 looks to be another banner year for NAKA. They will be hosting their first event on Smith Lake, a deep and clear lake known to host massive spotted bass. Anglers knowing how to locate fish deep down on Smith Lake will have an advantage. Those wanting to do well in this event will find a fish finder extremely helpful on this lake. This event should appeal to lake fishermen and anglers located near Central Alabama. The exact radius of this event has yet to be released. We expect some Coosa River Kayak Angler and Iron City Kayak Angler members to attend and forecast 47 anglers at this event.
NAKA is hosting a river stop this year. Details for this event will be published at a later date. The exact boundaries will be announced later, but with the weigh-in to be held in Madison, Alabama, expect most all moving water in North Alabama to be in play. The question will be how far south with NAKA allow anglers to fish? We’re hoping that all moving water is open to give anglers more options.
River Bassin’ Qualifier
The NAKA River Stop will also be a River Bassin’ Tournament Trail (RBT) qualifier. Details about that relationship will be announced later in the year.
With the draw of being an RBT qualifier, we project 45 anglers will participate in the event.
Tournament Anglers on Lake Guntersville
The NAKA Classic – September 22, 2017 – Facebook page
The best of the best qualify for this event. You will have to fish multiple NAKA events to earn enough points to earn a spot in this event.
The location of the Classic will be a toss up between all of the previous locations that NAKA has held a tournament. So, the event could be in the Shoals, Scottsboro, Cullman, or Decatur areas. Random draw will be conducted later in the year to determine the location.
NAKA is one of the largest kayak bass fishing clubs in the country. They will be hosting less competitive events throughout the year to include demo days, evening fishing events, and tackle swaps in the North Alabama area.
Greg Mass, 2016 NAKA AOTY
Angler of the Year
Last year’s NAKA AOTY got some sweet prizes: a NuCanoe Pursuit, a Power-Pole Micro, a Bending Branches paddle, YakAttack swag, and $200 in gift card to Academy Sports and Outdoors. While a new kayak hasn’t officially been announced a prize this season, we expect similar awards for the 2017 NAKA AOTY. It will be well worth anglers’ time to make a run for the AOTY title.
At least one NAKA online big bass event will factor into the AOTY formula this year so we suspect the AOTY will be announced after the Classic, unlike last year when it was announced prior to the Classic.
Have questions or want to learn more? Contact the North Alabama Kayak Anglers on their Facebook page.
The beautiful Coosa River
Alabama Classic – October 21, Wetumpka, AL – Facebook page
The top 10 in the NAKA standings will qualify for the Alabama Classic along with the top 10 anglers from the other participating clubs in Alabama. We project 55 anglers will attend the event on the Coosa River with near $2000 in prizes to be awarded to the field.
The will be an “Open Division” at the Alabama Classic meaning that anyone is free to compete. The winner of the event from the “Championship Division” will walk away with the title of “Alabama State Champion” and some swag. Check out the Alabama Classic page and fish on the other participating clubs’ trails to work to earn your spot.
Check each club’s Facebook pages and websites for rules, event updates, and results. Here we try to offer a comprehensive look at kayak fishing events in Alabama during 2017. Note that some events may be hosted by clubs from outside our state.
Feel free to contact us to add your events and details.
Always check the host organization’s websites for last minute event details and weather updates.
