KBFTN Season Closer Results

[Reel Tune]

It was a sad weekend, knowing this would be our last tournament of the year, but it was also a relief. Every week I work on the website, Facebook Page, preparing for the next tournament, answering phone calls, emails, Facebook Messages or something to do with the club. Now that the season is over I may have some downtime and get to fish for fun, hunt, or visit family back in Indiana.

I knew this year was going to be good, but it was a real eye opener to what we have here. Our waters aren't the best to fish, we have to compete with high traffic, and highly pressured waters.

One thing we have is a family. I can count on these guys. If I need something I can turn to them and they know if they need something they can turn to me. Most everyone at all tournaments are greeted with a handshake or a hug. We've been running these tournaments for 3 years, and we still have guys attending regularly that attended our first tournament 3 years ago. Yes we do see new faces and that is great. Tournament fishing is for some and it's not for some, and that's ok.

We have had great sponsors like Hook1, E&B Custom Baits, Bad Boy Jigs, TK Walker, Power Team Lures and many more.

We will take this off time and revise rules, set up schedules, contact sponsors, and plan out our entire year.

Our season closer was further from Nashville than most tournaments. We wanted togetherness, a real family feeling. We wanted anglers to eat together, and be able to hang out and share stories about the past season, and we wanted an opportunity for big bass so we chose Natchez Trace State Park 1hr and 45 minutes west of Nashville.

Here's the full write-up.

http://kayakbassfishingtn.com/2015/1...season-closer/

[Adrian]

Those are some Hogs right there!

[XxthejuicexX]

Those are some good looking fish. I have never heard of those lakes. Might have to check it out.

[tsuggs]

Strong work guys! Great report and pics

[Reel Tune]

It's amazing what has happened in the last 26 months "when we had our 1st tournament.

It started out small with 8 people and has morphed into a Nationally recognized tournament series.

It's wild to think of the support and participation we have for primarily having tournaments only during the week.

We are now averaging 25+ people per tournament with some tournaments in the mid to upper 30's in participation. We had 121 different people fish with us in 2015.

This year we were able to raise $500 for the Indiana Heroes on the Water Chapter, and looks like 2016 we will have a chapter here in Tennessee.

We are working on the 2016 season right now trying to decide what we want to do. Any suggestions are appreciated.

We wouldn't be were we are without the great group of people who fish with us, and the support from our sponsors like. Hook1, E&B Custom Tackle, Power Team Lures, TK Walker/FishingTN and Bad Boy Jigs.

[XxthejuicexX]

I had planned to fish most of the events but did not fish any. It's tough for me to make Tuesday afternoons plus most events are a hour drive for me. I will try to make it to some next year as I would like to really fish the series. It's good to hear your have the people showing up to the events, here's to it growing even more.

[Reel Tune]

It's difficult to host tournaments on the weekend for me, I work every weekend, and we have Southern Mid TN Kayak Anglers, Chattanooga Bass Yakkers, East Tennessee Kayak Anglers, West Tennessee Kayak Anglers, and now Central Tennessee Kayak Anglers. Along with the KBS Series, Hobie Tournament Series, River Bassin', KBF Series, and many more. In 2015 there were more than 80 kayak fishing tournaments "not including online tournaments".

These other groups primarily host tournaments on the weekends, and it's hard to find a weekend that someone else doesn't want to have a tournament. Kayak Bass Fishing TN has the most consistent and best numbers of any group, and we'd hate to draw from the other groups.

It's also difficult on myself to fish these weekday tournaments by the time we get home from a tournament it's usually around 11pm, and my wife and I get up at 4am to go to work every day. Then I try to get results up while eating a late dinner and then shower and to bed. It's usually 1 or 1:30 before my head hits the pillow.

We also try to spread the love by having tournaments spread out throughout the area so it makes it easier for some people to make it. We have 2 guys that drive from Dickson for every tournament, and that is really cool. We understand that it is difficult for someone in Murfreesboro to make it to Gallatin by 5pm.

Tennessee Kayak Anglers will not be hosting tournaments next year, but they will be doing several family fun days. This is where people bring boats, and food and everyone hangs out and paddles around and trying out different kayaks. This is more family oriented and geared toward introducing people to the joys of kayaks and kayak fishing.

All Tournament Directors will be meeting next month to discuss the 2016 season in depth and to get all clubs better inline.

If you or anyone has any suggestions to make our tournaments better please let me know. My feelings don't get hurt, so don't worry about that.