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The HardCore Kayak Anglers Club, based in West Central Florida, hosted their second of five inshore slam tournaments in the Tampa Bay area on April 28, 2012. The HCKAC 2012 Tournament Series is presented by sponsor Hobie Fishing and consists of five individual kayak inshore slam events (Snook, Redfish, & Spotted Seatrout) throughout 2012. The events not only promote the sport of competitive kayak fishing, but also the conservation of our local fishery through a catch, photo, and release format.

The 1st place winner of the 2012 HCKAC Series will receive a new Hobie Revolution 13 courtesy of Hobie Fishing and a cash award from the HCKAC. The first place cash award currently stands at $800. 2nd place will receive a $500 valued prize package courtesy of sponsor HOOK1 and 3rd place will receive a $500 valued prize package courtesy of sponsor YakAttack.

We’re very fortunate to be teamed up with the outstanding sponsors listed below. They’ve been extremely generous with their products and overall support. Thank you sponsors !



Surprisingly enough, Mother Nature was unusually kind to us with clear skies and light winds mostly from the North, but changing from the East as the day progressed. Mid-70’s morning air temperatures would give way to mid-80’s by early afternoon. Cooler weather earlier in the week kept the local water temperatures in the high 70’s. Adding in an early morning major solunar to the mix provided a reasonable set of conditions for an inshore slam competition. The only downside was a predicted lazy, incoming tide.

The launch boundaries for leg #2 of the 2012 Series were the western and northern shores of the interior of Tampa Bay. Forty-one HardCore anglers met at 0530 on Gandy beach to sign-in and get their YakAttack scoring tokens, Pro-Cure scents, and a V8 Energy drink supplied by Andrew Buda for the first twenty-five. Of these forty-one anglers, five new participants entered the 2012 Tournament Series bringing the number of total anglers for the season long competition to forty. They then launched at 0630 from public accessible areas from Oldsmar in “Upper Tampa Bay” to Weedon & Picnic Island in the central section of the Bay and all the way southwest to Ft. DeSoto Park located on the southern point of Pinellas County.

The team was scheduled to meet back at Kahuna’s Bar & Grill on Gandy Blvd at 2 p.m. for the photo weigh-in. Photos could be officially submitted up to 2:30 p.m. Some anglers called it an early day and had lunch & refreshments before the weigh-in. The majority arrived as scheduled and a few fishermen pushed it all the way to the 2:30 p.m. deadline. As typical, Kahuna’s staff was very well prepared and responsive to the group and brought food and beverages out to the area quickly with smiles on their faces. It was quite warm on the patio and many folks were ordering at the same time. Thanks Kahuna’s !



There was not as much “chatter” amongst the crowd as there was during Tournament #1 indicating that the fishing had to be tougher. However, there was definitely talk about some large fish being lost as well as large fish being seen and not feeding. Manatee encounters were reported by a few anglers. Although I didn’t personally witness any, I did hear some surprised child-like screaming not far from the 4th St launch just at sunrise (didn’t I Glenn?).

The Tournament Directors finally got all of the YakAttack score cards registered and any significant photos judged. Of the forty-one participants in the event, seven slams were recorded. Ten Snook, twenty-three Redfish, and thirty-two Trout were submitted for review. One Snook, five Redfish, and ten Trout that were presented were over-slot.













The Tournament team can’t say enough about HOOK1. Big hats off to Chad Hoover and his entire team for being such strong supporters of our HardCore Tournaments. In addition to the $75 Gift Certificates for the place finishes and the $25 big fish awards that are provided at at all of our individual events, Chad prompted us to have a “Mystery Fish challenge” that was announced only one day before the event. The mystery fish was decided to be a 22.5” Redfish (without going over) and was posted on the HardCore forum and the HCKAC Facebook page on Friday, April 27th. Three anglers offered fish in the length range, but Mr. Chuck Statham presented a Redfish that measured exactly at 22.5” and won an additional $50 Gift Certificate from HOOK1. Thanks for your generosity and “out of the box” thinking, Chad !


After the winner’s prizes were distributed, we moved into the sponsor raffle. Thank you sponsors for all of your continuous support !

















Stories & chilling




We called it “a good day” after the sponsor prizes were raffled off and concluded that the first half of the 2012 season had been a great success with having over 40 fishermen at each of the first 2 events. Thanks again go out to all of the great sponsors and participating members of the HCKAC ! Special "Thanks" also to Josh Maitland for taking all of the photos at the event.

At the request of our members, we're taking the Summer months off. The remaining scheduled events in the 2012 HCKAC Tournament Series are:
9/15/12 : 3rd Individual Event @ South of the Skyway
10/13/12 : 4th Individual Event @ St Joseph Sound and Northern Counties
11/10/12 : 5th Individual and Championship Event @ Southshore

You may even see a few 321fish.com events between now and the next tourney. Several Fish-N-Munches are being planned with the next one anticipated to be held in May (date TBD based upon weather) and the quarry will most likely be Tarpon ! We’ll have an inshore back-up plan in place if the offshore weather will not cooperate. Make sure you check the HardCore forum regularly for updates and tips on Tarpon fishing from your kayak.

Until the next time, Tight Lines & Keep It HardCore !