World Kayak Fishing Championships- Cookeville, TN
In 2018 Tony Forte, head of USA Bass Federation at the time, now President of USA Angling (umbrella organization) asked me if I would sponsor the USA Bass Team (Bass Boat) heading to Mexico to compete in the World Championships with Orion Coolers during a meeting at iCast. I scratched my head and said, “yes, I would, but only if you can help me get kayak fishing into the World Championships”. He said, “that is a great idea, and yes, I can help you with that.”
Tony talked to the head of the international federation in Italy, FIPSed (Federation International De La Peche Sportive En Eau Douce) that oversees the different world championships for different species and styles. They were excited about the possibility of adding kayak fishing to the roster, but needed to see a successful Pan Am Championships happen first and then, if successful, they would sanction the a World Championships the following year in the same location if we had a bid for it. It was game on for me in short order.
I contacted Cookeville tourism to see if I could have it hosted on Center Hill lake and if they would put in a bid to host both the Pan Ams and the World Championships. This was in the fall of 2018. Molly Brown was quick to turn in a proposal for the event from the Cookeville tourism department and we beat out some big fishing towns around the USA for that bid. Tony organized for around 10 countries to send team from North, Central, and South America. Meanwhile, as head of Jackson Kayak I offered up for all anglers to put in an “order” for their fishing kayak of choice to use in the event and we would have that boat ready to go. They could either use it and leave it for us to sell as a used boat, or buy it and take it home. We got Fat Tire, Raymarine, Kokatat, Werner, and Dakota Lithium as sponsors.
The event went very well with anglers having a good time and the fishing was pretty epic. My winning days were 93”, and 98” of smallmouth (236cm and 249 cm) with around 25-30 fish/day. Anglers seemed to catch a lot of fish at every ramp they competed at- Rock Island, Cane Creek, or Ragland Bottom. Parties were at my house and at the hotel convention center in Cookeville. Budweiser of Cookeville, the local distributor made sure we didn’t run out of Fat Tire and other beverages. People were fired up for the World Championships in 2020.
2020 comes around and Covid hits. Worlds are cancelled. 2021 comes around and same thing- pushed back. 2022 Portugal slips in and gets the bid for the first ever World Kayak Fishing Championships on Sabor Lake and Team USA (Mike, Chuck, EJ) attends.
Finally- Cookeville gets to host the worlds in 2023, 5 years after working on making this happen back in 2018.
12 nations send teams of 4 and each country can send 2 teams if they want. The USA had two. They were ultimately picked randomly, I think, anyhow, by Stormy, our team manager. (Dakota Lithium marketing director). My team was Brian Nelli, Kristine Fischer, and Damian Thao. The other team was Cody Milton, Russ Snyders, Guillermo Gonzales, and Josh Stewart. Each person with their own style of fishing, their own boats. The other teams were Canada, Mexico, England, Romania, Italy, Spain, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Philippines, Cuba, and Honduras.
The venue was changed to Hurricane Marina for this event, which is a beautiful place, but is not where you would choose if you want to catch a lot of fish out of a kayak. It is busy on the weekends with jet skis, wake boats, etc. It proved to be tough fishing with few people catching more than 1 fish/day in practice. The good news is that tournament fishing is a competition and if everyone has the same conditions, it is a matter of who can do the best with what you have.
Kristine and I hosted a party at my house with 50-60 people attending. As per usual Kristine made sure nobody went hungry.
We did an American-themed cookout, of course, with burgers and dogs. Of course, Kristine set up a hot dog dressing table to make every kind of dog possible.. Chicago, New York, California, etc. etc. Kristine’s brother, Bill, cooked “Nashville hot” chicken (finger food like chicken wings and AMAZING!) And took my job on the grill making burgers. He was a rock star as the food kept coming until people couldn’t eat any more. The biggest hit of the night, however, seemed to be Kristine’s special watermelon salad. It is pretty awesome. Cucumbers, feta cheese, vinegar, etc., it is amazing.
