“They’re supposed to take off into the wind,” Ryan McNeal yelled as the F-22 Raptors roared low overhead off the runway at Tyndall Air Force Base. This time last year, Master Sargent McNeal was Chief Air Controller in the Tyndall control tower. Retired from the Air Force and working in Miami now, there wasn’t a thing he could do to prevent the F-22s, F-16s, F-4s and, oddly, a pair of A-10 Warthogs, from periodically drowning out our conversation as he pre-fished the IFA championship directly under their uncharacteristic downwind flight path.
It’s not like the pilots could have missed the 20-knot north wind that had pummeled the Emerald Coast around Panama City, Florida for the last several days. While Category 4 Hurricane Matthew raked Florida’s east coast, the storm’s massive circulation was also busy changing strategies for the tournament’s competitors hundreds of miles to the west. The north wind, in combination with large amounts of floating seagrass, rendered normally productive south shorelines virtually unfishable.
Competitors in the catch-and-release 2-day IFA Championship Presented by Hobie are allowed to measure one redfish and one trout each day, the total number of inches determining the overall winner. With competitors spread across 40 miles of water, I can’t shadow everyone; I decide to stick with McNeal to get a glimpse of the rigors of a tournament kayaker.
“With this wind, if you can measure 60 inches both days, you’ll win,” McNeal said as he explained his strategy of getting the trout early and then concentrating his efforts on finding a bull red beneath one of the nearby bridges. The wind left kayakers scrambling to find alternative grassflats to search for trout; the redfish portion took on a bucking bronco scenario as the wind pounded the favored venue around the Hathaway Bridge pilings.
“I’ll start out throwing topwaters for the trout,” McNeal explained. “I got some big explosions when I fished the area a few days ago, and I’ve left the spot alone since then, so hopefully the fish will still be there.” As for the redfish, “I’ll start out dropping jigs around the pilings, but I’ll go to a big LiveTarget Pinfish if the jigs don’t work.”
Even with a hurricane bearing down on the east coast, competitors converged from throughout the South to fish the IFA. Guys like Ryan McNeal hauled their kayaks 10 hours and then went through almost a week of long, exhausting days of pre-fishing to compete in tough conditions.
“I wanted to represent Panama City as best as I can,” McNeal said. “This is where I got my kayak-fishing start, and I wanted to show my appreciation for the trust they put in me.”
Spin the clock ahead, 5:50 a.m. Central Time. McNeal’s yellow Pro Angler 12 is off the truck and rigged and ready. Last minute tackle changes, then waiting impatiently for the 6:20 starting gun. The weather forecast on National Public Radio is less than encouraging: 20-25 knot winds, possibly gusting to 40. Waves around the bridge pilings could be menacing.
McNeal’s goal is to find a good trout quickly, and then hit the bridge in search of a bull red in the 40-inch-plus range. Whitecaps greet us as we emerge from a small, sheltered bayou. A rat redfish a quarter-inch short of legal eats valuable time off the clock, but it’s a fish. Yellow mouth open and gills flared, a solid trout in the 20-inch range shakes McNeal’s hook. He sticks to his game plan, settling for a 16.5-incher in order to be on the road in search of redfish by 8:45.
Updates to follow.
By 9:30, McNeal has joined a group of kayakers jigging the DuPont Bridge for bull redfish. The DuPont, while still bumpy, is more sheltered than the larger, deeper Hathaway Bridge that is generally favored as a redfish haven when the wind allows. The bite is on for one angler, Tony Lai, who releases his fourth fish of the morning, including a fish just under 40 inches, shortly after McNeal’s arrival.
Much like Florida’s east coast dodging a bullet when Hurricane Matthew’s track moved farther offshore overnight, there’s no sign of the forecast 40-knot gusts, but the north wind remains a steady 20-25 throughout the day.
The redfish bite dies. No one in the flotilla of 10 kayaks hooks anything bigger than a small flounder until, three hours later, McNeal spots bait being chased on the surface. His LiveTarget Pinfish gets slammed, and McNeal is back in contention with a skinny red just under 37 inches to go with his morning’s lone trout. Three hours to go, plenty of time to upgrade either fish. Another hour of fruitless dredging the 20-foot depths, and McNeal heads across town in search of a bigger trout.
Moment of truth. Check-in time, 4 p.m. The wind has crushed the strategies of many of the competitors; trout have been hard to come by, and some of the anglers have failed to land either species.
Perennial contenders Tony Lai (57.75), Marty Mood (56.75), and Benton Parrott (56.63) top the leaderboard. McNeal, the newcomer in just his third year of kayak fishing, lurks three inches back in 4th.
6:20 a.m. Saturday. McNeal sticks to the previous day’s strategy, again going for trout in the same relatively sheltered bayou. Strike on a MirrOdine, first fish on the measuring board, a solid 23.75-incher. Good news, bad news; it’s a redfish, not the trout he wanted.
A couple troutless hours later, and it’s back to the DuPont Bridge, a dozen miles east in search of a redfish upgrade. Not as rough as the previous day, but even Tony Lai, the first day leader, can’t find a red and has only a 15-inch trout in his camera.
“Hero to zero overnight,” Lai laments with a smile. Win or not, he knows he’s still in contention for IFA Angler of the Year.
No redfish caught among the bridge flotilla, with the tournament camera boat milling about silently, waiting for the first bent rod of the morning. By 11:30, McNeal and Lai load up for the almost 20-mile run to the larger, deeper Hathaway Bridge. Lai finds a Spanish mackerel, but no reds. McNeal makes his fourth move of the day, a quick dash to a grassflat a couple miles east for a last desperate shot at a trout.
3:15, 45 minutes to weigh-in. Time’s up. McNeal returns to stuff Lai’s kayak alongside his Pro Angler in the back of his truck. Reports trickle in that the trout and red bite has virtually collapsed, giving both anglers faint hopes that their meager catches, in aggregate with their first day totals, might miraculously keep them in the money.
Wind-battered, vanquished competitors gathered at Sunjammers Watersports confirm a disappointing second day. Schools of trout and reds encountered on Friday have either vanished or refuse to bite; just seven trout and six redfish measured.
Fifth-place is called, and Ryan McNeal steps forward – another small but significant upward step for the relative novice, who used every second of his vacation and sick time to fish the tournament. He’ll be back next year.
The top three were Hobie Fishing Top Gun Matthew Vann (106.5 inches), Eliott Stevens (86.75 inches), and Tim Stouder (81.0 inches). Tony Lai was named Angler of the Year.
For complete tournament results, click on IFAtours.com.
