2013 Adventure Kayak World Championships

On March 2, 2013 the Adventure Kayak World Championships was held in Everglades City, Florida. The format was unlike any other kayak tournament. On Friday evening the Captain’s meeting was more of a safety meeting. Gear was checked before we could check in. It was obvious that this was going to be different than most tournaments. Two man teams a must,one gallon of water ,flares,gps, ect. Serious stuff. The fish types where Redfish,Spotted Sea Trout and Snook. Generally a kayak tournament is a catch photo with token and release. This event had five check points with a different color token at each check point. With one check point being a double points check point,meaning a 20 inch fish would count as 40. On Saturday morning at 630 all teams received a sealed envelope with a map inside and at 7am we opened the maps to see five locations spread out though out the Ten Thousand Islands. The closest was about three miles in, one mile across the Chokaloskee Bay two miles in the backwaters. The farthest was around seven to eight miles out towards the Gulf of Mexico. All Teams had to be back at launch by 5pm to Qualifying. It was said that teams that covered all five check points went around thirty miles. My team mate James Dumas and myself used my Jackson Cudas for the event. Our name( Knot Going To Make It!) We had a strong start with a twenty two inch Redfish with in 45 minutes of getting to the first check point and made good time to the double point check point. Not five minutes there James put a small sea trout on the kayak . We held tight waiting for a bigger fish. In less than a minute James hooked a nice sea trout. In the excitement of the moment I had dropped the token in the water with the smaller trout from a minute before. So with a nice trout on the kayak, 10am, 7.6 miles in, we where disqualified for (Lost Token). A very disappointing moment. Doing the Jackson kayak name better Team Jackson Kayak ( Steve Gibson and Alex Tejeda) placed 10th CONGRATULATIONS guys. This is one of those events in life you can’t wait to get back and give it 100%. My chances of winning may had ended there on that island on the border of the Gulf of Mexico but training for next time began. I would suggest this tournaments to those who love adventure, comradery, and competition. Special Thanks to Jake with Evergladesadventuretours.com for the cool camp site, Everglades fishing tips and the scupper plugs off his Jackson Tuna . Some cool footage @ http://www.facebook.com/AdventureFishingWorldChampionship

-Bart Swab