Stars and Stripes Kayak Series

Team Ocean Kayak got a little payback at the Stars and Stripes tournament in Rockport held on September 15. After placing 3rd in a recent tournament in the area, we were eager to redeem ourselves. Five of the top local kayak fishing guides participated in this tournament, which made for a satisfying win. Our game plan was for Filip to make a long three mile paddle to a back marsh lake and locate a big redfish while Vincent stayed near the launch and fished a deeper channel for trout and flounder. Filip located several nice redfish and strung a keeper redfish and keeper trout within the first two hours of the tournament. After two hours of dodging offshore boat wakes and catching few fish, Vincent picked up and made his way back into the marsh into a stiff 15 mph headwind. Along the way, Vincent hooked up with a large redfish only to have two of the hook barbs straighten and loose the fish. Heartbroken and disappointed, Vincent continued his paddle to a spot that had yielded some very large redfish while fishing for the Texas Redfish Series only two weeks prior. Vincent passed many kayakers along the way, some were tournament anglers and some recreational anglers, it appeared most of them were heading in the direction of Vincent's favorite spot in the area. The race was on, and soon Vincent found himself ahead of the group and at his spot. This area is a shallow mangrove lake, fed by a deep channel to open water, that is filled with mud, sand and shell. The main structure in this lake is a long oyster reef that cuts the lake in half and is bordered by the deeper channel. On one side of the reef is a small grass island and several drains and bayous that connect to other marsh lakes. As the tide drops and it becomes difficult for the fish to travel over the top of the reef, the fish stack up along the grassy shoreline. With the winds nearing 15 mph, Vincent decided to jump from the kayak and wade rather than anchor or drift fish. Behind the small grass island and two cast later Vincent connects with a nice 28" redfish, this was our tournament fish. With two quality redfish and a nice trout, Filip and Vincent made their way out of the marsh to search for a flounder. We setup under a local bridge in an area known to hold flounder. Filip caught a barely legal flounder which was released and Vincent lost a nicer fish near the net. At the weigh in Team Ocean Kayak's largest redfish weighed 9lbs 4oz and the trout weighed 1lb 8oz. The 10lb 12oz led all anglers for 1st place in the Slam Division. It was a great day on the water and Team Ocean Kayak caught the two largest redfish for the tournament.

Captain Filip Spencer and Vincent Rinando Placed 1st in the team event with a 10 3/4lbs.