By Paul LebowitzApril 29, 2005 MISSION BAY - Dennis Kilian took top honors at the 26th Kayak Fishing Tournament hosted by the San Diego Sailing Center (SDSC) this August 17th. Kilian’s five fish limit of spotted bay bass weighed 8.56 pounds and earned him a new $1,000 Cobra fishing kayak. Kayak bass specialist Paul Weintraub coasted into second place with 8.33 pounds. Matt Brewer rounded out the top three with 8.06 pounds of spotted bay bass. The largest bass of the day, a nice 2.3-pounder, was fooled by Nathan Clookie. Many of the competitors of this saltwater bass catch and release event found the going tough. Not Kilian. As is the tradition in this long running tournament series, Kilian graciously shared the key to his success. He used a customized spinnerbait in the shallows of the coves. “I couldn’t find the right color skirt, so I had to buy a jig and take it from that,” said Kilian. |
TOURNAMENT WINNER Dennis Kilian, passing one of his fish to the weigh boat, used a two-blade spinnerbait with a brown and orange skirt to fool the five bass that made up his 8.56-lb. bag. PHOTO COURTESY RICK HOOLKO |
The hard to find color? Orange with brown. 134 kayak anglers turned out for the competition, tying the best mark in series history. SDSC owner Rick Hoolko contrasted the lively turnout with the early days of the series. “Back in 1999 we started with 17 people. Each year it just kept growing,” said Hoolko. A lot has changed since 1999. For one, the level of competition has dramatically increased. “There are a lot of good fishermen now. In the beginning there were kayakers that had some interest in fishing. Now we have fishermen who aren’t kayakers taking an interest,” said Hoolko. The SDSC tournament was the second leg of the Plastic Navy Tournament Trail. With five tournaments to go, Yani Hasircoglu narrowly leads the pack, less than a quarter of a pound ahead of Bill Hokstad. Steve Preslar is not far behind in third. The next Tournament Trail event is the Fastlane Kayak Fishing Frenzy, which will be staged on Mission Bay on May 14. Plastic Navy will crown an Angler of the Year at the conclusion of their seventh event in November. See the Plastic Navy website for further information: www.plasticnavy.com. |