CKA September 13 meeting

Cenla Kayak Anglers monthly meeting
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Red Alert Lures
6403 Shreveport Highway, Tioga

This month our fellow member and sponsor Keith Fussell of Red Alert Lures has agreed to let us meet at his store.  It's a great opportunity for CKA members and guests to check out his new store, if you haven't done so already.

We'll keep our meeting short this month.  We'll share fishing reports including our experiences at Ride the Bull, talk about some business items, look at some of the fall kayak tournaments and events coming up, and discuss suggestions for a club fall outing or tournament (or two).

That's this Tuesday.  Bring a friend. See you there!

September 6th meeting postponed

With the Labor Day weekend, and folks getting back to a busy schedule, we're postponing the 1st Tuesday meeting and will reschedule for the 2nd Tuesday.  Check back for details.

CKA August 11 meeting

Cenla Kayak Anglers monthly meeting
Thursday, August 11, 2016
6:00pm
Rapides Westside Library
5408 Provine Place, Alexandria, LA

* note the date change for this month. The meeting rooms are unavailable the first 9 days of August due to their annual book sale. 

For this meeting, Catch Cormier will give a slideshow presentation, "What's New for 2017 - Kayak Fishing" featuring many of the new and existing products he saw at the ICAST show in July.

Also on the agenda: some club business, fishing reports, tackle tips, upcoming events including LKFC Cajun Castaway, Ride the Bull, and possible fall club bass fishing outing.

The public is welcome!

Registration open for Ride the Bull 7

Ride the Bull VII
Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament
Friday, August 26  - Captains Dinner, Film Festival
Saturday, August 27 - Tournament, Lunch, Awards
Bridgeside Marina, Grand Isle, LA
Entry fee $75  (after August 15th, entry fee $85)

Ride the Bull is the world's largest kayak fishing tournament, with a record of 733 participants last year!  The premise is simple:  everyone launches from Bridgeside Marina (shotgun start) and fishes a confined area of Caminada Pass.  The quarry is bull redfish - reds over 27 inches.  Catch a red, signal one of several boats to come pick it up.  They take it to the weigh spot, tag the red, and safely release it back in the water. 

The prizes are great, the food is great, but it's the comradery that brings so many folks back again. There's nothing like sharing an area of water with several friends - and several new ones - and the frenzy when one or more hook into bull reds. It's one of the very few tournaments where winning isn't as important as having a good time!

Ride the Bull was conceived and organized by Danny and Kristen Wray of Calmwater Charters, and they did a fantastic job of building this event into one recognized around the world (yes, some anglers come from countries as far as Australia).  But sadly, Kristen lost her valant battle against cancer earlier this year.  Danny has decided to pass the reigns over to CCA Louisiana, who have been an integral part of this event over the years.  Thanks CCA!   As a bonus, CCA is adding a free year's membership for everyone who registers.

To sign up for RTB7, go to www.ccalouisiana.com.

CKA May 5th meeting

UPDATE:  The meeting has been moved to Valentine Lake due to the Dragon Races being relocated to Buhlow.

The next meeting of the Cenla Kayak Anglers will be on Tuesday, May 5th.  This will be an on-the-water meeting.  Bring your kayak and be willing to talk about your kayak, and how you rig it up.

We'll also discuss the CPR tournament, the upcoming summer-long CCA STAR tournament, and the upcoming Lafayette Kayak Fishing Club's annual "Speck and Redfish Cup" set for May 28th.

April meeting recap

At our April 5th meeting, fellow CKA member Keith Fussell gave a presentation on the many fishing lures his company makes  (Red Alert Lures - website www.redalertlures.com).  They include a flexible inline spinner, an inline buzz bait, an improved version of the Alabama Rig called the Louisiana Triple Threat, and many exciting molded plastic baits.  Red Alert Lures also sells fishing tackle. 

Keith also sells Vibe kayaks, which makes the highly-popular fishing model SeaGhost 130.  The SeaGhost sells for under $900 and that includes rudder.  For 2016, the SeaGhost has a framed seat with height adjustment.  According to Keith, the boats are so popular that all pre-orders for 2016 have been sold, and it might not be until July when more boats are available! 

In addition to providing a highly informative presentation, Keith was generous to help sponsor our CPR tournament.  For winner of each of the three divisions, Red Alert Lures will donate a box of lures appropriate for that species...  a $50 value each!

Go by and check Keith's store at 6403 Shreveport Highway in Tioga.

CKA April 5th meeting

The next meeting of the Cenla Kayak Anglers will be on Tuesday, April 5th at the Rapides Westside Library in Alexandria.  Time is 6:00pm.

On the agenda:
- Update on the website and forum
- CPR Challenge
- Club formalities
- Tackle Tip of the Month
- Upcoming events and tournaments (including rescheduled Bass-A-Yak)
- Open discussion

The public is welcome!

