Adventure Fishing World Championship (AFWC) #3 - Delacroix, LA

 

"It’s all about what you know in good ole Delacroix"

This quote became unbelievably apparent when 53 teams of two got the go ahead to open up their maps, and plan their day at the 3rd annual AFWC in Delacroix LA. The AFWC is a tournament that I have tried to fish for the past two years, but have not been able to find the right teammate... until now. Its format is extremely unique in the fact that it test your ability to navigate, paddle and portage, fish, and reading water. You have to be a complete kayak angler in order to even qualify in this event. The next few paragraphs will outline the experiences of Team All Out Kayak Fishing, and bring more insight as to what goes into this event.

First, let’s talk a bit about Delacroix. It sits 3 ft above sea level, with a labyrinth of canals and levees that make you really understand how susceptible to the elements you really are. While driving into town, you drive through what we coined to be the "Wall of Death", which is a super long cement wall on an a elevated levy designed to minimize the flooding during storms. The levy that we went through failed in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, and left the "island" submerged in over 30 foot of water. Driving through the wall at midnight seemed like it belonged in the series the Walking Dead.



This wall went on for miles



Kayak Kevin standing next to the wall for reference.  This thing was DOMINATING!

Once we made it through the wall, we really got into the terrain that we would have to navigate. Seeing it at night was the wrong time to see it for the first time. It was dark, muggy, and a complete departure from our expectations. Once we got unloaded, our excitement overtook our nerves, and instead of sleeping, we took a walk to acclimatize ourselves to the island. It was really cool to see gar feeding on shrimp in the dock lights, and see just how much damage Katrina caused.

Day two started with chilling with the Virginia collation of anglers that came down to compete, seeing old friends from throughout the south east, and pumping ourselves up for the unexpected. My partner Joe and I finished loading our gear and were off. The first thing that we noticed was how skinny the water truly was. Most of the areas we pre-fished were less than two feet, and to add even more complexity, these areas were full of sea grass and hydrilla. For the angler, Delacroix is a Top water and Sight casting paradise. We started the day with some bass in the grass, and casting to reds that didn’t want our offerings. As we progressed, we found areas that held a higher concentration of reds, and some clearer water than what we had been fishing. The first red of the trip came on an in-line buzz bait that it absolutely demolished.



A Dinnerbell JP Hmmershad fooled this red!

As we paddled further down this one flat, we saw reds cruising and tailing, but got no interest in our baits until we switched to darker colors. The darker the baits, the more interest they generated, and subsequently, our hookups increased.



A fat lil Delacroix pumpkin

Our only day of prefishing yielded Bass and Reds on the same baits, and in the same areas.  It also gave us a good reference for the conditions we would be fishing in, and more importantly, patterns that we felt would be successful the following day.


Team Adventure on the Water (Kayak Kevin and Jean McElroy) on their way in to end the first day.



Tournament Morning

After loading all of our gear in the staging area and ensuring that we had what we needed for the following day, our team was called up at 0630 to get our map, measuring device, and scorecard.  The tension mounted until 0700, at which time we were able to open our map, and plan our fish.




Photo - AFWC

Checkpoint 5

Once we opened up our map, we found which the double length checkpoints were and decided to fish CP5, CP2, CP3, CP4, and CP1 in a loop. After we hit all but CP 3 we realized the flaw in our plan. This course was designed to be fished in a circle, with deep water entry points starting from 4, going to 3, 2, 5, and 1. Nonetheless, we proceeded to paddle to CP5 first and hit the water at 0715. We breezed past the field, aided by a stout north wind that was 20-30 mph. As we hit CP5, we were one of the first teams to reach our area, and fished our way through, catching our first red about an hour into the CP and scoring 50.5 points for the area. As we paddled back to the east across the flat we just left, I noticed there was still some water left on the flat and we had a straight shot to reach CP 2. We scored our fish, turned in our token, and paddled east. Unfortunately, as we approached our cut through, the water drained out and we participated in the great mud run of Delacroix for the better part of an hour and a half. Dragging through 3+ feet of mud against a strong headwind took the life out of both of us. It got to the point that I though our day had ended. Thankfully, we got some air back in our lungs and wind beneath our sails... On to CP2.

