By Paul Lebowitz

March 30, 2007

The saltwater bass that swim in San Diego’s beautiful Mission Bay better watch out. A kayak armada will converge here on Saturday, April 14 for Plastic Navy’s first of six Tournament Trail kayak fishing contests presented by Western Outdoor News.

The Mission Bay event, like every one in the series, is an inexpensive and fun catch and release tournament targeting spotted, sand, and calico bass with artificial lures. A release tournament on kayaks – how’s that work?

Easy. Plastic Navy will have weigh boats stationed around the bay. Catch a few tournament quality fish (13-in. or better), then signal for a scale. Kayakers still need to keep bass alive for a while, so most will use simple powered live wells, fish baskets, or mesh bags.

Your $40 pre-registration ($50 day of) will get you a hot lunch, entry to the raffle, and eligibility for lucrative placement prizes. Some hot stick will walk away at least $1,001 richer after weighing the heaviest 5-bass tournament stringer.

The winner of the optional jackpot will take home more than cash. Global Fish Mounts will ensure the glory is more than momentary by immortalizing the catch with a beautiful replica mount. If the jackpot fish turns out to be the biggest of the series when the action ends in December, it’ll be worth a cool $1,500 from Okuma.

Everyone who fishes the tournament will score points toward the series championship. The winner of the coveted Lowrance Electronics Angler of the Year race will collect priceless bragging rights and $2,500. The prizes are the biggest seen in west coast kayak fishing history, but the central theme is a fun day of kayak fishing. There’s something here for novices and hard-core paddle fishing maniacs.

Prizes up for grabs throughout the tournament series include slick new fishing kayaks from Hobie, stylish Costa del Mar sunglasses, Islander Sportfishing mothership trips, cool fishfinders from Lowrance Electronics, rods and reels from Okuma including the striking new Alumina low-profile baitcaster, kayak-friendly gaffs and nets from Promar, comfy seats from Seairsports and Surf to Summit, handy tackle storage from WFO Tackle Systems, floating tools from Xtools, and quality bass baits and tackle from Berkley, FishTrap, MC Swimbaits, Storm, Rapala, Trix Jetty Worm and others.

Land-based tournament activities will center on Mission Bay’s Dana Landing area. The launch site is the free public ramp adjacent to Dana Landing Market, a great place for that last minute tackle purchase. The market is a full service tackle shop featuring Mission Bay staples such as plastics, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits from many Trail sponsors.

The post-fishing festivities will take place next to Fastlane Kayaking and Sailing. Check out the Hobie fishing kayaks on display in the shop, grab some lunch, and drop by the sponsor booths. Bring a favorite crankbait; VMC hooks will swap out your old hooks for the new Sure Set Treble as time permits. Then settle in for the raffle and hope to hear your name called as a placement prize winner.

Mission Bay is a great place to kick off the Trail. At over 2,000 sheltered surface acres, fishing here is like a day at the lake. Targeting the pugnacious spotted bay bass (spotties) that are dominant in Mission is similar too. They are susceptible to nearly every freshwater bass trick in the book, but they don’t have much of a taste for topwater.

The bay doesn’t offer much structure. Most of the bay is 12 to 14 ft. deep. A few holes and channels just manage to surpass 20 ft. In this environment, the spotties are drawn to the thick beds of eel grass scattered throughout the bay.

Mission Bay regulars have discovered some favorite lures over the years. The Berkley Frenzy medium diving minnow in black and chrome has a near fanatical following, as it runs at just the right depth and closely mimics the available forage. Medium diving shad pattern crankbaits produce too. One stand-out is the Rapala Shad Rap RS-7.

When conditions are right, scarcely anything beats a spinnerbait slow-rolled through the grass. Effective sizes range from a 3/4 oz. all the way up to a massive 1.5 oz, although a local favorite is the Spin Bomb from Trix Jetty Worm.

Of course the soft stuff has a key place in the Mission Bay angler’s tackle box. Curl-tailed Whams and swimbaits from FishTrap in chartreuse or brown / orange are classic spotty baits. So is Berkley Gulp!, particularly the Minnow Grub and Shrimp patterns. Along with crawdad imitations, the latter are tossed against dock supports and next to mooring cans and worked slowly and deliberately to tempt the biggest spots.

MISSION BASS – The Plastic Navy Tournament Trail Presented by Western Outdoor News kicks off at Mission Bay, where the spotted bay bass is king. The freckled fighters love to hunker down in the bay’s thick eel grass.

KAYAK ARMADA ON THE WAY – Kayak anglers from all over California will converge on Mission Bay on Saturday, April 14 for Plastic Navy’s first of six Tournament Trail kayak fishing contests. Like every competition in the series, it’ll be an inexpensive and fun catch and release tournament targeting spotted, sand, and calico bass with artificial lures. Lots of great prizes and cold hard cash will be up for grabs.

TOURNAMENT HQ WILL BE BUZZING - Land-based tournament activities will center on Mission Bay’s Dana Landing, between Dana Landing Market and Fastlane Sailing and Kayaking. After fishing, enjoy the included lunch, settle in for the raffle, and hope to hear your name called as a placement prize winner.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE – Spotted bay bass are susceptible to most freshwater bass tricks. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, plastics and Gulp! all tally their share of fish. The trick is to match the right bait to the conditions, and find the tool that’ll take the big ones. Take a look at these Mission Bay staples.