Smores- KC and I lit a big fire in the fire pit and we had the opportunity to introduce the world to smores. First step is teaching the anglers how to cook a marshmallow. It takes more skill than one might imagine. Apparently kids learn young in America and you assume it is because they are little kids that they always catch them on fire. Well, it is because it takes practice I now believe.
Under any condition I did one demo and then turned over the sticks to the Romanians and Spanish and let them go at it. We had kegs of Voodo Ranger, plenty of non-alcoholic beverages, but the Mexicans brought some epic tequila that they shared with me (and then left a bottle) that I sipped on all night. The tourism folks, local law enforcement (not in uniform, but there to have fun), etc. where there and it was great to have a night with everyone hanging out socially.
Day 1: Cody Milton and I were the only anglers to get limit on day 1. Moods of the anglers were very good considering, as people were catching some nice sized fish. There were also some big drum, gar, and muskie caught and the photos were being circulated around as people were fired up. Cody had the lead and I was in second. I had the winning fish on the hook, but broke a big one off and jumped off 2.
Day 2: Cody crushes it again and I only land 3 fish. 1 broke one off again, and lost a good one on the jump. Bad luck or bad fishing at those moments, again… whew! I dropped to 4th.
Day 3: My Team mates Brian and Damian both had great days to hold off Team USA 1 from taking over the lead. I ended up in 6th overall as an individual while Brian got 5th and Damian got 3rd. Our placing as a team put us in first, one point ahead of the other USA Team. The way this event works, you can enter two teams, but only one can medal in Nation’s Team Event, meaning that Canada got second and England got third (versus USA getting both 1st and 2nd). On Day 3 I went smallmouth fishing in hopes of a better hookup ratio and landing percentage. I landed my first fish at 5:35am by sprinting to the first point and hitting a laydown that produced a fish in practice. My strategy was to be the fastest on the water (Apex/EJ combo) and be able to get to far away spots quickly where I wouldn’t be sharing water with others. That worked and I had the fish to win individually, but didn’t deliver on the landing of them. What I did get every day, including practice, is a great workout. I was averaging about 4.5-4.7mph for about 45 minutes for my initial run and then again on the way back.
We had lines out at 1:30 and check-in deadline was 2:30 giving me 15 minutes of margin for error. I needed it on day 3 as the headwind dropped my speed to 3.5-4.2- and the big boats waves slowed me down as well. I am better prepared for a kayak race or freestyle event right now from fishing… how cool is that! 🙂
So- the medals for team were:
USA – Gold
Canada- Silver
England- Bronze
In good form, a major weather event appeared during the awards, but it was predicted, so they moved the venue from a big tent at the ramp, to the “Garage” in Cookeville. Good thing as the winds were crazy high and the rain and lightning was awesome. I convinced Mike from England to go outside with me in peak of the storm to experience, firsthand, what TN rain is like compared to an England sprinkle. I think he was impressed.
I don’t have much for photos myself, but Chuck Earls, who won the “hero award” for being the most bad assed volunteer of all time took some and gave to me.
I didn’t make a video this year- unlike the Pan Ams where I could call my shots and catch fish on demand, it was a 5-8 bite/day tournament for me.
The Tyr delivered again, for me. So easy to load, unload, fast on the water, super comfortable, and extremely effective. It is pure fun. I will take it out to Rock Island again and catch a bunch of big smallmouth this week for my redemption outing and then focus on my next big event, the World Freestyle Kayak Championships in my Apex Rebound. 🙂
BTW, I flush mounted my Lowrance 9” elite unit on the “dashboard’ hatch cover. I don’t usually run electronics in my kayaks unless I am fishing a big lake, like Center Hill at Hurricane Marina. It was fun having it on there in this case. My Dakota Lithium Power Box fits nicely inside the hatch out of the way.
Below is a gallery of fun photos from this event.
