I do not know when the first kayak fishing tournament occured. I do know, however, over the past several years, fishing out of a kayak has grown in popularity, largely due to the ease and low cost associated with it. Kayak fishing groups in just about every state have been formed, holding tournaments for anyone that may be interested.
There is a high level of camaraderie among these anglers, on and off the water. The willingness to help out newcomers is the foundation of a lot of these groups. If you’re interested in kayak fishing, but don’t know where to start, run a Google search around your state and kayak fishing. I’d be willing to bet you’ll find a few kayak fishing groups in your region. There are kayak fishing tournaments out there for every angler level.
Catch, Picture, Release
Kayaks do not come equipped with livewells. The standard method for kayak fishing tournaments, especially for bass, is known by Catch, Picture, Release, or CPR for short. These CPR tournaments are scored through the combined length of the fish rather than weight. Using a standardized measuring board and a tournament identifier card, make sure a clear image has been taken affirming it’s in accordance with the rules before releasing the fish.
CPR tournament management system
There are a few tournament management systems, but in kayak bass tournaments the standard is TourneyX. TourneyX offers a live leaderboard option so anglers can CPR their fish, then immediately submit photos and measurements using the TourneyX app or website to update the leaderboard. Although each submission will immediately adjust the leaderboard, every picture submission will need to be verified by a tournament official or judge before it’s accepted. The judge will have access to your GPS location through the EXIF data embedded in the image file, including timestamps to verify the picture was taken on tournament waters, and inside eligible fishing hours for the tournament.
If the EXIF data is acceptable, then the judge will either: Verify that the submission is acceptable based on the submission standards; place a penalty deduction for any deviance from the submission standards; or deny the catch completely, if necessary. After the judge verifies the submission and any deductions are applied, then the score for the submission is finalized, and the best fish for that event are totaled together for the leaderboard.
Rules for different tournament series and groups may vary some, make sure to read and understand the rules before entering the event.
Captain’s meeting
Most of the national tournament series will hold a captain’s meeting the night before the tournament starts. This meeting is held to review the rules, boundaries, times for the event, hand out the tournament identifier cards, other event specific information and for tournament officials to answer any of the anglers’ questions. Local clubs often host their meetings the morning of the tournament or even sometimes just have an online captain’s meeting for the anglers to view, and then release the identifier cards through TourneyX for the anglers to print out themselves.
The day of
Most kayak fishing tournaments allow anglers to launch from “public access” areas, including public boat ramps, private marinas (that allow anyone to pay and launch) or the side of a public road where local laws allow parking and access the water. There is usually a launch time set in place, and a lines-in time. Anglers can leave the shore at the pre-set launch time and navigate towards their starting locations. At lines-in, fishing and submitting fish can begin. Again, competitors will upload photo submissions to TourneyX, and once the judge verifies the catch, the angler will usually receive a notification through email or the TourneyX app.
It’s great to pay attention to these because if there are any deductions or denied fish, having a couple back-up photo submissions is important, just in case.
The tournament will likely have a lines-out time, a submission deadline, which may or may not be the same as lines-out, and a check-in deadline. Once the lines-out time has passed, the tournament is over and no more fish may be caught or submitted. Competitors will have until the submission deadline to get them submitted. Depending on local cell service, some may need to get off the water early, and get to a location with adequate cell service to submit remaining catches before the deadline.
Final thoughts
Since I got into kayak tournament fishing, it has changed my life. I’ve made friends locally and across the country. It’s not always about competition, though we all like to win. If you’re coming from a boat and looking for a less expensive way to get on the water and compete, or you’re a beginner looking to access more water, I encourage you to look into some kayak bass events in your area.