For the first event of the year we made the three hour drive to Indian Lake and arrived over an hour early. We sat at the bait-shop anxiously awaiting other competitors arrival. It was our first real tournament so we were pretty excited/nervous. As the competitors began to arrive we had no idea what to do or say. We were new to kayak fishing so we decided to stay off on our own. Occasionally someone would come over and introduce themselves but no one stuck around and talked for very long. Soon enough the wait was over and we had a brief meeting. After the meeting we rushed out of the parking lot and started heading toward our fishing spot. We fished areas we felt would hold fish, and we ended up getting a limit of three fish fairly quick. We had no preconceived notions that we would do well. All we knew was that we had our limit of fish at our first kayak tournament. We made our way back to the measure in and awaited the results. While the results were tallied we stayed to ourselves once again. After a ten minute wait the results were in, I had tied for fourth and Amanda had took 3rd place. Now here's where our original plan fell to pieces, Amanda and I had won money. I came no where near breaking even on the trip....3 hours and 125 miles isn't cheap, but Amanda on the other hand pocketed 70 or 80 dollars. She saw it as a way to make a little money, and I knew I couldn't end with her beating me.
We ended up skipping the Three Lake Throwdown since it was a 5+ hour drive and the weather was predicted to be awful. A month or so later, we made our way up to Kiser Lake. It was now my shot at redemption. I wasn't aiming to beat the others, I just needed to settle a score with Amanda. We arrived early once again, so we sat around and waited for everyone to arrive. We were a little more comfortable this time around. I had spoke to Neil a few times through emails so I talked with him a little. Larry had brought his dog along for the trip, which Amanda found to be quite entertaining. She ended up playing with his dog and I got to talk to him while we waited for everyone to arrive. We had our brief meeting, and then Amanda and I hit the water once again. I quickly got a limit of three fish, but Amanda had a hard time landing hers. The measure in came soon enough and we awaited the results. Once the results were announced it wasn't long until I heard my name....."In tenth place, Sean Stone". I didn't do as well as I had expected, but I did manage to settle my score with Amanda so I was happy. A week later Neil invited us to come up and fish with him. With nothing better to do, we made our way up to Kiser Lake. We ended up catching a ton of fish, and having a pretty good time. Kiser was starting to become one of my favorite lakes to fish.
The next event was an online event, and it was the one I was waiting for. I knew we had some good water to fish, and no one knew it better than I did. It was a three day event and I had every intention of fishing all three days in order to place well. Day one was rough for me, I did manage three fish but I didn't have one over 16". I knew that I was capable of much better than that so I was pretty upset with my results. Day two on the other hand was probably one of the best days of bass fishing I have ever had. I managed 4 fish over 18" with the largest being a personal best 21.5".
I finished the day by picking up a 19.75" bass and a 19" bass.....like I said before, probably one of my best days of bass fishing ever. I ended up taking first in the tourney, and Amanda took 12th. At this point I had tied for fourth, placed 10th, and took a 1rst place in the tournament trail. This had put me in the running for angler of the year, something that I had never expected to happen. From that point onward I made up my mind that I was going to attend every event in order to stay in contention for Angler of the Year.
The next event was to be the Dayton River event, but due to high water the event was rescheduled. However, due to popular demand we had an unofficial event at Kiser Lake. Even though it was an unofficial event we decided to head up and fish it anyway. Russ had the weekend off of work so he drove up with us and attended his first BKFT event. We had met Russ earlier in the year when we started our KayakWars team in the early spring. We got to Kiser lake, had our brief meeting, and hit the water. I quickly landed 3 solid fish in the 15-16" range. The wind had picked up by 9am and was making it very difficult for the other anglers. I thought that maybe I had a shot of winning it at this point. An hour or so later Neil and Jeff pass by and ask me how I'm doing? I tell them what I have and then they tell me what they have. This was my first run in with Jeff, and to be honest I wasn't too fond of him. He was probably one of the most cocky people I have ever met.... and I'm pretty arrogant at times myself. It didn't help that he had 51" in three fish, which shattered my hopes of first. Measure in time came soon enough and I patiently awaited the results. I had placed 5th, Amanda had placed 12th or something along those lines. Of course Jeff managed to take first. My opinion of Jeff at this point was pretty much unchanged, he was as cocky off the water as he was on the water. (Of course as I fished with him more often, I realized he wasn't quite as bad as he seemed.)
