It may look like a poor man's sport. But kayak fishing is about much more than saving money.
It's about enjoying the challenge of fishing primitive style, and sharing the "big fish" stories that come from fishing right at the surface of the water in a vessel that offers little resistance to a fighting largemouth bass or bream.
"Most fishermen get into kayak fishing because it's the least expensive way to get out on the water and fish," said Aviation and Missile Command employee Mitch Delk.
"The easiest and cheapest way to get out on the water is in an unpowered small boat. But we do it for the experience."
"We" refers to Delk and Brett Bonnell, who are known to take leave on a nice spring afternoon from their work at the AMCOM Logistic Center's Field Maintenance Division to get in a few hours of kayak fishing. For Delk and Bonnell, kayak fishing is the type of sport that offers both communal time with nature and fast-paced action with some pretty big fish. They enjoy kayak fishing local waters together, but when they are competing for the "big one" they fish alone.
They will be kayak fishing separately on April 16 when they compete for the longest Black Bass (largemouth, smallmouth or spotted), Crappie and Bream in the Spring 2016 Vlasics Classic Kayak Fishing Tournament hosted by the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the Army Aviation Association of America at Guntersville Lake's Mud Creek area near Scottsboro. The kayak fishing tournament was added to the AAAA Bass Tournament last year at the request of fishermen like Delk and Bonnell. Registration is still open.
During the tournament, Delk will focus on catching bream using his light weight fly rod, although he will also welcome crappie and bass that may be interested in the fly patterns. Bonnell will be targeting big bass with his traditional bass fishing tackle, but will gladly welcome other fish that show interest.
"I like to fish bream because pound for pound they fight better than a bass," Delk said.
Although the competition will end with an awards ceremony and dinner that brings both the bass boat fishermen and the kayak fishermen together, Delk said the two groups will fish very different waters at Guntersville Lake.
"We want to be in the backwater away from the big boats," he said. "They are different sports."
Delk has been kayak fishing since 1996, when he got tired of bank fishing.
"I wanted to get out and fish all that water, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a boat," he said. "This was before kayak fishing was popular. So, the first kayak I purchased was designed for bird watching."
A kayak brings a whole new dimension to the experience. It puts the fisherman within inches of the water, and allows them to get into very close quarters along the banks of a lake and in the backwaters of many slews.
"Kayak fishing gives you access to those hard-to-get-to locations," Bonnell said. "This time of year, fish are starting spawning season. Where they are is all based on the water temperature. Fish spawn in the shallow areas of the lake. Spawning season is shallow fishing season, and that's just right for kayak fishing."
Bonnell grew up fishing from bass boats with his dad.
"It was big boat fishing with a lot of running and gunning," he said.
"But I live in an area with several big ponds that have limited access and no boat ramps. I told my wife it would be nice to get out there and fish those ponds. About three years ago, she gave me a kayak for Christmas and I've been hooked on kayak fishing ever since."
Kayak fishing has a much lower impact on the environment than the loud and quick bass boats, which can stir up the water and scare fish away.
"We are very stealthy," Delk said of kayak fishermen.
"You can pick up your kayak and go anywhere you want to fish," Bonnell said. "You can access remote areas and I think you can catch a lot more fish. It's a more enjoyable time on the water."
With any sport of growing interest, manufacturers are now offering plenty of new options in kayaks and fishing technology to kayak fishermen. A 10-foot to 14-foot long sit-on-top or sit-inside kayak cost from $400 to $3,000. Both Delk and Bonnell choose not to use technology when it comes to actually doing the job of a fisherman.
"Mitch and I don't buy into the depth finding thing," Bonnell said. "You have to consider the water temperature and depth when locating fish. But, we do that depending on our own instincts and knowledge of the lake to catch fish."
"We tap the bottom of the lake with our paddle to find the depth," Delk added.
Or, Bonnell uses his anchor, which has notches in the line every five feet, to measure the depth. If three notches go under the water when he throws it out of his kayak, then he is fishing in 15 feet of water.
In a tournament, bass boat fishermen must catch their fish and then take them to weigh in before releasing them back into the water. In kayak fishing, its length not weight that counts. Kayak fishermen place their fish on a "hawg trough" ruler to show the length from tip of mouth to end of tail. They use cell phones to take a dated photo of the fish laying on the ruler and then release the fish in the same area where it was caught. At the end of the tournament, photos are compared to determine the longest fish caught for the day.
"Kayak fishing is a lot less stressful on the fish," Delk said. "In a bass tournament with boats, fish are often carried in a boats well while running 60 miles an hour up and down the lake to find the right spot for more fishing. By the end of the day, those fish are rode hard and then they are taken out of the water for a good bit of time for weighing."
Generally, kayak fishing is limited to a two-mile radius because paddle power doesn't cover as much territory as a powered boat, Delk said, "however, this makes us fish an area more thoroughly. You either use muscle power to move around and deal with the soreness of that, or you concentrate on a few areas very closely."
But that disadvantage is offset by the fish stories they can tell.
"The challenge on a kayak is that you are fishing from a boat that is 12 feet in length and is not anchored. When you catch a five-pound largemouth bass you are going to go along for the ride," Bonnell said.
"You have to stay composed and balanced in your kayak while you're fighting the fish," Delk added. "Then, you have to get it in hand, hold it to measure it, and take a picture. In the end, you will get a little wet because of all the action, but you've got some stories to tell. These new fishing kayaks are very stable. You won't tip over, but you will get hooked!"
Editor's Note: To register for the TVC-AAAA Spring 2016 Vlasics Classic Kayak Fishing Tournament, contact Brett Bonnell at 777-0404, Mitch Delk at 755-0730 or Riley Jacobs at 929-3917.
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