Bass-A-Yak postponed

The Cenla Kayak Anglers first-ever "Bass-A-Yak" tournament scheduled for this Saturday, April 2nd at Black Lake near Campti has been postponed to a later date TBD.

Here's the 4-1-1... the Great Flood of 2016 (the 2nd one) inundated both marinas near Highway 9 bridge, the bridge itself, and many of the houses, camps, and docks along the lake.  Just this past week, they opened up the bridge. I called Chandlers today and found out the marina is still closed and the boat launches are closed and the lake is a no wake zone, but she's not sure if boats can even be launched.

At our April 5th meeting, we'll discuss alternative dates and/or locations as this event had a great deal of interest.

CPR Challenge starts tomorrow!

The Cenla Kayak Anglers first-ever CPR Challenge begins at midnight Wednesday, March 16 and continues through November 30th.  The CPR Challenge is a months-long catch-photo-release tournament in which members fish at their leisure.  When a member catches a worthy largemouth bass, crappie, or redfish - or a largemouth bass on fly rod - they have the opportunity to submit that catch for prizes.  All that the member needs to have with them is (1) a digital camera (2) a store-bought fish measuring board and (3) the CPR Challenge token.  Take a picture with the fish on the measuring board, nose up against the "bump board" with mouth closed.  Make sure the token is in the photo as well.  Then later send in the photo(s) along with a CPR Entry Form for each submitted catch.

Best part?  It's FREE to CKA members.  And with the Bonus Drawing, you don't need to finish on the leaderboard to be a winner!

For more details, including rules and restrictions, go to the CPR Challenge page.  Our Forums also includes rules, as well as Token and Entry Forms.  Since the CPR Challenge is in the members-only section of the forum, you'll need to register on the forum.  It's quick and easy, and you'll be able to post questions, fishing reports, and classifieds.

CKA March 1st meeting

The next meeting of the Cenla Kayak Anglers will be on Tuesday, March 1st at the Rapides Westside Library in Alexandria.  Time is 6:00pm.

On the agenda:
- recap of this past Saturday's Sac-A-Yak outing at Cotile Lake (expect fish stories)
- Morris Houck will do a brief presentation on his favorite tackle setup
- Tackle Tip of the Month: we'll do a hands-on of the Double Uni-Knot
- Upcoming events and tournaments
- Open discussion

The public is welcome!

Sac-A-Yak this Saturday!

Our first ever outing will be this Saturday, February 27, at the Cotile Lake Recreation Area.  We call it "Sac-A-Yak" with the primary species being what is known as "sacalait" here in Louisiana.  Also known as crappie or white perch, the slabs should be bedding along shorelines and shallows.  However, schools could still be in the deep water depending on the weather.

For liability purposes, this is -not- a tournament but an outing with the flavor of a tournament.  Everyone is welcome to come out and join us, there's NO entry fee and subsequently no prizes.  However, an optional calcutta is available for largest bag of five (5) crappie.  Entry for the calcutta is $10 and must be done at the registration table prior to fishing.

We'll "weigh in" at noon for calcutta payout and discussion.  Then some of us will drive a few hundred yards over to Wards Lakeside Diner for food and beverages and more lively tales and discussion.

For complete details, see our new forum! 

CKA February 2nd meeting

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 2nd, at the Rapides Westside Library on Provine Place in Alexandria.  Large meeting room.  Time is 6:00pm.

We'll go over some business items from the last meeting.  We'll also discuss, and get feedback on, the upcoming "Sac-A-Yak" outing on February 27th.  This will be a great opportunity for members to fish together, learn new things, and hopefully, catch some fish!

See you there!

CKA meeting - Thursday, January 14

Hey fellow kayak anglers!  We're holding the first-ever meeting of the Cenla Kayak Anglers on Thursday, January 14 at the Rapides Westside Library on Provine Place in Alexandria.  Time is 6:00pm.  The meeting will last about an hour and a half.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

The mission of CKA will be to promote the sport of kayak fishing and freshwater conservation in central Louisiana through fellowship, education, and conservation.
- Our fellowship goals will be to bring like-minded kayak enthusiasts together to share our experiences and knowledge.
- Our education goals will be to enhance members knowledge of boats, fisheries, safety and conservation. 
- Our conservation goals will be to encourage catch, photo and release (CPR) as well as participation in fish tagging programs.
We'll accomplish these goals through activities that include meetings, kayak fishing tournaments, casual gatherings, clinics, and demonstrations.  

Agenda
1. Welcome & Short Introductions
2. Vision for the club
3. Where we are as an organization
4. Where we need to be as an organization
5. Interim leadership
6. Future meetings
7. A group outing to an area water for some species in January or February

If you're interested, make plans to attend January 14th!