Kayak Wars 2010 Wrap-Up / 2011 Preview
By Eric 'Oz' Ozolins of Kayak Wars

Another monumental year has just wrapped up in the Kayak Wars realm. Many records were undoubtedly broken, and many new faces joined the interactive scene. Several traditional well-known anglers and reigning individual Kayak Wars ‘Kings’ were overshadowed by new (yet very welcome) anxious competitors who finally joined the online phenomena.

This past year marked a milestone in Kayak Wars history, with well over 9000 tournament submissions making Kayak Wars not only one of the largest kayak events in the entire world, but one of the largest competitive fishing tournaments in the world. Nearly 450 anglers and 100 teams from the Gulf of Mexico and all along the entire east-coast of the United States took to the water and duked it out in their own tweaked out custom kayaks.

The object, as with previous years, is simple - go out… have fun… and report in on your adventure by submitting ‘eligible’ fish-points for your organized regional team. Both individual and team statistics are tracked in detail throughout the year by the unique tournament submission software coding developed by Ocean Epics. At the conclusion of the tournament year, prizes are awarded to the top place teams and anglers. Awards are also distributed to anglers with quality achievements throughout the year in random ‘quest’ contests as the ones sponsored by Sunjammers Watersports.

A new specialty item introduced in 2010 was the Kayak Man ‘Gold’ Points. These separate and unique points are awarded to anglers for various achievements such as special slams or obtaining a new Kayak Wars World Record for that region. With several years of trophy fish submissions established, there is already a solid benchmark set for these records. 2010 also marked the introduction of the ‘North-East’ regional division, amongst a new array of eligible fish for Kayak Wars participants to keep track of and view in awe.

Now lets get down to it, who came out on top in 2010?

South-Central Region

The originally established and oldest region in Kayak Wars history, the South-Central… contains primarily Texas and Louisiana. Since the dawn of Kayak Wars, Team Rockstar led by Eric ‘Oz’ Ozolins, Rick Underbrink, and Kip Kaaialii had held a reigning dynasty amongst the tournament for Texas. In 2010, the crown was passed on to team Texas Kayak Anglers with 7725 points, headed by Bill VanHorn and Jantzen Miller. As with previous years, teamwork resulted in the defining success and outcome for the team standings.

Team BuhLeeDat led by Region 1’s new all-time single season points holder - Adam Huynh (302 submissions for 3655 points), took second place while Team Tackle Shack placed Third. In 2010, Region 1 also produced the largest fish ever submitted in Kayak Wars history – a 114 inch Dusky Shark. This is and will remain a historic and impressive achievement by Kevin Eager.

South-East Region

The South-east region is primarily Florida waters. Florida is responsible for producing the largest variety of applicable species for Kayak Wars. In the past, teams such as Red Tide and Revolution dominated the waters. Iconic Florida shark/kayak angler Jeff Shindle has passed his torch on to some of the younger die-hard crowd. Team Revolution was the grand champion of the year with 12415 points. This is by far the most impressive team accomplishment in history of Kayak Wars. Revolution was led by variety thirsted Christopher Lewis who dominated KW for the past two years. Lewis has recorded an unthinkable and challenging 17 valid species and is on his way to becoming the Michael Jordan of modern day Kayak Wars.

Team Neptune placed second led by Brandon Denney and his super-accolade of 6165 submitted points, the highest personal single season point accumulation ever. Third place went to veteran team Gulf Scream led by Lee Smith, Taylor Hunt, and Chandler Graves. In total, 15 Florida teams manage to score 1000 points or more proving the success Kayak Wars has had in this region.

North-East Region   

The newest region to join the Kayak Wars force is the North-East region. Compiled of teams from the Carolina’s to New England, this experimental addition was nothing but a blessing to the KW family. There was a battalion of Fleets within the KFA-NY anglers. While 28 teams from the North-East battled it out, the top 3 placing teams were product of KFA-NY. Fleet 1 took the championship in this region by recording and introductory 10035 points led by team captain Pat Gallagher and his contribution of 5565 points. KFA-NY Fleet 3 led by Bob Bernard and Tom Lowe squeezed into 2^nd and KFA-NY Fleet 2 placed in third, made possible to quality submissions via Carl Schneider and Ed Savarese. 16 New Kayak Wars Records were established for this region. Many were trophy quality fish such as Darren Mikula’s 46 inch Striped Bass and Rob Alderman’s 48 inch Red Drum. This will be an interesting region to watch for 2011.

End of Year KW Prizes and Sponsors
Kayak Wars was very fortunate to have sponsors such as Pelagic Gear, Yak-Gear, Kayak Angler Magazine, Sunjammers Watersports, and Ocean Waves. However, the top contributor for 2010 was a very generous and respectable sponsor, Hobie Fishing. Hobie was responsible for the majority of big-time prizes, including a Hobie Pro Angler Kayak. Prizes will be shipped out to anglers and teams starting late December with the fulfillment of distribution likely by February just in time for next year’s event. Sunjammers was responsible in holding various in-year contests giving away great tackle and gear for particular achievements. We would like to thank each of these sponsors for their great support in 2010 and their likely continuing support for 2011.

Kayak Wars 2011 Announcement and Surprises
Kayak Wars will continue starting February 2011. Anglers can register and compile teams starting late January or early February with team compilation coming to a close around April. New features for 2011 will be a more advanced and individual tracking system for points and achievements. More interaction amongst the crowd makes for a more entertaining experience. Bottom line, everyone loves to dig around and inspect the incredible catches that are being made by anglers regardless of what region they are in. Another new addition for 2011 is the ability for anglers to have their own media page, being able to submit their own personalized kayak adventure videos relating to their trips and fish for the tournament. And finally, the greatest and most anticipated addition to Kayak Wars for 2011 will be the introduction of a fresh water division. After years of preparation and planning, freshwater will officially be a part of Kayak Wars, welcoming a whole new genre of anglers.

2011 shall prove to be yet once again a mega year in the world of kayak fishing. It is important to remember that Kayak Wars is FREE to join. This has always remained the fundamental foundation of this successful tournament. The biggest request in Kayak Wars by its organizers is to be honest, and most of all to just go out and have fun.