The guys recap their tournament run of two tourneys in 7 days. Complete with their first hand accounts of how they fished them, what lead to their success, and how you can get involved yourself!
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
The Yaks Attack Farmville
The Yaks Attack Farmville
If you couldn’t tell by my super
catchy title, this is a recollection of the 2014 Yakattack Tournament out of
Twin Lakes State Park, Farmville, Virginia as told by Josh Dolin. Eventually I’ll
get Grant to type something up, but for the time being, you’re stuck with me. It’s
probably for the best anyhow considering I haven’t really written anything in a
few years and I could use a little practice. Anyhow, here we go…
After a long week of work and recovering
from the spanking I was dealt at the Shad Shootout the weekend prior I began to
get pumped for the upcoming event in Farmville. Generally I don’t fish many
tournaments and it just so happens that two of the three that I fish fell
within the same week. Luther Cifers, owner/operator of the Yakattack brand, and
his crew, put on a great event. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been looking
forward to it since last year’s tourney. Between the great people, the good
food, and the overall positive fishy atmosphere, it’s definitely somewhere
every kayak angler should be, regardless of experience. Though all that is
great we’ll come back to that later, it’s time to talk fish.
I rigged up Thursday night with
plans of prefishing all day Friday. I really got lucky that we weren’t too
slammed at work, which is rare, thus allowing me to take the day off. I woke up
at around 3 a.m. Friday morning to sort of get up to speed for the day ahead.
Even though I’m still considered to be “young” by most guys reading this, I’m
finding it harder and harder each passing trip to just jump out of bed and hit
the road. To prevent me from snoozing through my alarm and getting on the water
late, this usually leads to me either, driving through the night and sleeping
in the boat ramp parking lot….. or doing what I mentioned prior. With the truck
loaded I hit the road, making it to the lake just before sunrise. I took my
time prepping the yak and at 7 a.m. I hit the water, by 7:15 I stuck my biggest
bass to date!
(She went 23 inches and somewhere
in the 7lb range)
With my adrenaline pumping I wasn’t sure
whether to be happy, or mad that I took a chance at a good fish away from my
tourney hopes. Either way it was my first citation largemouth and I’m still
riding the high of it! Though I started the day with a bang I ended it with a
whimper, nothing but a big goose egg for bass, although I did find the crappie I
was looking for so that kept me in good spirits.
(Destroying some steak)
(Seafood chowder....enough said)
Grant and I discussed over the
awesome steak dinner and seafood chowder, that, the Crappie was going to be the
golden ticket to winning the slam. It usually is with this tournament, but it
seemed to be a more profound objective with the ever deteriorating weather
conditions that seem to plague these kayak tournaments. After stuffing
ourselves to the max we took a walk down to the lake adjacent to the conference
center to see if there was any life in it. Sure enough, there sat two nice
bucketmouths, one about 17 inches long, the other, the female, about 20-22
inches long. This discovery played a profound role in my game planning for the
next day’s fishing. With Grant fishing Sandy all day I knew I wanted to mix it
up a little. I usually stick to one location when fishing these tournaments and
up until that point it hadn’t been very successful. I decided to stay mobile
throughout the day, driving as far from Twin Lakes as I could to start, and
hitting every good spot I could on my way back.
(Grant's 19 inch Largemouth)
(Grant's 16 inch Largemouth)
(The Golden Ticket)
After getting an 8 inch
crappie and two 8 inch sunfish tournament morning, I found myself back at Sandy….
and with Sandy came the wind. I’m not sure what hurricane blew up during my
drive from Powhatan to Sandy, but sure enough, there were white caps on the
lake. I launched anyway in hopes of bumping up my sunfish length total on a
hot bed I found a few days prior, but the wind made that all but impossible. Everything
had pulled of the banks with the waves breaking and the wind was too strong to
try and sit stationary and vertical jig for them. So after about an hour’s
worth of cussing the damn wind I packed it in for the final leg of my fishing
marathon, the conference center bass. I did manage to run into Grant while at
Sandy, we had not spoken since I left that morning. He managed two nice
largemouth totaling 35 1/2 inches; he also had a 7 inch sunfish to go along
with the pair. Grant said he was feeling good about his chances, it was only
about noon and he had the rest of the day to catch a Crappie. This made me
pretty weary. Grant is a great friend and a damn good fisherman…. but he always
seems to be my stiffest competition when it comes to these events. Trying to
keep myself thinking positive, I told myself there’s no possible way that dude
could win two weekends in a row, and with a new found confidence we parted
ways. Him chasing any Crappie that would hit, and me going after the big mama I
had seen the night before. I already had a slam but it was only a measly 26
inches between three fish, in my mind pretty pathetic at the time… in hind
sight I realize I was lucky to have that, many guys came back with two fish or
less all day!
