Prepping for the 2019 tournament season

As winter appears to be never ending, the thought of warm days on the water is the only thing that most of us northern kayakers have to keep us warm. As sad as that sounds, it’s the truth. It is this time of the year however that should be spent getting us ready for the spring months, right around the corner. Tournament prep is just as important as anything on the actual tournament day. Making sure you are properly organized and prepared for the tournament will make the day smoother and make you more efficient, allowing you to focus more on actually fishing.
By this time of the year, most tournament trials, have already released their yearly schedule for the upcoming season, so you can start saving the dates and making sure your loved ones know what’s up… believe me, making sure all your responsibilities are taken care of will make it a lot easier to focus on tournament day. Another great thing to start doing is researching the planned locations. There are millions of videos out there as well as my favorite tool, Google earth! These tools will help you understand the bodies of water that you’ll be on and allow you to focus in on the perfect techniques that will be most effective come tournament day.
This planning could also affect that kayak you bring with you! I know during multiple tournaments last year I wished I brought my Liska instead of my Coosa FD… weeds on the lakes making it a long day for me cleaning out my drive. If I were to have researched the lake a little more I would have found out that during that time of the season the weed growth there got pretty thick. Making a paddle kayak more logical for that lake, as well as the area I wanted to fish.
There are many type of planning when it comes to a kayak fishing tournament season, the best of which is to know the lake, and to know what the best plan of attack for your skill set is. The most important part of kayak fishing is to enjoy your time on the water, going into your day with a level and organized head will make this way easier.