Tournament Day 1 Wisconsin River Smallmouth

On day 1 of the ‪@KayakAdventureSeries‬ event in Wisconsin, I decided to do a 9 mile float trip down to where my tournament partner Josh launched, using his access to complete the float. I learned a few things from this; I don't fish as well moving downstream as I do motoring upstream. Finesse presentations can not be rushed. The better rod blank for crankbaiting is the Rainshadow Judge. Despite several mis-steps, I ended this first "evening session" in 7th out of 61 anglers. The tournament is a cumulative score of the top five fish over both days, so this was merely an early glimpse on how I was doing compared to my fellow competitors. Watch day 2 to see how I stacked up against the entire field, and to find out how Josh and I ranked in the team division.
Shot with the ‪@GoPro‬ Hero 9, on a ‪@YakAttackKayakFishing‬ camera mount, powered by a ‪@nocqua‬ battery pack.

[@stevebaker8138]

By the time I got home from the tournament all 16 1/4 20’s holding the frame on the inflatable were loose! Lesson learned lock tite is your friend.

[@TheLittleStuff]

Steve, be careful to not get Loc Tite on the YakAttack SwitchPads. That rectangular black plastic part is susceptible to chemical degradation from Loc Tite. Also, I tried to remove the Loc Tited hardware to repair this when I got home. The square nut inside the SwitchPad base just spun inside because the Loc Tite did its job. I clamped the needle nose vice grips on the outside of where the internal square nut is, and I still couldn’t get it loose. The repair job became more complicated at that point. Bottom line: the hardware didn’t loosen up. The plastic part on top snapped in half, and I had no way to remove it. Tray and I discussed it. We will trial silicone sealant instead of Loc Tite on the next one we assemble. This is learning.

[@stevebaker8138]

@@TheLittleStuff I don’t use the mounts. I cut my own angles and mount those directly to the pads. Saves money.

[@georgetollefsen994]

Ya know Jeff my Boonedox landing gear ripped right out of the track when I was pulling it up the riverbank, I had to put a bolt right through the whole track. Another thing that happened is the switch pads cracked on my motor mount so I shimmed it with rubber pads and that fixed that problem, so if you find those pads cracking or vibrating out try rubber pads. Great video Jeff and great work! Congratulations on your 3rd place finish on the team level and thanks for sharing ! Ps the landing gear is great but the long legs really put a lot of leverage and stress on the frame work of the inflatable.

[@TheLittleStuff]

George, the rubber shims are an interesting idea. 🤔

[@georgetollefsen994]

⁠@@TheLittleStuffthe shims I use work really well no more cracks in the motor mount switch pads , I could send you a link.

[@robswoodsandcustomsawmilli9940]

Controlling the kayak going downstream to fish is a real pain.

[@TheLittleStuff]

I just feel that I am more successful moving upstream. I don’t throw a wake on them. They are less likely to see me coming.

[@robswoodsandcustomsawmilli9940]

@@TheLittleStuff Very true but going up stream it’s a lot easier to control speed and keep straight with the motor.Going down you end up going to fast with the motor.

[@chandlerfoltz9154]

What size yak attack net do you use/recommend?

[@TheLittleStuff]

I like the one with the oblong hoop, not the super wide one.

[@georgetollefsen994]

Jeff another thing I wanted to mention is I have been having a lot of success fishing my jig across current, so I move away from the bank a good distance and cast to the bank, then scoot the jig across current, it seems to cover more space and you find a couple of fish away from the bank that are on the bottom, maybe behind a rock that you can’t see. Just a thought.

[@TheLittleStuff]

I had way more issues to correct than how I move the jig in relation to current. My recent trip to Virginia fixed a lot of what I got wrong here. The increased flow (dam release) on day 2 exposed a lot of the flaws in my Palmetto BugZ rigging. It’s fixed now, but it cost me two really solid fish in this tournament. You can see “the fix” on my Instagram page JeffLittleKayakFishing

[@raymondwu5824]

Hey Jeff, really digging your content. If you're having issues with your phone's touch-screen while having wet/slimy fingers maybe try using one of those stylus pens that work on touch screens. Pretty sure all phones have a double-tap to zoom setting so you don't even need two fingers to zoom.

[@TheLittleStuff]

Good tip Raymond! Thanks!

[@raymondwu5824]

@@TheLittleStuff No problem! I don't know what phone you use but I think most smartphones today also let you use your volume buttons as dedicated shutter buttons as well. And in the case of my phone (Samsung Galaxy S23) if I double-press the power button it'll open my camera app so really there's a chance you may not even need to use your touch-screen at least for taking photos.