Pulling up to the Twin Lakes ramp at
around 1 p.m., I knew I had a little under three hours to work on these two
fish. I paddled over, scooted up the shoreline within eyesight of the bed, and
locked my yak down next to the bank with my ParkNPole. Constantly studying the
fish as I flipped the bed I noticed that the female was not locked down,
meaning she had not dropped her eggs yet, thus making it much harder to get her
to pick something off of the bed. Although, I did notice that both fish would
swim in wide paths around the bed, just long enough for a few bluegill to
cruise into their clearing, they’d then proceed to fly into the nest a full
speed and swirl on the sunfish causing a pretty wicked wake in the shallow
water. This gave me an idea; I tied on a Smithwick Perfect 10 jerkbait in
blueback herring color, just about the right coloration for the bream that were
pestering the bed. Sure enough after yanking the jerkbait directly over the bed
and pausing it there just long enough, I finally pissed her off enough to
strike. To true Josh Dolin luck, she managed to hit the bait in the back,
leaving all three trebles exposed with no chance to hook her. Time passed and I
simply couldn’t get them to hit anything else, with fear that they had honed in
on my location I repositioned myself on the opposite side of the bed. After throwing
everything and the kitchen sink at them I had a guy from Powerteam Lures bring
me a Diesel Craw in black and blue flake. By this time I had a nice little
audience considering I was the only fool still fishing, of course Grant showed up
at about this time, and of course he had a decent slam. I still had hope, he
had the exact same length between his crappie and sunfish that I did, paired
with a 19 inch largemouth. This meant that if I could somehow manage to land
the 20 incher I’d been staring down for the last two hours, I might just have a
shot at winning.
With
about 15 minutes to go before check in the big girl engulfed the shakey head. I
set the hook with some serious force but she managed to tail walk me, thrashing
her head as hard as she could, spitting the bait right back in my face…. I
bailed out of the yak and after chucking my rod and a few choice words, it was
all over. I checked in with three minutes to spare, initially bummed but my
hopes at placing in a division rose as I began to hear the accounts of horrible
fishing due to the stellar weather we all dealt with.
(The awesome looking trophies)
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(Us holding the awesome looking trophies)
After sulking in the defeat that the hog molly dealt me,
and striking out in the raffles, it was time to announce the winners. Turns out
there were only three “Slams” caught all day, Grant’s, mine, and our new friend
Forrest Short’s. As we had anticipated the weather made it hard to locate and
capture the three species needed to complete the slam. Out of 131 people the
three of us being the only people to manage to do that felt pretty cool. When
it was all said and done Grant managed to win the slam, and I walked away with
2nd place in the Sunfish Division and 3rd place in the
Crappie Division. It was a welcomed surprise considering the trophy was bigger
than the fish I caught to win it! It just turned out to be that kind of day, a
tough one but in the end a good one considering we all made it back in one piece.
(Super awesome cell phone picture quality)
After the ceremonies were over it was time to wrap the tournament
up the only way Yakattack knows how….. with the best damn pig pickin’ you could
ask for! As if we didn’t do enough damage with the steaks the night before, we
packed it in with as much bbq pork as we could without going into a food coma. We
conversed with some of the coolest variety of characters you could imagine, all
leaving a lasting impression on us. We drove away from Farmville as winners,
not because of the trophies, but because of the new found friendships that we
had built.... not to mention the event raised upwards of $10,000 for the Heroes
on the Water organization, and for that, we should all be proud.
Fish Hard or Stay Home,
Fish Hard or Stay Home,
Josh Dolin
Holy Shad!
Holy Shad!
(Rainy day double)
Armed with a few years’ worth of
fish log data, and a healthy dose of optimism, Grant and I set out to have our
best shad season to date in hopes of kicking off the launch of our website and
our brand with a bang… and we did exactly that. Generally our shad fishing is relatively
laid back and fairly low key. It consists of fishing for shad in hopes of
turning that catch into a citation blue cat via fresh cut bait, or leisurely catching
a dozen or two as a way to break us out of the winter doldrums. We raised the
bar for ourselves and set our goals beyond just catching bait, to making this a
year we can highlight in our tattered log books.
We set out in early March to meet
the largest of the upcoming season’s fish. Though everyone assumes the Shad Run
in Virginia starts in the first of April with the Dogwood bloom, it actually
starts much earlier than that. Although March lacks in numbers of fish, it well
makes up for it in size. Spooled up with the lightest line possible, 2lb test,
we hit one of our favorite waterways for shad, the Mattaponi River.
(The
first dozen or so casts into the season yielded me this chunky Hickory Shad,
just 2 ounces off of tying the current IGFA 2lb test line class world record.
She weighted in a 1lb 14oz.)
(Grant hooked up on 2lb test)
(The money pit)
Fishing with 2lb test is one of the
most frustrating experiences I've ever had while on the water. I personally
chased the IGFA line class record for Hickory Shad all season long to no avail.
Throwing more gear in frustration and spending more money on shad spoons and
darts in the course of a few weeks than I ever thought possible… around $150…
yea…. lame. I had to admit temporary defeat; however, the shad run is an ever
shortening window when it comes to these large roe laden females. Therefore I was
forced to give up on breaking the record this season, too much money spent for
less and less payout every trip.