Checkpoint 2

We reached Checkpoint 2 around 1100. The only thoughts in my mind were to 1) get away from all the teams and find an unmolested location, and 2) catch a fish FAST! As we paddle to the SE corner of the lake on CP2, I find a small little lake that has reds in it and has one tiny, shallow entrance. I call my partner over and proceed to get stuck at the entrance. I have no way to get to these fish, and after our mud run, I am unwilling to get to them. As I struggle to get back out, joe alerts me to the presence of fish right behind me. I make a cast, and get love taps on my spoon. Finally, as I get tapped I decide to stop my retrieve completely. As I watch my line continue to move across the bow of my yak, I slam the hook home. FISH ON!!! We land, measure and score a solid 23.5" red and make our way back to the CP. We score the fish and it is 1205. Our total points are now 74 with one remaining point to qualify. With the plan to move onto CP3 nixed due to unknown conditions, we went from trying to hit all 5 to just qualifying.

Checkpoint 1

We paddle to CP1 via the canal that took us north east. We are stoked for an easy paddle, fairly restricted by the wind, and only a mile and a half. What can go wrong? Well, shortly after we leave 2, we see a large rock wall. As we get closer, we realize that a portage is a must in order to move on this route. We portage Joe's Tarpon first, he beaches it, and we move on to the Skimmer. As Joe is in the water helping me with my yak, we notice a nice sized gator looking at my partner. All I heard was "Don’t leave me Wild Bill". I love wildlife, so I take out my camera and start shooting away, while my partner is slamming against the rocks and my boat, scared shitless cause the gator has hungry eyes for him.




Hungry Eyed Gator looking towards good ole Delacroix Joe

Checkpoint 4

Joe convinces me to hit CP4, even with another pending portage and the unknown, we wanted the double points. We pull up the ramp at Sweetwater Marina, and get our wheels out for a long portage. As we go through our stuff, we notice that a piece for a set of wheels was missing. Now things just got reel. We had a couple hundred yard drag to the next piece of water. We timed it out and from start to reaching CP4, it took us 30 minutes. Great, this will give us an hour and fifteen minutes to fish prior to check in. As we paddle down a canal to the CP, Joe spots some nice reds. There is no point in casting since we did not have an identifier, so we moved on. We got our identifier, and had a decision to make. Do we leave reds we know are here? or Do we fish the unknown on the other side of the berm? Well the unknown was so damn sexy, we proceed to move on. We are hearing guys sporadically hook up and come undone. If CP4 was good for one thing, it was a bunch of expletives. We move our way, and Joe hooks up on the buzzbait. I hear an explosion, see him set the hook twice and bring a stud red to the surface. This bad boy was over 25 without a doubt. Unfortunately he gets off and nothing comes to hand. Joe tells me that "I just lost the winning fish". I tell him to shrug it off, and we still had time. Unfortunately, time ran out on us with nothing left to show for. The paddle back to the start was somber at first, then we remembered that we had 99.5" and minimum checkpoints. This was our day!

Results

First off, I must say that I am super proud of all the teams that competed. This was by far the toughest kayak fishing event I have participated in. Just to participate makes you a winner.

At weigh in, the scuttlebutt was anything over 95" would put you in the top 10. Knowing we had a fish at the end come off that would have given us at least 50 points really started to set in. We were however able to get over that knowing that we went all out and gave it 100% on the day.

On to the results... All Virginia teams qualified and broke the top 30. Angler Management (Amy and Andy) came in 29th, Double L (Mark and Kris Lozier) came in 18th, All Out Kayak Fishing (Joe and Myself) came in 16th, and Adventure on the Water (Kevin and Jean) came in 8th. In the end 1st and 16th were separated by less than 50 points.



Photo - AFWC

 In the end, would I do it all over again, Hell Yes!  My partner was amazing, we had a great time, and felt accomplished at ending the day with 3 beautiful fish and paddling and portaging over 17.5 miles.



