Yesterday was the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival Fishing Tournament out of Matlacha, FL. This tournament called for the largest combined length of a snook, redfish, and trout. This is one of the more organized and better run kayak tournaments I've fished in and this year was no exception. The grand prize this year was a new Hobie Mirage Adventure kayak donated by Estero River Outfitters followed by cash payouts to five places, along with many raffle giveaways as well. Although the weather forecast was very poor with lows in the mid 40s and winds exceeding 20 mph, 46 anglers showed up to catch a slam.
With the cold weather upon us, our original plan was to target redfish and trout first, and then when things warmed up go for a snook. Kyle and I arrived at the launch at 7:30am only to find the flat completely dry. With a forecasted low tide at 8:30 we decided against launching there and instead opted to mess around the canals for snook until the tide came in. We concentrated on an area I prefished on friday but the only fish around were ladyfish and tarpon. On the way back to the launch Kyle caught a 19" trout on a jig which is suprising for where we were. By the time we loaded up and drove back to the flat it was 10:15 and the tide was even lower than before.
We launched anyway (well, we walked a few hundred yards until we were able to float). At this point the wind was gusting close to 30 mph and in a shear mishap, one of Kyle's rods fell out of the kayak. We knew where it fell out but it was impossible to find in the turtle grass. With hardly any water or fish, increasing wind, and a lost rod, Kyle headed back to the truck while I duked it out. While drifting (faster than I could paddle), I spotted a big redfish tailing with 2/3 of its body protruding the surface in only 12" of water. I rigged up a gulp shrimp on a weedless hook and after a little coaxing finally got him to eat which was so difficult with the wind. After that I jigged the only pothole I could find with water in it and bagged a small trout and another red. Two species down one to go.
There was now about 2 hours left of fishing and I only needed a snook, size didn't matter at this point. We headed back to where we fished in the morning and luckily found a bunch of snook sunning themselves. The first one I caught was 14" but each one after that kept getting bigger until I settled on a 27" snook. Kyle got in on the action and caught several snook as well. I was pretty content with what I had for a top 5 finish given the conditions so we headed to the "weigh-in" 30 min early. I believe 3rd place had 56", 2nd place had 59", and I took 1st with 73". I've fished quite a few of these tournaments the past couple years and finally did well enough for first..it was long overdue!
Man you guys are hardcore!!! Froze your asses off, got in the freezing water, walked threw mush, lost a rod, and still fished hard and won a beautiful kayak!!!
How big is that yak?
Just an average fisherman.
Incredible win under very difficult circumstances.I'm in Key Largo since Friday waiting for a window to go offshore fishing but the winds have'nt subsided yet so I know how severe the weather has been this entire weekend.You did some pre tournament scouting ,you were well prepared , you followed through with a well executed plan and you desevedly won the top prize.
CONGRATULATIONS !!!:P 
Truly you are at the top of your class and we are honored to have some of the best here with us.A big thanks to you and your buddy for sharing your adventure and VICTORY with us.
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
Man you guys are hardcore!!! Froze your asses off, got in the freezing water, walked threw mush, lost a rod, and still fished hard and won a beautiful kayak!!!
How big is that yak?
It is 16' long and 27.5" wide....long, sleek, and fast! Makes my 13' Hobie look small
Incredible win under very difficult circumstances.I'm in Key Largo since Friday waiting for a window to go offshore fishing but the winds have'nt subsided yet so I know how severe the weather has been this entire weekend.You did some pre tournament scouting ,you were well prepared , you followed through with a well executed plan and you desevedly won the top prize.
CONGRATULATIONS !!!:PTruly you are at the top of your class and we are honored to have some of the best here with us.A big thanks to you and your buddy for sharing your adventure and VICTORY with us.
Thanks for the kind words Will..I believe its gonna warm up to the mid 80s in a few days so if you're still in the Keys you should do good..the cold weather is like a clock for the fish, telling them to chow! Maybe find that whale carcass that the tigers were chewing on while you're at it?
way to go congrats on the win
I also competed in the tourny I won 3rd place with a 56 inch slam and won $300. As Doug said it was not a great ay on the water. Well here is the pics of my 3 winning fish.
Congrats to all the winners & kudos to anybody who was willing to fish in those tough conditions! 
Way to Go Travis !!!.Great to see our west coast guys doing well in the Kayak tourneys.Maybe we can start The Big Hammer Challenge with a one day Kickoff Kayak Shark Tournament,,,,,LOL WHY NOT??
I don't know if I'll be fishing for sharks from my 7 foot spitfire but a bigger yak might be in my future.I see how well Doug and Travis and other hard core guys like Oz from exteremecoast do on the yaks and I'm tempted to try my hand at it ;I'm always looking to expand my horizons and willing to learn something new.
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN!!
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
Nice fish Travis..I didn't even know you came third, congrats bro.
Will you should really look into getting a nice kayak for yourself..I much prefer a kayak over a boat, for simplicity purposes along with the solitude and challenge that comes along with it. Catching sharks is a lot of fun too, just have to be extra careful. Here's a couple lemons that latched onto the somewhat forgiving polyethylene plastic.
Most people don't know it but the lemons are very vicious.I've had some over 250 lbs grab the prop and try and bite the side of our 28 ft boat.Another lemon attacked a Saint Bernard that was in the knee deep water as we were trying to land the shark at the South Beach pier.I have seen more aggresive behaviour out of the lemons then any other shark except the big tigers (boatside on the Bahama bank).
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
Awsome pics and nice fish. I would like to fish from a kayack sometime it looks like fun.