Carolina Yakfish

We regret to inform you that there has been a confirmed case of cheating in the Carolina Yakfish series and that Calvin Almond has been permanently banned.

After the tournament at Shearon Harris on 4/14/12, tournament organizers discovered that Calvin had submitted fish in the tournament that were previously caught and frozen. Based on this discovery, we also reviewed past submissions in further detail, and discovered that Calvin had also submitted frozen fish at the 2011 finale at Jordan Lake.

We have confronted Calvin and received a confession and recovered all monies won in the events named above and for his share of the Angler of the Year prize. Recovered funds will be distributed to the rightful winners immediately. As a result of this, Calvin has obviously been stripped of his 2011 Co-Angler of the Year title. Therefore, Joe Angelcyk is the sole 2011 Angler of the Year.

We are very disappointed to have to make this announcement, but feel it is mandatory to deter future instances.

Thank you for your continued support of the Carolina Yakfish series.

The second tournament of the 2012 season was held at Southwest Park on Randleman Reservoir on Saturday, May 12th.  We’d like to thank Berry Bynum and park staff for opening up early for us to get everyone launched on time.  That was much appreciated, thank you!

Today’s weather was absolutely perfect and a ton of bass were caught.  18 out of 25 anglers caught their limit and there were a few anglers that reported catching 15-20 bass!  Big bass honors today went to Bo Anders with a 20″ toad.  This was Bo’s 2nd consecutive CY tourney that he’s caught a 20″er.  Congrats, “Big Bass” Bo!

4th thru 7th place finishers were all awarded $25 gift cards to Hook1.  Those gift cards went to Brad Crater (7th), John Stokes (6th), Jim Lor (5th), and Shelly Efird (4th).  Nice job, guys!  We had two anglers tie for 2nd place, both with a 3-fish limit of 52.25″.  Scott Inge was awarded 3rd, and Dale Chapman 2nd due to our tie breaker format of biggest single largemouth (Dale’s 19″er edged Scott’s 18.75″).  Great job of catching ‘em and congrats, Scott and Dale!

Coming in 1st place, with a winning margin of only 1/2″ was 2010 Carolina Yakfish AOY Joey Sullivan with a 3-fish limit of 52.75″.  Joey generously donated his first place cash prize winnings to Heroes on the Water.  Congrats and thanks, Joey!

Thank you to everyone that came out today and helped us support HOW.  With everyone’s help, we raised an additional $125 through entry fees, $26 through lanyard sales, and the $250 donation for a total of $401 for the day and $1077 for the year!

Congrats to the field today for such a strong showing.  This was easily our most competitive tournament to date.  We hope to see y’all at our next event on June 30th at Fort Fisher.  Time to get salty!

——————–

* Won tie-breaker with a 19″ bass.
** Won tie-breaker with a 20″ bass.

Photo above by Jason Scott

The first tournament of the 2012 season blasted off on Shearon Harris on Saturday, April 14th.  We shattered our attendance record with 42 anglers (previous high was 31)!  It was a little chilly in the morning, but it quickly warmed up and turned into a very nice day.  The breeze picked up in the afternoon, so many anglers reported ducking into coves to dodge the wind.  Most found the bedding bass to be on the picky side, but there were still quite a few largemouth boated.

Big bass honors went to Wayne Butler with a 22.75″ beauty.  4th thru 7th place finishers were all awarded $25 gift cards to Hook1.  Those gift cards went to Jason Longfellow (7th), Brad Crater (6th), Jeff Lee (5th), Daniel Arnold (4th).  Congrats, guys!  Third place went to Raleigh native Brian Roy, who finished with a solid 3-fish limit of 43.5″.  Coming in second place, was Hardcore Kayak Fishing Team member Chris Edwards, whose 3-bass limit totaled 45″.  Finally, it was newcomer Patrick Parmenter that bested the field (and made good on his pre-tourney smack talk) with a 3-fish limit of 51″.  Congratulations, gentlemen, on a job well done.

Thank you to everyone for supporting Heroes on the Water.  With your help today, we were able to raise $210 from entry fees.  Also, a big thank you to Joey Benevenia for creating the custom identifiers and donating lanyards to sell for HOW.  Lanyard sales totaled an additional $116.  Additionally, Nathan Raycroft, donated $350 after he recently sold one of his kayaks. So we’re off to a great start for the year with a total of $686 for HOW.

Thanks again to everyone that made it out, we were pleasantly surprised with the huge turnout and we’re already looking forward to our next event at big bass factory Randleman Reservoir on May 12th.  Also, don’t forget about the next kayak fishing tournament that benefits HOW, the NCKFA Battle in the ‘Boro, which is coming up on April 27th and 28th.  See you there!