Paying the Fish Gods

Over the past few weeks my fishing has been sporadic at best.  From my last post I had been getting into a decent class of Triggerfish, and some real solid bridge Spadefish.  Between now and then I had to switch up my summer fishing style to inshore tourney mode.  This led to some issues...

Trip one - My boy Tex and I went out to a spot to fish a real solid redfish pattern I had established this spring/early summer.  It ended up being one of those days where two extremely competent fishermen landed (1) small croaker and (1) small oystertoad between the two of us.

Angler 0 - Fish Gods 1

Trip two - Ben Hoover and I decided that with the slow bite the day before, we would try to change it up and hit the Eastern Shore of VA for some flatfish.  When we got out there we met the Kick-Kick MD crew (Jack Daughtry and Matt James) who had been catching some solid flounder to 20".  For us, it was oystertoad after oystertoad.  After hours of fishing, I managed to find (4) Flounder from 16.5" to 19.5"  A far cry from the work that had been done by others just days before.

Angler 0 - Fish Gods 0 (Draw)

19.5" Flounder

Trip 3 - A mid week excursion on the SUP yielded no fish, but plenty of views.  This trip wasn't all about fishing as much as it was about getting used to reading inshore waters.  I was able to regain focus and center my soul in preparation for the first tourney of the year, so in that aspect I was fine without catching.

Angler 0 - Fish Gods 1

Trips 4 & 5 - After being down to the fish gods 2-0, traveling 260 miles and no sleep, I finally made it down to Cape Fear for some tournament action.  This was the weirdest tournament weekend I have ever had. On the drive down I saw over 150 deer along the road (in downpouring rain), a running car in a ditch with 4' of water (nobody inside), and drank 4 Monster energy drinks, just to wait on early morning thunderstorms to pass.  While I was waiting, I made acquaintance with a crusty old Korean War era Marine (Semper Fi you old fart), and a swarm of fire ants.  I will just say this, don't think that you can drown fire ants to get them off of you, because you will lose.  I also learned that fire ants bite to ensure they have a solid hold on your skin, then they sting.

After a crazy energy drink fueled morning, I got on the water in search of my 3 target species (Specks, Reds, and Flounder).  I managed to find the specks about halfway to my target location, and left them be.  I then proceeded to soak mullet at my destination while finding a pattern on artificials.  While my mullet was on a flat swimming under a cork, I see a large wake making a b-line towards the bait.  It hits, and turns right for my yak.  I was thinking shark as it charged me, but when it hit the yak, I saw a solid 23-25" Jack.  Unfortunately, the cork got buried in the grass before I could get my line back, and the hook straight up bent.  Now my blood is pumping and I move around more looking for some solid Jacks (screw the tournament fish).  I didn't find any more jacks in the area, but saw reds around 30".  I established my pattern on some mid 20's reds, and while I was doing so, I had a storm bearing down on me.  Being 8 or so miles from the launch, I left and made a strong effort to get off the water.

This is where it gets really fun!  The tide was super low, and I didn't realize the wind was pushing the remaining water out until it was too late.  I made my way deep into a cut, and dealt with an impass.  At this point, I tried to turn around, but there was nothing to turn too.  So I had one choice, risk lightning strikes and wait for some water, or get out and drag.  I chose the latter and soon realized, I chose wrong.  The first 30 or so yards were fine with hard bottom, then the fun started.  At the beginning I was sinking to mid calf, then to my knees, and finally my nuts.  This is when I realized I had made the wrong choice.  When I was Balls Deep in fluf mud, my fears turned from lightning strikes to drowning. It gets better though, for about 500 yards i'm anywhere from balls to tits deep, dragging the yak.  Over an hour and a half later, I am covered in mud from head to toe, thinking i'm going to have a heart attack before I make it to hard bottom.  I will say this, one of my sponsors ASTRAL makes some of the greatest gear, in this case the BREWERS.  Solid water shoes that (1) didn't come off my feet when stuck in the mud, (2) kept my feet and ankles safe from submerged oysters, and (3) still remained comfortable to wear after all that.  From now on I will not flats fish without them! (No pictures, but I changed close before going to the HLP captains meeting, and everyone asked me why I was covered in mud)

