Acworth tourney

Hi!  Jason here!!  I guess I should explain a little about myself before I get started on this whole venture huh?  Well... to start, I grew up with an avid fisherman for a father and consequently, I was exposed to fishing since I was very very young.  In fact, I've honestly been fishing longer than I can remember.  When I was around 5 my family moved into a nice house and I was lucky enough to have a lake right across the street from us!  So from that day on I was across the street playing with friends in the lake, going out in little jon boats, and (of course) fishing.  As I grew up, fishing was always around me.  Granted, sometimes I focused more on other things more.  But I always enjoyed being on the water. 
Fast forward to last December.  I had been looking at a good way of getting onto a body of water realatively inexpensively and I was researching fishing kayaks.  I also noticed they had fishing tournaments and even a kayak fishing tour!  I was sold!  So I saved some money and went out and bought my first kayak! 
Now If you're not farmiliar with fishing kayaks look them up.  They're almost completely different than white water kayaks (which is what everyone seems to think of when I say I fish from a kayak).  These kayaks are built with fishing in mind.  They are very stable and capable of holding lots of fishing gear.  Not to mention you can get into areas of water that normal boats cant.  Which can be a big benefit! 
After a few months of fishing in my new kayak I was notified about a tournament at Lake Acworth.  I had never fished there before and had no idea what to expect but I decided to go for it!  I didnt even pre fish the lake.  I paddled around it for an hour the day before and decided what spot "looked good".  I had no idea what the fish were doing, what they were biting, how they were acting, or even where they were!!  I just had to assume the place I was going to go had fish and that they would bite. 

So we started out at 6am the next day and I paddled as hard as I could to my spot and started fishing.  Now, on a normal day you get a nibble here or a bite there and you can figure out what the fish are doing. Where they are or what kind of lure to use.  But this day was horrible.  One of the worst on the water days I've had.  I sat there for hours casting franticly at spots just waiting, hoping for a bite, a tick, a bump on my line.  Anything that could point me in the right direction!  But nothing!  It was the worst feeling in the world.  Here I am in the first tournament of my life and I cant even get A BITE!!  I was questioning everything.  Why was I fishing?  Did I even know what I was doing!?  All my senses were telling me I made the wrong decisions.  I felt like a jerk.  Here I am thinking I'm a decent fisherman and I have nothing!!! 



Franticly tying on another lure after over 3hrs without even a bite!



Finally by 9:30am (and with only 2 1/2 hours left) I decided I'd had enough of this spot.  So I surpressed the horrible feeling and thoughts in my head and took off!  I wanted to get as far away as possible from the spot I was at.  ANYWHERE other than where I was fishing!  Along the way I made frantic casts and reeled like a mad man.  Then finally, in the middle of the lake of all places.  It happened.  At first I thought I was hallucinating but as I kept reeling and the slack in my line got tighter and tighter and my rod tip bent over I realized.  I HAD A FISH ON!!  At that point, that very moment.  I felt like I was on top of the world!  I didnt care that I was probably still waaay out of contention and I didnt care that it was not a big fish.  That fish absolutely made my day!  As soon as I had it and took it's picture on the scale I cast right back into the same spot.  I knew with the tempurature the way it was that the fish might be schooling and there might just be another one in the same spot.  (remember, once you start getting bites you can start putting together what the fish are doing!)  As soon as my lure hit the water.  BAM!  Another fish on!  At this point I was beside myself.  I was still shaking from catching my first fish!  I landed the fish and took another picture.  At this point I realized I was back in the tournament.  I knew I had a shot but only if I could land a big fish. 

So I kept casting and casting.  Finally another bite.  Except this one was big.  The only problem was I had so much adrenaline going through me I didnt realize it.  I was reeling too fast, not fighting the fish like I should have.  After a couple of very long minutes I managed to get the fish to my kayak.  It was at this point I realized I even had onlookers.  People passing by in other kayaks had stopped to watch me land this fish!  And as the fish started to come up from the deep water I saw her outline in the water.  It was big.  This was it.  This was the big fish I needed!!  She started to get closer and closer!!  As I reached down awkwardly to get my hands on her she made one final run.  Only this time she tookoff under my boat!  I was freaked out and didnt have a clue what to do!  I stuck my rod in the water to let her take some line but BAM!  Slack line.  She was gone. 
And that was the rest of my day.  Not another bite.  Nothing. 
At the "weigh in" they took lenghts of the fish and I managed a 6th place.  Not too bad considering how my day could have gone.  And what really made me wonder was, how big was the fish that I lost?!  It could have definately put me in contention for a 1st or 2nd place finish!  I wont lie, that fish haunted me in my dreams for weeks.  I wanted to get out and fish another tournament the next day just to prove to myself it wasn't a fluke and that I could be competative.  Only problem?  There weren't any tournaments coming up in the near future!  So I've been sitting back, practicing and waiting for a chance to redeem myself.  It'll come soon though!