Pre tournament equipment issues.

Saturday morning, 32 teams of two anglers were given a sealed envelope that contained a map with five checkpoints. The goal for each team was to find each of the five checkpoints, receive a colored token, then catch fish with that specific token and return it before heading to the next checkpoint. The teams were also required to catch fish at a minimum of three checkpoints before returning to the launch by the 5:00 p.m. cutoff.

The map given to teams Saturday morning.

Team KFR 2 heading for their first checkpoint.

Alex Gorichky with Team Local Lines Charters

Team Local Lines Charters measuring and taking a photo of a 22" red at the double points checkpoint.

This proved to be extremely challenging, with only half of the teams meeting the tournament requirements. Conditions Saturday were tough, with cold temperatures and high winds adding to the difficulty of just completing the event. The first place team of Mike McDonald and Billy Alstrom scored an impressive 152” of fish, including redfish, trout, and snook, the three required species to win the grand prize from Native Watercraft, Slayer 14.5. In second place were Craig Dye and Tyler Bean with 92”, and just missing third place were Lonny and Kelly Reid with 91.5”.

Below are some stats of the event:

• Checkpoint Red:15 teams fished an average of 1 hour 32 minutes
• Checkpoint Green:16 teams fished an average of 1 hour 21 minutes
• Checkpoint Yellow: 30 teams fished an average of 1 hour 7 minutes
• Checkpoint Blue:18 teams fished an average of 1 hour
• Checkpoint Silver(double):31 teams fished an average of 1 hour 29 minutes

The order in which the top 3 teams hit the checkpoints:

1. Fishing the Flats: Green, Blue, Silver,Yellow, Red
2. Brofers-In-Law: Yellow, Silver, Blue, Green, Red
3. Reel Nauti: Yellow, Silver, Blue, Green

The event was a huge success, and a nice chance from the typical CPR (Catch - Photo – Release) kayak fishing tournaments.

About the author: Alan Ryland has lived in the state of Florida his entire. Currently residing in the City of Melbourne on the East Central Space Coast. Alan's passion, second only to his Wife and Children, is inshore kayak fishing the waters of the Indian and Banana River lagoons as well as Mosquito Lagoon. He also enjoys introducing and educating others on the sport of inshore kayak fishing.

Alan is currently a member of Jackson Kayak's Fishing Team and paddles a Cuda 14 and a Big Tuna. He is also a Pro Staffer for RedZone Apparel and Bending Branches Paddles.