To finish that day, on my way in I for the Captains meeting I see some amazing topwater action.  At first I throw a Skitterwalk and get smoked by a 15" Jack.  After another in the same class, I switch up to a chatterbait and landed 3 in a row.  Being so ubsurdly late, I decided that when I had an unproductive cast, I would leave.  I guess threes company, fours a crowd.

Tournament day, I woke up late and called my tournament partners Seth and Kam it was a no-go, id get there as soon as I could.  After making it to the launch 30 minutes late, I paddled out and met up with them.  Kam had a 14" speck in the bag, so Seth and I sent her for Flounder while we netted some bait.  I took off my PFD and glasses, and got a few dozen mullet and spot.  When it was time to go, I put my PFD on and realize the splash next to me was my Maui Jims.  After 30 minutes of looking, I was able to find them and we were on our way.

Kam Goodrich Photography with this sick sunrise shot!

As we moved to the speck spot, I tell the team to start focusing on the area.  I managed a 19" red, but no specks.  We move on and I get the unmistakable hit of a speck.  I missed the fish and made another cast.  This time "Bam Bam Bam" and weight.  I knew it was a good tournament fish, but it never made it to the boat.  In hindsight, it was at least a 3rd place fish, if not a 2nd.  Damn!  We move again, and I make it to the spot that I patterned the reds the day before.  My first red was 25.5" and I gradually upgraded to a 26.5" to end the day.

Historically this would be a real competitive fish, so after a bit more fishing we head in.  Now keep in mind the low tide fiasco I had the day before.  I check Navionics and my track from the previous day and come up with a plan out, while staying in some water.  Kam is not psyched with our path, but after showing Seth the plan, we keep going.  At this point, every 5 minutes Kam says "I think were lost".  This is not what a Type A male wants to hear so I kept going, and going, and going.  On my last turn, I see a blessing and a curse.  A landmark that I knew without a doubt, but also I knew how far from the launch it really was.  At this time, we had about five miles to the launch and two hours to the weigh in. Kam later asked me "Did you know where you were going"?  My response, "Of course", to which she said, "Obviously not, because you got us F'n lost!"  Not my proudest moment.  Sorry Kam!

Fast forward one long paddle and now I have less than 10 minutes when I walk in.  the time is called, 3:55.  Five minutes but I feel good.  The Tournament Director Chris looks at my card and his eyes said everything.  BUMMER!

On a brighter note, my boy Bob aka Toba, killed it with a 33" red and a ginormous lam to bring home to yaks!  To boot, I got to chill with my fellow Teammate Drew Camp, and All Out Kayak Fishing Contributors Mike Eady and Seth Goodrich, not to mention the other great anglers and folks from Hook, Line, and Paddle and NCKFA.  For me, I am giving myself two points for a new species, and surviving the marsh with a quality fish!

Angler 2 - Fish Gods 0

So this evens it up.  Hopefully it pays off!

Pulling the Trigger on some Spades

As the seasons come and go, so does our extremely diverse fisheries in the South East.  For me, the springtime allure of Specks, Reds, Flounder, and Bluefish fades to our harder fighting species as the mercury rises.   For me, the summer means one thing...  Its time for the CBBT!

As I spent early summer chasing Cobia as they entered the bay with my friends (see Richie Bekolay's Mr. Brown Clown), I couldn't help but feel like something was missing.  It wasn't until late June that I made my first trip after the glory species.  My first and second drops of the year boasted the bounty of the season to come!

The Convict Gets Captured

Sadly, after the first two drops I have been cursed with pulled hooks and poor sets in my pursuit of The Sheepshead.  The good thing is that there is plenty of time left in the season for these bay bruisers.

