Kayak Master Tournament #3 Decker Lake Austin

Tournament Location      :   

Kayak Master Tournament #3 Austin, Texas

Angler Participation        :

Robert Harvey

Date                                        :   

June 17, 2006

Conditions                           :   

Temp 81'  Cloudy, Windy.

Tournament Sponsors    :  

Ocean Kayak, American Canoe Association, Gander Mountain, HookNLine, Johnson Outdoors

Tournament Results        :

Friday: Robert Harvey prefished the lake with Lawton Carter, hoping to discover a pattern for Saturday's tournament. Fishing with heavily embedded hooks, Harvey had 5 hits, and boated one fish that was overly aggressive. During a particular High wind period, Robert's back cast connected with his Kistler Helium Rod and broke it. Robert immediately drove from Austin to Magnolia Texas to have the Kistler Service stand up to it reputation. Once Back in Austin, the Captain's meeting was well attended and all seemed prepared for Saturday.

Saturday: What a difference 12 hours makes!!! Robert arrived at the Lake to find windy conditions, along with Rain and some lightning. Once all the competitors were gathered, all reviewed the Radar for the upcoming weather, and a decision to delay the start of the tournament was made. A Powerboat tournament that had started much earlier provided for some comic relief, as they would motor away, only to be chased back by the oncoming torrents. Once on the water, the weather allowed for brief periods of hiding under trees and reeds, but for the most part remained fishable.

Robert's top pattern from Friday, a topwater frog bite, did not hold under the changing conditions as he descovered after a grueling 3/4 mile paddle against wind and rain. Once at his destination, he decided to change tactics. Fishing a Culprit 7 1/2" worm, Texas Rigged up against an inside edge of the Milfoil boated him a quick 14" Largemouth. He stuck with this, missing a few fish due to wind and line stretch, but it was quickly discovered that the larger fish were not holding in these locations. Robert decided to buck the odds and move out into the main lake. He Carolina Rigged a Culprit Flipping Craw, and on his second cast his line grew heavy. A quick hookset, and short fight brought 40 pounds of moss monster to his boat. While cleaning the moss away, it moved and shook, and Robert discovered a 19 1/2" bass buried in there. A few quick photos and the fish was released. Robert continued to fish, missing just one additional hit.

The 2 P.M. weigh in time came to a close, with several kayakers fishing a little too long. Only one was impacted, missing a Slam Award for big stringer. Once all the photos were assessed, Robert had caught, photo'd, and released the largest fish, netting him a trip to the podium, and enough points to be one of a few people who can still be the Champion of Kayakmasters. The current points leader is at 249, meanwhile most of the field is still around the 150-220 range. There are only a handfull of people available to catch the current leader, with a max of only 100 points available during the Galveston Tournament, on July 15th.

The unfortunate (fortunate) thing is that Robert may have to miss the Galveston Tournament due to his supporting the upcoming Shuttle Mission.