Win a NRS Tailwater Tackle Bag!
We’re giving everyone an opportunity to win a Tailwater Tackle Bag from KATS Sponsor NRS just by posting a photo of your favorite kayak fishing lure on our Facebook Page! You’ll have until 6/13/13 to post your picture…we’ll be selecting a winner at random from everyone who submits a picture of a fish they’ve caught from a kayak from now until that date.
These are very cool tackle bags and all it takes to enter is posting a picture to our facebook wall so you got nothing to lose!
Hope to see your pictures!
Lake Travis Brings Tough Fishing
Hawg Troughs UP!
With just one limit caught, the fishing at Lake Travis’ Pace Bend was much like it was during 2012 series stop: tough. Forty-six competitors embarked from the drought-extended banks of the park at 7:00 AM and returned by 3:00 PM with, on average, 2 or 3 qualifying fish. Despite the tough fishing, spirits remained high throughout the day and there was plenty of prizes from our generous KATS sponsors to help keep them that way after getting off the water.
Even on a tough day of fishing like this, with 46 anglers on the water, someone is going to reel in some fish. It just so happened that, for the second year in a row, that someone was Brandon Campbell who caught the only full stringer to take first place pro with 79.25 inches. Also among the winner’s circle was Cody Fisseler who won the Rookie Division with five fish totalling 68.5 inches. No qualifying fish were caught in semi-pro. In the Pro Division, payouts were as follows:
Our Travis Champions!
- Brandon Campbell – 79.25” Payout: $693
- Tony Mack – 64.75” Payout: $378
- Robert Townsend -64.5” Payout: $189
Tony Mack also won biggest bass with a 22 incher for a cool $400 prize.
Just call him Commander Herzog.
As always, a big thank you goes out to all of our event sponsors for the Lake Travis tournament stop brought to us by platinum sponsors Wilderness Systems and Promar Fishing Products. At Travis, Ryan Herzog was our very lucky winner of a brand new Wilderness Systems Commander 120! KATS is made possible by all of our sponsors, who can be found here, and in particular our patron sponsors which includes Bending Branches, Malone, Yak Gear, Kelty, and Diablo Paddlesports.
The next and final regular season stop at Canyon Lake is coming up quick on Saturday, May 18th, brought to you by Native Watercraft and Danuu – and there still is plenty of competition for those trying to qualify for the KATS Classic! If you’re trying to compete for Angler of the Year you need register in the Pro Division to qualify; any questions about sign ups or dates, visit the tournament website – FISHKATS.COM of course!
Oh ya, and did we mention you’ll have a chance to win a new Native Watercraft Slayer 12? Yup, sure will! Here’s to the last event of the regular season, good luck at Canyon everyone!
Joseph Dowdy
KATS Team
Mike Garcia Talks KATS on AM 1300 The Zone
Following the fourth stop of our Kayak Angler Tournament Series at Lake Travis, competitor and Ocean Kayak pro-staff Mike Garcia, AKA Chico, hopped on the radio and talked about the event. We wanted to give you an opportunity to hear what he said here.
Fishing the Fog of Lake Fayette
From All-star KATS Intern Johanna Kraus-Darden:
The 60 Anglers of Fayette proudly raising up their Hawg Troughs
The looming mist of Lake Fayette had KATS anglers questioning spring storms and unpredictable temperatures… Luckily you don’t need to see through fog to catch Bass below your kayak! Paddling out at 7:00 am in 40 degrees and rain, then fishing for 8 hours on end requires devotion to the spirit of KATS. But for these guys it’s no problem, all a part of the sport for these talented anglers. Fortunately for everyone, the day progressed from a muggy morning to an awesomely warm afternoon, with 60 fishermen and fish tales caught on camera.
Tournament Director Kristian Kolflat with Divisional Winners
Our top finalists took home over $1000 in winnings: in the Pro Division, Matthew Moccia with 99.5 total inches and $682, Semi Pro Beau Reed hooked 90.25 inches for $165 and Rookie, Cody Fisseler with 88.25 inches. In the Pro Division the payouts were as follows:
- Matthew Moccia – 99.5” Payout: $682
- Troy Lawson, 92.25” Payout: $409
- Michael Bayer, 96.75” Payout: $204
- Brandon Campbell, 96” Payout: $68.25
Big Bass was a tie with three anglers reeling in a 22″ bass. Aaron Spry ended up taking the $470 pot with his second biggest tie-breaking bass of 20.5″!
Photo by Autumn Villanueva
The KATS tournament wouldn’t be possible without our big time Platinum sponsors at Lake Fayette Kistler Rods and Texas Kayak Guide. Biggest gratitude is deserved to Patron Series Sponsors Malone Auto Racks, Bending Branches, Yak Gear and Kelty. Also, a particularly shout out to the guys from Patron sponsor Diablo Paddlesports, grilling hotdogs and showing off their innovative kayak speakers and kayaks at Lake Fayette is exactly what we needed. Check out the website for our other sponsors to see who else will be hooking us up with DOOR PRIZES at next month’s event!
Photo by Autumn Villanueva
Lake Travis’ Pace Bend is our planned location for the April 27 KATS tournament. The Commander 120 Kayak will be going home with someone at the event, so be sure to buy some raffle tickets! Also, T-shirts are in! So if you pre-ordered one and didn’t pick it up at Lake Fayette, we will have them next month. If you didn’t pre-order we MAY have some leftover for you straggling anglers. For a full list of results, winnings and sponsors check our site at FISHKATS.COM and see you at Lake Travis!
Droppin’ Big Bass Numbers at Lake Bastrop
Winners from Pro, Semi & Rookie Divisions
Spring time is here to stay! Lucky for us, at KATS the tourney continues to grow with 73 kayakers at Lake Bastrop on Saturday, February 23rd. With this record turnout, anglers lured in over $2,000 in winnings for their catch-and-release bass fishing. These anglers know how to hook them, with our top finalists Robert Supak (Pro) hauling in 93.75 inches and biggest bass at 22.5″, Steve Jones (Semi Pro) snagging a 73″ stringer and Bradley Faust (Rookie) with a whopping 82.5″. In the Pro Division, payouts were as follows:
- Robert Supak – 93.75” Payout: $740
- Steve Garcia – 92.75” Payout: $411
- Chris Coufal -92.5” Payout: $230
- Bobby Lebeuf – 89.75” Payout: $164
- Aaron Spy – 89.75” Payout: $98
And for the second event of the year our first place Pro also took big bass with a 22.5 inch-er and a $580 check!
Anglers heading out at kickoff.
Big thanks goes out to all our sponsors for the Lake Bastrop tournament brought to us by event sponsors Feel Free and PH Kellner Custom Rods. KATS is made possible by all of our sponsors, who can be found here, and in particular our patron sponsors which includes Bending Branches, Malone, Yak Gear, Kelty, and Diablo Paddlesports. We also wanted to give a shout-out to gold sponsor Pico Lures for our custom made KATS fishing lures! The prize table was hooked up once again with fishing rods, paddles, skirts, coolers, swag and the Feel Free Moken Kayak.
Next month’s KATS location is at Lake Fayette on Saturday, March 23rd, brought to you by Kistler Rods and the Texas Kayak Guide – be there bass fishers or let the other men steal your bragging rights and prize money! If you’re trying to compete for Angler of the Year you need register in the Pro Division to qualify; any questions about sign ups or dates, visit the tournament website – FISHKATS.COM of course!
Let’s do it big bass style at Fayette!
Johanna Kraus-Darden
KATS Team
