# Jacksonville Kayak Fishing Tournament



## LoneRanger

this event is HUGE up here. loads of people participate, and they give away some AWESOME STUFF.







L.R.


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## tom_in_orl

I am sure you up for some prefishing in the Gheenoes ;D and I am sure you will be there for the party since you can get in on the raffle without actually competing. ;D ;D 

So the question is do you want to fish the actual tournament too?


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## Funhog

Tom,

Let me know when you plan to pre-fish and I will try to meet you out on the water. Obviously the tides will play a major factor for the tourny.

Scott


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## tom_in_orl

I would like to pre-fish in my Gheenoe this Sunday. It most likely me and rcmay in my boat. Anyone up for a Jacksonville trip or live in the area and might want to show me around?

Anyone else fishing the tournament?


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## LoneRanger

Tom, I am entertaining 4 guests this weekend in Jax, sorry!
do you have to stay around the launch area? 



L.R. :


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## tom_in_orl

I have not figured out where I am going to stay yet! I canceled prefishing this weekend. I am going to the Bananna River NMZ to warm up the kayak with rcmay.


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## tom_in_orl

I am suppose to fish around Amelia Island on Saturday. Hopefully this thing goes away.
[smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif] [smiley=frustrated.gif]


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## JRH

> I am suppose to fish around Amelia Island on Saturday. Hopefully this thing goes away.



I hear yah. I just hope it goes somewhere. It's been frickin sitting out there for a week. If it's gonna come ashore, come on and get it over with.

Between the smoke and the clouds and the fires and the wind and the rain, it's been Armageddon here in Daytona for the past 4 days.


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## Dustin

Hey Tom, Just got a little break from fighting the fires, probably being re-deployed sometime in the next few days. But give me a holler, I used to work at Talbot Islands State Park which covers that entire area and I can give you some intell on the fish. 


Dust


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## tom_in_orl

Dustin, man am I sorry I missed your post. On the way home I was so proud of myself for for going fishing and making it 24 hours not checking the forum. I will definitely be talking to you about that place for next years tournament.

So here is he post tournament report.

For me kayaks and canoes are what ultimately lead me to owning a microskiff. There came a point where I wanted to explore, fish and camp in the same places that I could reach paddling but I wanted to get there quicker and in comfort. I still have my kayak and when there is a reason to pull it out I still do. The Jacksonville Kayak Classic is the best kayak event in the state and there was no way I was going to miss it.

If you fish out of a kayak then you need to jump on their forum and and attend the tournament. These are a great bunch of folks and they have a blast fishing together. There had to be 300+ people at the captains meeting and the after party. I knew no one at this event other than by a few posts on the forum. When you sit down at a table you immediately make 5 new friends and have a blast talking about fishing and kayaks. I bought 25 raffle tickets and walked away with a sweet kayak pfd and a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses (Gave them to the wife for mothers day ;D ) They also gave away at least 10 kayaks. Maybe 20 but it was so much stuff it was hard to keep up.

Anyways, to the fishing. I went to the north side of Jacksonville and checked out an area called Simpsons Creek. Which is behind Little Talbot Island. There is a great state park there that has camping and a great boat launch! While I did not use the launch I made a mental not and plan on taking the Gheenoe back there soon. (If you do camp there site 34 - 38. 35 looked the nicest.) Just up the street is a place called Kayak Amelia. They have a kayak launch for $1 ;D. I met IslandSpeed2000 from the kaxkayakfishing.com forum there at dawn and we headed north to towards the sound.

The tide was super high when we launched. We did some kayak trolling and I quickly picked up a trout. It was caught on on a 1/4 jig with a watermelon gulp. IS2000 got a nice flounder in one of the side creeks. After that we worked the deep areas looking for breeder fish in hopes of winning 1st place in the red division. While slow trolling I picked up a barely legal red with a gulp jerkworm on a 5/0 Keeper Concept hook blind casting towards oyster bars. Once I had the small slam going I worked hard to try and pick up a flounder but it just did not happen. There was only 12 or 13 slams recored out of a couple hundred fisherman.  Everyone was saying that the weather for the past few days had hurt the fishing. Still with the tough conditions 1st place in the Red Division was 37 1/2". The aggregate for the slam was around 62". That guy had a 32" red, over 20" trout, and a 12 - 15" flounder. Winner of each division whet home with a fully rigged top of the line kayak. 

Kayak tournaments are a blast. I like the low impact fishing, the catch photo and release format and that it benefits a good cause. Its very cool to see guys catch big fish get recognized in this format. As always all of the proceeds went to charity. jaxkayakfishing.com partners with Daniel, www.danielkids.org which is a great local charity. 

Next year I think I am entering the fly division ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


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## JRH

Nice report, Tom. Looks like it was a fun tourney.  


Let me know if you're gonna head back up to Jacksonville and fish in your Gheenoe. I've always wanted to fish that area, and it's not too far away from me in Daytona.


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## tito

Looks like you had a great time, I am thinking of getting a kayak myself, any suggestions Tom, solo or tandem sit on top or sit in, anyone selling a good used one.


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## tom_in_orl

I saw a bunch of new models that I had not seen before.

http://www.hurricaneaquasports.com/phoenix160.html The guy I was fishing with had a 13' model. I like the extra length of the 16' boat

http://www.nucanoe.com/?p=6 This one is a super wide model that you could stand in. Also ready for a trolling motor. Looks like a great fishing rig if you are not worried about paddling speed.

Here are some others worth looking at:

http://www.wildernesssystems.com/product.asp?productid=25 This is one of my favorites. I have been searching for a used one of these boats for about a year. Again you could go with a shorter length. 

http://www.oceankayak.com/kayaks/single_kayaks/prowler_15.html Another good boat

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/models_adventure.html This is a top of the line kayak. Hobie has a pedal system to propel the kayak. Those who buy them swear they are the greatest fishing kayak ever.....


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## tom_in_orl

I gave a copy of my photo to the forum admin over at jaxkayakfishing.com and it turned up elsewhere. Cool Stuff!

http://canoekayak.com/features/paddling-news/jacksonvillekayakfishing2007/


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