On a trip out to salvage what ended
up being an ill-fated, super late, Yellow Perch run I did manage to break the
current IGFA 12lb line class world record for Hickory Shad. We set out on the
Mattaponi with the intention to try and score a trophy Perch before the season
was up but because the runs of shad and perch were coinciding we took our shad
gear as well. Grant and I both picked off a few decent perch but the gloomy day
had more in store for us. After about 20 minutes of watching Grant pound fish
on the 2lb test, I switched over to the 12lb just for the hell of it. Sure enough
on the first cast with the 12lb, a big female slammed my purple and pink shad
dart. Instantly we knew I had the new record on the end of my line… primarily
because we knew the current record is so low (due to the fact that throwing
12lb mono is equivalent to throwing weed eater cord). The rest of the day
consisted of getting dumped on by cold rain and brutal winds…. Oh yea and
yelling “World Record!” at the top of my lungs until Grant basically stopped
talking to me…. keeping it classy. Just as a disclaimer, the record still has
to be reviewed and verified by the IGFA to be official. That means, at this
time it still “pending”; as long as the scale, my photos, and my line sample
check out it should be good to go!
(She
went 2 pounds even, crushing the current world record by 11 ounces!)
With faze one complete, we set our
sights on the seasons’ only shad tournament for this region, the 2014 MS Shad
Shootout.
(Photo: Kam Goodrich)
Now, before we get too involved with
the outcome of the tournament itself, let me give you the background on this
event. Here’s the skinny, the MS Shad Shootout has been held out of Anncarrows
Landing annually since it started in 2012. The core reason for the tournament
is to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis awareness and in the end help find
a cure for a disease that deteriorates the mind and body. As if that weren't enough
of a reason in itself, it’s also a great time with some awesome people. Thom
Mattauch, the chairman, really knows how to run a smooth and fun tournament!
For more details check out www.msshadshootout.org.
After a lively and laughter filled
captains meeting at Appomattox River Company in Midlothian the night prior to
launch, we headed back home to do some rigging and a little last minute game
planning. The shootout is the best overall length between two shad and one
catfish. Therefore it takes a little bit of planning before you hit the water to
be successful. The next morning we met up at the ramp and launched with high
hopes of bringing home the gold…. little did I know the day was going to belong
to Grant. We hit the spot we deemed best suitable for our tide conditions and
waited for the 8 a.m. “lines in” call. It was kind of funny, I’m usually pretty
tense in these situations, it’s not normal on tournament day to be able to
enjoy the sunrise and get a chance to relax before you start fishing. Anyhow,
the clock struck 8 and the lead began to fly. We rained down the spoons and
darts well beyond mid-day before we ever began catfishing. After netting a 19
inch American Shad and a 15 inch Hickory for Grant, I began to feel the
pressure. The shad were not as concentrated as we had hoped they’d be due to
recent high water conditions, thus leading to a less than pleasing number of
fish. Nonetheless Grant left me in search of a good cat, leading me in shad by
5 inches, and sure enough he found one. By the time I caught up to him an hour
later he had boated a 36” blue cat, giving him a total over 70 inches. It would
take a good stroke of luck for any angler to beat that total for the day. It
was over for me before it even began. With sunny, bluebird skies it was less
than favorable for catfishing. As if that wasn't enough, Grant also managed to
win the fly division by landing the largest fish of the day on the fly, a 21
inch blue cat. Oh yea, I lost out on winning the Striper division and the $115
pot because I didn't pay the ten bucks to enter, story of my life… but ya know,
I’m not bitter or anything.
(My money-less Striper)
(Grant's nice tournament Blue Cat)
(Biggest Blue of the day)
(Grant's 19 inch American)
(The 21 inch Blue Cat that helped Grant win the Fly Division)
All and all it was a great time, I threw
the playbook at them and they just weren't having any of it. Sometimes you just
have to realize when you’re out gunned. Grant brought his “A” game and it
showed.
(Raffles are fun!)
(Photo: Kam Goodrich)
(First Place Overall!)
(Photo: Kam Goodrich)
(Winning the Fly Division Pot)
(Photo: Kam Goodrich)
(Grant with his tournament hardware)
In the end we accomplished what we set out to do, a pending
world record and a tournament win all in one species to kick off the year isn’t
a bad way to start! As we close the book on this years’ shad run it’s time to
transition into our other targeted species. We should all be thankful that the
blasted snow is finally gone and we can enjoy a nice Virginia Spring…. all six
days of it.. before it gets hotter than the devil and we hit summer! Anyone from
the Old Dominion knows exactly what I’m talking about. Spring here isn’t so
much a “season’ as it is a few hours on a random Tuesday in April.
(3lb American, 2lb test)
We have the momentum on our side after a successful start to
the year and we look to keep it rolling through the next few weeks. Grant and I
hope you enjoyed the read and following our successes so far! The next few trips
look very promising, make sure you check in on the website for upcoming
podcasts that will detail what we’re doing moving forward.
Here’s
to a great yesterday and a better tomorrow!
Fish
Hard or Stay Home,
Josh Dolin
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
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