Another target of the CBBT is the Triggerfish.  Triggers are super aggressive, tenacious bait stealers that frustrate the most seasoned anglers.  For me, they are a tasty, willing fish that loves to grace my diner table.  I drop either a dropper loop or a carolina rig to bring these bad boys to the diner table!

Finally, the fish that completes my trips is the Spadefish.  Spades are pound for pound the toughest fighters of the three target species.  While the Sheepshead makes bulldogging runs and have fins like railroad spikes, the Spadefish is like hooking into the drum of a spinning washing machine.  While the smaller fish run in circles while shaking your rod to high heaven, the bigger spades take you on drag peeling runs, trying their damndest to take you into any structure they can find.  Oh, and I failed to mention, they too try to shake the rod out of your hands too!  In my last few trips with Rob Choi, Kayak Kevin, Seth and Kam Goodrich, and Ted Crumb, I have been extremely fortunate to find a very solid class of in (and near) shore spades!

15" Spade
Photo Credit Rob "RMFC" Choi

16" Spadefish

15.5" Spade

Thankfully, the fight of the spades can help ease the pain of my Sheepshead Struggles!  Until the next adventure!

Ted with one of his first Kayak Spade at 15.75"

Kam with a solid 13" Spade

Ted with his first Black Drum

Seth closing it out with another solid spade

Sheepshead – Dissected

For the longest time, seeing friends like Kayak Kevin Whitley, Rob Choi, and Lee Williams catch monster Sheepshead (let alone any Sheepshead) haunted me.  Seeing footage of these extremely violent fights in close quarters with amazing fish were all I focused on for almost two seasons.  Fortunately, my first two monster fish both came in over 11 lbs and both came on the same day, in conditions that I had no right fishing in.  From that day on, I have refined my skills, and am confident sharing what I have learned.  I will break it down from bait and rigs, to techniques and conditions in which I post consistent catches.

Bait Selection:

Although Sheepshead can be caught on a large variety of baits, they have mouths designed for feeding on crustaceans.  My favorite baits are as follows in order or seasonal precedence.

 

Mole Crabs (Sand Fleas) 

• For me, the availability of these baits in the surf is what kicks my sheepie fishing into overdrive.  I prefer freshly caught and live baits, but have had success on dead and frozen baits.  To catch them, I look at the surf zone, and if I see little bubbles in the sand as the water recedes, I focus my attention there.  I look for baits between the tide line and the small little shelf that generally occurs a few feet into the breakers.  I will dig through the sand with my hands until I feel them, at which point, I use either a clam rake, or a half a aluminum minnow trap to scoop and shift through the sand to sort out the baits.  I store them in containers with easy drainage so the ammonia in their urine doesn’t kill them.  If possible, I will catch them at night when they are all throughout the surf, keeping them cool until im ready to fish.  I will fish them on either dropper loop rigs, or Carolina rigged, depending on the conditions.                                                                                                                                                     

 

Fiddler Crabs 

21 Dozen Fiddlers in a Yeti Tundra 35

• Im sure that in many of your favorite marshes you see these little critters scurrying around the banks on a low tide.  I start to use these baits with the mole crabs and have found over the past few years that as the summer move on, I have better catches on crabs.  In Virginia, you can spend upwards of $4 a dozen at tackle shops, consistently wondering if there will be any in stock when you want them, or you can catch them yourself.  I focus on low tide cycles in areas I have seen them in the past, and can easily move along the shore after them.  If they are concentrated in open sections, I will throw a cast net at them and quickly collect them from under the net.  I will also walk through marsh grass, grabbing them as I spot them.  If there is sea grass in the areas you are looking that collects in clumps along the shore, they will generally hide underneath.  To keep them alive, keep them cool, moist and provide them a place to hide.  This summer I kept 22 dozen alive in a Yeti Tundra 35 for over 24 hours adding moist sea grass an crumpled up cardboard.  The cardboard, or better yet cardboard egg crate gives them a place to hide so they don’t kill one another.  Keeping them cool in conditions like this will let you keep them for a few weeks.  As they die, remove the dead ones and place a slice or two of bread for food.  I like to fish these on dropper loop rigs.