Happy New Year, everyone!  Here is our 2012 tournament schedule as it stands right now.  We’re still working out some of the details, including some small rules changes, so please stand by for updates.  As of right now, our 2012 schedule looks like this:

April 14 – Shearon Harris

May 12 – Randleman Reservoir

June 30 – Fort Fisher

September 15 – Lake Michie

October 20 – Jordan Lake

We are also very pleased and thankful to announce that Native Watercraft has agreed to donate a kayak for our 2012 Angler of the Year prize!

Additionally, Chad Hoover at Hook 1 has given us four $25 gift cards to give as prizes for each of our tournaments!  We’ve decided to spread the wealth a little bit and award these prizes to our 4th-7th place finishers.  Thanks, Chad and Hook 1!

The final event of the 2011 Carolina Yakfish series was held this past Saturday at Jordan Lake.  The weather conditions were horrible in the morning -  40 degrees, a driving rain, and a stiff breeze.  Despite the forecast, 17 fearless anglers arrived at the launch at 6:30 ready to go.  An additional 18 participants and volunteers from Heroes on the Water amounted to a very good turnout for such a raw day.

There weren’t a ton of fish caught, but 3 anglers did managed to get a 3-fish limit.  Joey Benevenia came out on top with a 3-fish total of 48.25,” despite being stung by “the half-inch rule” (a 15.75″er DQed).  Joey also took big fish honors with a nice 19.25″ largemouth.   NCangler moderator Jeff Oestreich came in second with a 3-fish limit of 45.5″.  Nathan Raycroft finished in 3rd place with two bass that went 31″.  Joey B. found his fish shallow on wood with a variety of baits, including a worm, a jig, and a spinnerbait.  Almost all the rest of the fish in the field fell for crankbaits fished near rip rap.

Big congratulations to Joe Angelcyk for being the 2011 Carolina Yakfish Angler of the Year!  For his efforts, he wins a 2011 Jackson Kayak Coosa Elite.  A big thanks to our buddy Drew Gregory and the fine folks at Jackson Kayak for making this possible.

2011 was another great year for Carolina Yakfish!  Thanks to all the participants and donors, we were able to raise over $2,200 this season for Heroes on the Water.  These donations will be used to directly support North Carolina’s HOW chapters.  We had a great time this year, and we’re already looking forward to next year!  Be on the lookout for a 2012 schedule by the end of the year.

* Joey B. also won the big bass pot with a 19.25″ largemouth

——————–

Joey B’s winning limit (19.25″, 16″, 13″)

Jeff’s 2nd place limit (15.75″, 15.25″, 14.5″)

The fourth event of the year was held this afternoon on the Cape Fear River at Hwy 42.  Due to having to postpone last weekend and it being a holiday weekend with many competitors traveling, turnout was fairly light with 12 anglers.  We’re still on track to have a great fundraising year with $1897 raised so far for Heroes on the Water.
Thanks to everyone that made it out today and we apologize for having to postpone last weekend but we wanted to play it safe with the high wind and rain forecasted with Hurricane Irene.  The weather was great today and the bass cooperated for many of the participants.

Brad Crater bested the field with a 3 fish limit of 50.5″ and also took big fish honors with a 19″ bass.  Way to go Brad!  Second place went to Joey Benevenia who also had a 3 fish limit.  His bag measured in at 39″ and just barely squeezed by Bob Dainton‘s limit of 38.5″ who finished third.  Joe Angelcyk rose to the top of the AOY standings with another respectable finish, coming in 4th place with a 3 fish limit measuring 35.75″.  Rounding out the top 5 was Calvin Almond who is right on the heels of Joe for the AOY prize.

CORRECTION:  When posting the winners’ photos it was noticed that Joey B. didn’t have his ID number showing in two of his photos.  Those fish are therefore DQed.  This moves him down to 8th, Bob D. moves to 2nd and Joe A. moved up to 3rd.

I’m really sorry that changes to results have been made after a tourney again.  We appreciate everyone’s understanding in correcting the errors.  Steps will be taken so that this does NOT happen again in the future.

Click HERE for current standings.

Anglers reported catching fish on frogs, plastics, and crankbaits.  Most of the action was early and died down later in the day once the heat set in.

Thanks again to all the competitors and we look forward to seeing everyone at the final event of the year at Jordan Lake on 10/29.

*Won the big fish pot with a 19″ largemouth.

** 2 photos DQed for no ID #.

——————–

Brad’s winning bag (19″, 16″, 15.5)

Bob’s 2nd place bag (14.75″, 12.25″, 11.5″)

Joe’s 3rd place bag (14.25″, 11.25″, 10.25″)

The third event of the Carolina Yakfish season was held this afternoon at Beaverdam at Falls Lake. The storms stayed away and the turnout was fantastic. It was a bit warm, but for early July in North Carolina it could have been a lot worse. We set an attendance record today with 31 competitors and an additional 12 anglers from Heroes on the Water for a total of 43 anglers.

