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Kayak Bass Fishing (Long Story)
Hey fellas! I've been a member of FTX for about 8 years now. I do a lot more reading than posting, but I figured I would post up about this in case anyone out here is wondering about kayak fishing. I'm not sure how many on here kayak fish, but in the last few years it has became my passion. I sold all my power boats and dedicated my time on the water to paddling. What I came to realize is that I caught more fish, and better fish when in my kayak. The entire process made me slow down and really figure out what the fish wanted versus casting a few times then cranking up and running to another spot. Lake Houston is my home water, and I spent a lot of time on Luce Bayou since moving to Huffman in 2008. These days I don't get to fish it as much as I did due to my busy schedule. In the spring of 2017, a friend told me about a kayak bass tournament on Lake Naconiche, so I figured why not...it could be fun. At the time I had no idea what what that would lead to for me. I had so much fun competing, I started traveling around Texas to fish these events. Most would not know, but the 75% of the kayak bass fishing tournament scene has a governing body called the KBF (Kayak Bass Fishing). They set the standards and rules for kayak bass fishing tournaments across most of the country. Additionally, they have their own tournament series. Our tournaments are designed around conservation. We use a CPR (Catch Photo Release) type method. We use a phone app to upload the pic of the fish on a special measuring board,and the winner is decided by length and not weight. The fish is out of the water for a minimal time. No live wells, no holding tanks, no walking across stage holding up fish.
So in June of 2017, I was fishing a KBF event at Caddo Lake, and finished high enough so that I was given an invitation to fish in the 2018 KBF National Championship. The tournament was held in March at Kentucky Lake in Tennessee. It was a 2 day event, best 5 fish for each day for a 2 day 10 fish total overall length. There was 752 anglers from 32 states and 6 counties that had qualified for the event. The first prize payout would be a record setting $100,000. The largest event and purse in the history of kayak tournaments. It was extremely cool to even be part of an event like this, but what was even better was the fact that I won. Yep....this guy. After 2 days of tough fishing, I was on top of the leader board and was crowned the 2018 KBF National Champion.....and yes, I received a check for $100k.
Although my handle on this forum is bigfishtale, this in not a tall tale, this is the truth. The local guy from the big town of Huffman is the champ! I'm pretty blessed to say the least. Since then I have been featured in numerous magazine articles, podcast, and TV appearances. The actual national championship can been seen on the sportsman channel if your lucky enough to catch a rebroadcast. You can google my name to see the rest of the story, or follow me on Facebook or Instagram
Tight lines FishingTX!
Dwayne Taff
2018 KBF National Champion
p.s. I you see any kayaker on the water please slow down and and respect their space. So often motor boats will zoom by and just about flip us, or push into a bank 20 feet from us and start casting right in front of us. You wouldn't do that to another bass boat,and wouldn't want it to happen to you. And if you see me on Lake Houston stop an hello, I still put in a Ponderosa when I'm fishing here. Black Jeep with a green kayak on a trailer
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