The next event was the Columbus Rumble on the River event. As always we made the 2+ hour trip up to the check in and had our brief captains meeting. We soon departed and hit the water. I struggled during this event, failing to land a single fish in the first 3 hours. However, Amanda was on a roll landing 3 fish over 12" before I had the chance to land my first fish. My luck soon changed and I landed a couple fish in the 14-16" range. As we got within sight of the take out I had Amanda beat by 4" or more. With 30 minutes to go and less than 20 yards to our take out she lands a 17.25" smallmouth that pushed her past me in total inches.We got back to the measure in and awaited the results. As we were waiting for the results we sat down and talked with Joel and Mike about our day of fishing. Results were soon announced and Amanda had placed 4th, I placed 5th. (I know at this point your probably wondering why this blog is choppy, jumping from one subject to another. I promise you there is a point here.)
Sometime between the Columbus River event and the Nettle Lake event, Amanda and I fished with Neil and Aaron on the Great Miami River in Dayton, Ohio. We floated a 7 mile stretch of river in 8 hours. We caught a ton of fish, picked up a stray cat, played with a baby beaver, etc. Needless to say we had a pretty good time. I actually caught my biggest smallmouth of the year during this trip, and Aaron was kind enough to snap a few pictures. Here's my 18.25"er. The next event was held at Nettle Lake. This event was a nearly 6 hour drive from the house so we decided to head up the day before and set up camp. I took work off Friday and met up with Neil in Dayton. From there we decided to fish a few spots along the way up, which turned out to be a bust.
We got to the campground at Nettle Lake and set up our tents. With an hour before dark we decided to paddle around the lake and check things out. When we got back to the campground other anglers had arrived and had began setting up their tents. Everyone sat around and told stories, made fun of others,.....typical camping stuff. In the morning we loaded our gear up and hit the lake. The wind was brutal, forcing most anglers into secluded coves. I got onto 3 fish late in the tourney by downsizing baits and working a wind blown weed line. Amanda disappeared early in the tournament and I later found out that she spent most of the time napping in the tent. At the measure in my fish were good enough for a second place finish. Luke, Travis, Amanda , I decided to stay the night and make the long drive home Sunday morning. We went out to grab a bite to eat after the tourney and then hit the water until dark. It turned out to be a very rewarding trip for me. I ended up landing 4 bass in two hours with the largest being a 21.25" largemouth. Travis even got in on the picture just to show everyone else that the lake he had chose for the tournament did have big bass in it.Travis, Luke, Amanda, and I then grilled some food, shot some pool, shot darts, told a few stories, and called it a night. 
The final event of the year was held in Dayton in conjunction with the Midwest Outdoor Experience. Since Amanda and I had such a good time camping at the Nettle Lake event we decided to camp the Friday night before this event as well. We met up with Russ, Neil, and Chase and then walked around the Midwest Outdoor Experience for a little while. At about 10pm we decided to head back to our vehicles and start setting up our tents. There we met up with Travis, Logan, and Jim. We conversed about our game plans for the morning, shared fishing stories, and I'm pretty sure at one point we even talked about killer swans. We crashed around 1am and woke up ready to fish the tournament in the morning.....well almost all of us did anyway. Amanda and I fished with Travis, Luke, and Russ the whole tourney. Travis and Amanda both caught monster smallies during our trip. Travis caught a 18.75"er, and Amanda topped him with a 19" smallmouth. At the end of the day Amanda took 2nd place, and I took 5th. CONCLUSION
At the end of the tournament trail I had fell short of Angler of the year by 5 points. I took 3rd over all in the trail and Amanda took 6th. We hadn't quite dominated the Yak Ohio categories either. However, if there were prizes for second place we would have had a clean sweep. I took 2nd in the largemouth category with my 21.5" bass from the online tournament, I took 2nd in the saugeye/walleye category with an 18.5" saugeye, and 2nd in the catfish category with a 41" flathead.Amanda had took 2nd in the smallmouth category with her 19" smallmouth during the Dayton River event. All that we didnt take 2nd in was the musky/pike category.
As impressive as all of that sounds there is something even more impressive to be said about our time spent fishing the tournament trail this year. That being, that in this blog I have mentioned fishing with, and or, hanging out with 13 anglers I now consider friends. (In order that they appeared in the blog....not of importance.)
- Neil
- Larry
- Russ
- Jeff
- Joel
- Mike
- Aaron
- Luke
- Travis
- Chase
- Logan
- Jim
- Brian
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