The fishing started off slow in the morning and remained that way throughout the day for most. Only one angler was able to catch a limit of 3 largemouth and he took today’s title with a total length of 41.75″. That lucky man was Calvin Almond from Wilmington, who fished today’s event with his son, Adam. Congrats Calvin and thanks for making the drive from the coast! Coming in 2nd place was Philip Ruckart with a two fish total of 31.5″. Philip also took big fish honors with a 17.25″ largemouth. Third place went to the winner of our first event of the year, Joe Angelyck, with a 2 fish total length of 25.25″. Bo Anders and Joey Sullivan rounded out the top five, who both had a two fish score of 24.75″.

There were quite a few stories today of lost fish near or at the boat, fish flopping off measuring boards, and forgotten identifiers. Quite a few other species were also caught today besides largemouth. Hardcore kayaker Tim Stewart was able to wrestle a 25″ bowfin in the boat and probably had the best fight of the day. Other fish caught included crappie, white perch, chain pickerel, white bass and catfish. Fish were caught on a variety of lures including crankbaits, spinner baits, plastics and jigs.

We would like to thank everyone for coming out and helping us raise more funds for Heroes on the Water.  Today’s total tally was $403. The rod and reel was also raffled today and we were able to raise an additional $260 for that. Total money raised year to date is $1724, already beating our total from last year! Big thanks to Brett Hinson at Carolina Custom Rods for the beautiful rod donation and Chad Hoover at KayakBassFishing.com for the reel voucher. The lucky man was Taylor Kennedy who purchased two raffle tickets just seconds before the drawing. Congrats Taylor, hope you enjoy the new combo!

Thanks again to everyone for coming out and we look forward to seeing y’all at our next event on the Cape Fear River on 8/27.

* Philip also won the big bass pot with a 17.25″ largemouth.

——————–

Calvin’s winning limit (17″, 12.75″, 12″)

Philip’s 2nd place bag (17.25″ and 14.25″)

Joe’s 3rd place bag (13.25″ and 12″)

Our 2nd event of the year was held this past Saturday at Fort Fisher. Turnout was great with 24 anglers competing in the first saltwater tournament of the series.

The weather was beautiful, with the exception of some breezy conditions near the end of the day. Lots of fish were caught, and 3 slams were recorded. In the end, Brian Roy bested the field with a 3-fish slam of 45.75 inches. Besides the cash prize, he receives a kayakbassfishing.com BASSpass and t-shirt. Brian also receives free entry into the RiverBassin’ Finale “Lake Basser” division on Sept. 10 up at Smith Mountain Lake outside of Roanoke, VA.

Trailing just behind his buddy was Steve Hurst with another slam totaling 45.5 inches. Not a bad day considering this was his first time kayak fishing in saltwater!  Steve took home some cash, but he also gets an individual challenge entry from KBF, as well as a KBF t-shirt and copy of Chad Hoover’s Kayak Bass Fishing book. Brian and Steve made the trip down from Raleigh together and probably had a fun ride home with a 1-2 finish!

Coming in 3rd, also with a slam, was NCKFA president Mark Patterson. Mark had a slam that measured 41.25 inches. With his 3rd place cash prize, Mark also gets an individual challenge entry from KBF, as well as a t-shirt and a copy of Jeff Little’s Kayak River Bass Fishing DVD.

Prizes were also given out for the biggest fish of each species. The big fish pot was won by Ashley Williams, with a red drum measuring 23.5 inches. Bob Dainton also caught a red the same size, but Ashley made it back to the ramp first so he took home the $105 pot. The biggest speckled trout went to Joey Sullivan who caught a 19.25 inch trout trolling an MR27. For that fish he won a pair of Flying Fisherman sunglasses and a pair of Fish Grips. Big flounder honors went to the event champion, Brian Roy, with a 16.25 inch flat fish. Not only did he take that fish home for dinner (Mmmmm), but he also won a hat, two shirts, paddle leash, and a few other things donated by Hook, Line, and Paddle. Thank you to Mark Patterson of NCKFA and Ryan Meddock at Hook, Line, and Paddle for donating goodies for the trout and flounder prizes.

After the winners were announced, more raffle tickets were sold for the rod & reel combo. This is a GORGEOUS rod custom made by Brett Hinson from Carolina Custom Rods valued at over $250.  The winner of the raffle will also get a voucher for a reel worth $175 from American Legacy Fishing Company.  The rod/reel combo will be given away at the next event, so be sure to get your tickets NOW!  More information about the raffle HERE.

After two events, total money raised for Heroes on the Water is already over $1200!

Thank you to all competitors that made it out to this event and making it a very fun day. We hope to see you all at Beaverdam at Falls Lake on July 9th!

