Kayak Fishing Classic 3
The Biggest Yet!

The alarm went off at 4am and I was still sleeping. I snoozed the alarm and laid in bed thinking about what was about to go on. Our 3rd Kayak Fishing Classic was bigger than ever and we had more preparation that morning than we could have believed just a year ago at the first KFC. I reset the alarm for an hour later so Karen could get a bit more shuteye and I went downstairs. The truck was already packed so I grabbed a bottle of water and jumped in the seat - off I went.

The launch was already stirring with a few familiar faces at 4:30 am. Studs! I unloaded two of the loaner kayaks I'd brought and set out their gear. Paul and Janette showed up with Cisco to help out and we set up our registration table and began taking names and handing out numbers. By 7:30 am we had registered 130 anglers and built up a huge jackpot for the largest bass. A short captains meeting topped off the morning and we set the anglers loose to float until 8am. Someone polished off the last Krispy Kreme provided by Cucamonga Keith and 8am came quickly. One weighboat that was already on the water sounded its horn and paddles flew through the water, kayaks streaking off in all directions.

Paul, Ed and I loaded up on our respective weighboats and said our farewells. I think all of us has foolishly packed a rod and some swimbaits on the boats - they didn't see much action. From about 8:20 on the weighboats weighed fish non-stop. By our count we weighed 537 fish for a total weight of over 750 pounds. This means we weighed a legal bass every 45 seconds for 6 hours straight. A feat that has never been performed previously we are quite sure.

Weighing fish as a full time job would be no fun, no fun at all. But for the few hours we did it I loved it. Anglers were having a great time and many were catching great quality fish and their excitement showed. Large plastics seemed to be ruling the day and indeed it turned out that the event was won with 5" swimbaits.

We began entering numbers into the spreadsheet at just after 1pm and took a full hour to enter all the fish from all the boats. We sorted and ranked and there it was, our top angler giving the rest of the field a thorough spanking.

1. Ed Howerton, 18.28#
2. Matt Moyer, 11.2#
3. Dennis Burlason, 10.94#
4. Brian Lloyd, 9.78#
5. Dennis Killian, 9.73#

A little bit before the announcement Matty was telling me how he couldn't win another kayak, his garage had too many and the wife wouldn't let him bring another home. When he heard that 2nd place prize was...a kayak he immediately began apologizing to his wife who was standing behind the crowd. It was pure comedy.

Ever the bridesmaid JP Lapeyre finished just .05# behind 5th place and Plastic Navy friends and regulars Bill Schaefer, Todd Groessl, Kevin Joyce and Paul Lebowitz finished the top 10.

The bbq was unmatched with carne and polla asada, salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole to feed over 200 people. Janette, Karen, Rose, Cisco, Gracia and others helped make the meal hot, fresh and delicious right down to the last plate. Families sat with their anglers and many were rewarded with great raffle prizes. We handed out 3 Calcutta 400 reels, 4 Seeker fishing rods, shirts, hats and hoodies galore, gear and gift certificates from Hook 1, Maxima, Big Hammer, Buck Knives, West Coast StylEyes, Premium Nut and Fruit, Anglers Arsenal, Lakeside Bait and Tackle, Pacific Coast Sport Fishing, GT Aquasports, SD Sailing Center, Dana Landing Market, Barnacle Bill's and MORE! Our sponsors really made this event sing.

Special recognition to Malibu Kayaks for showing up with their new X-Factor kayak. This boat proved to be the star of the show and the envy of many an angler. Two of our friends, 2nd place finisher Matt Moyer and lucky raffle winner Joseph "Nerdy" Sopata took home gift certificates for custom order X-Factors. Malibu also loaned out 10 eXtremes for our anglers to use and two of the borrowed boats placed, 1st and 3rd!

Outdoorplay.com also deserves special recognition. Tree and the gang at www.outdoorplay.com sent us two kayaks that aren't often seen in SoCal and they were huge hits. The Perception Caster was given to Harold Henrikson for an early bird entry prize - he was in the drawing with 93 other people who signed up before October 9th.

The Heritage Redfish went to Andy "Iceman" Allen in our anglers-only raffle.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up, totaling numbers and figuring out just how much cash the event had raised for the Friends of Rollo charity. That number will be released after permission is obtained from the organization but it is over $1,000.

On behalf of the Plastic Navy I would like to thank each and every one of you who helped make this day special.

--Drew