Clams and Shrimp

• Although this is not a bait I use to target sheepies due to the large by catch from species like spot, croaker, pinfish, grouper, I have had great luck when targeting Spadefish and Triggers.  Generally, My sheepies using this bait comes on lighter rods dedicated for spades, and the fight is amazing.  The go to rig for clams is a Carolina rig.

Blue Crabs

 

• I use Blue Crabs in 1” chunks when I am unable to get Fiddlers.  I fish them the same way I fish with Fiddlers.

Sea Urchins and Barnacles 

• I have never fished with either bait, but I know they are more popular the further south you travel.  On all the sheepies I have kept, both have been the majority of the stomach content.

Rods and Reels
 

I prefer using a MH or H power rod that is stiff enough to set the hook through a mouthful of molar like teeth.  Another consideration is the combos ability to pull them away from the structure quickly.  I use a few combos:

1. MH Shamano Travala S paired with a Release Reels SG spooled with 85lb test braid.  The reel has an insane line retrieval ratio along with a super smooth drag.  The rod has enough backbone to cross their eyes and pull them off the structure, and the braid gives me sense of mind when fishing alongside razor sharp barnacles.
2. H power Diawa Procyon paired with a Shamano Calcutta 200 and 35 lb braid.  The power of the rod and smooth drag on the reel makes this a great all around bait fishing/dropping combo.
3. MH Shamano Crucial paired with a Shamano Cronarch 200 and 35 lb braid.  Again a super strong combo, with a added bonus (super light weight).  This rig is used when Im fishing with lightweight and/or doing a lot of one handed paddling along structure.

Rigs

1. Dropper Rig.  I use either 1 or 2 hook configurations and weight from ½ to 5 oz.  I tie mine with super high quality components.  My hooks are Owner SSW J hooks from size 2 to size 2/0 (depending on the bait size).  For line I like 20-35 lb Seaguar Red or Blue label fluorocarbon line.  The Blue label is expensive, but has amazing abrasion resistance and knot strength (I recently landed a 62 lb cobia using this line).  I like a high quality barrel swivel to connect to the main line, and at least 18” to the first hook.  If Im fishing a double hook rig, I like the bottom hook 6-8” above the weight, and the top another 14-18” above that (think about working the water column.  A single rig, I like the hook 12” above the weight. On the bottom swivel, I go with a strong but inexpensive Eagle Claw Barrel Swivel with clip for quick weight changes.  With this rig, I focus on fishing near the bottom of pilings or in rocky areas.  See a dropper loop tied here.
2. Carolina Rig – I use 16-24” of 20 lb Seaguar Red label with a high quality barrel swivel and the same Owner hooks paired to bait size.  I use a Snell or Palomar from the line to the hook, and a Palomar or Uni to the swivel.  This rig is used when I am working the entire water column.  Ill drop to the bottom and work my way up 12-18” at a time, fishing each spot for a few minutes at a time.  If I have to go over 1 ½ ounces of weight on my egg sinker, I am using too much and switch to a dropper rig.

I have had equal success with both rigs, but tend to lose more around vertical structure with the Carolina rig (must because i'm not from Carolina!).

The bite and fight:

You will either feel weight on the line or light tap-tap.  If you feel the tap-tap and miss the hookset, don’t fret.  Keep your bait down for a few seconds and wait.  The sheepies tend to hit and crush the bait before they go back and pick up the pieces.  When in doubt Set the Hook.  You will loose weights and rigs, but can also be rewarded with some amazing catches.  Also, if you keep getting stolen without feeling bites, or keep missing bites, stick with it in the same areas. You may go through a lot of bait, but if you are fishing for a sheep that you know is there and feeding, don’t move on until you catch him or he stops.  Finally, when you set the hook, cross his eyes to get a positive hookset.  He’s not a speck, and your not going to rip it out of his mouth.  Once you get the hookset, hang on for the fight of your life.

Photo Credit - Jay Brooks

Good luck out there!