BONUS YouTube video from Kaleb…enjoy!

Brian’s winning slam (16.25″ red, 16.25″ flounder, 13.25″ trout)

Steve’s 2nd place slam (18.75″ red, 12.25″ flounder, 14.5″ trout)

Mark’s 3rd place slam (15.75″ red, 12″ flounder, 13.5″ trout)

The 2011 Carolina Yakfish Series got off to a quick start today at Holt Lake.  23 anglers took on the lake despite the less than perfect forecast.  Luckily, the rain stayed away, other than a few sprinkles, and made for a great day on the water with friends.  Lots of fish were caught, including 13 3-fish limits – a new record for Carolina Yakfish!  A good way to start the new season.  Fish were caught on spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jigs and plastics among others.

In the end, Joe Angelcyk bested the field with a 3-fish limit of 43.25″.  Stan Harvey took second with 42.25″, and also landed the big bass pot with a 19.5″ beauty.  Brad Crater also had a fine showing and took home third place with a 3-fish limit of 40.5″.  Two anglers, Philip Ruckart and Joe Osbourne, both had limits that would have placed in the top 3, but were unfortunately denied their 3rd fish due to the “1/2-inch rule”.

The biggest winner of the day was Heroes on the Water.  Thanks to the particpants, outside donors, and the rod raffle, $662 was raised at the very first event.

We have decided to take $5 out of the entry fees this year and donate that to HOW as opposed to the end of year Angler of the Year cash payout like last year.  We did this because of the Jackson Coosa that will be given for the AOY prize.  The Coosa is worth more than double last years AOY prize so we hope this works out for everyone.

The rod & reel raffle raised $90 with 22 tickets sold.  Be sure to get some tickets at the next event!  You can also arrange for raffle tickets by contacting Joey at joey@carolinayakfish.com.

For the next event on May 7th, we’re getting salty!  So brush up on your slam techniques and we’ll see ya at the Fort!

1.  Joe Angelcyk – 3 LMB – 43.25″

2.  Stan Harvey – 3 LMB – 42.25″ (19.5″ fish won big bass pot)

3.  Brad Crater – 3 LMB – 40.5″

4.  Nathan Raycroft – 3 LMB – 39″

5.  Steve Hurst – 3 LMB – 35.75″

6.  Scott Inge – 3 LMB – 35″

7.  Brain Roy – 3 LMB – 34.5″ (14″)

8.  Daniel Morales – 3 LMB – 34.5″ (13″)

*9.  Joe Osbourne – 2 LMB – 32.75″

10.  Taylor Kennedy – 2 LMB – 32″ (18.75″)

11.  Tommy Sullivan – 3 LMB – 32″ (13″)

12.  Ryan Sadler  – 3 LMB – 31.75″

*13.  Philip Ruckart – 2 LMB – 29″

14.  Gary Ribet – 3 LMB – 28″

15.  Rich Girardi – 2 LMB – 19.5″

16.  Bob Dainton   – 1 LMB – 17.25″

17.  Paul Braly – 1 LMB – 11″

18.  Mike Hanner – 1 LMB – 10.5″

19.  Joey Benevenia – 1 LMB – 10″

20.  Joey Sullivan – 0 LMB

20.  Kyle Brafford – 0 LMB

20.  Sean Braly – 0 LMB

20.  Fred Moran – 0 LMB

——————–

* Due to the 1/2″ rule, one fish was disallowed.

——————–

Joe’s winning bag (16″, 15″, 12.25″)

Stan’s 2nd place bag (19.5″, 12.75″, 10″)

Brad’s 3rd place bag (15.5″, 13″, 12″)

Lots of good news to report before the 1st tourney.  PRIZES!

Jackson Kayak has agreed to donate a Coosa for the 2011 Angler of the Year grand prize!  Thanks to everyone at Jackson for making this possible!

For EACH event, Chad Hoover and kayakbassfishing.com have donated the following as prizes:

1st place – KBF BASSPass™* ($175 value) and a KBF t-shirt.

2nd place – Individual (monthly) challenge entry pass, a copy of Chad Hoover’s book “Kayak Bass Fishing”, and a KBF t-shirt.

3rd place – Individual (monthly) challenge entry pass, a copy of Jeff Little’s DVD “River Kayak Fishing Skills”, and a KBF t-shirt.

* note – If the winner already holds a KBF BASSpass, they will receive a $100 gift certificate to Hook 1 and a $75 gift certificate to KBF.

Also, Drew Gregory and the River Bassin’ Trail are giving the winners of each of our first four tournaments FREE ENTRY into the “Lake Basser” division of the River Bassin’ Trail Finale, which will be September 10th in Roanoke, VA (Smith Mountain Lake).