The Extreme Kayak Fishing Battle in the Bahamas lives up to its name. Extreme: Fifty competitors load their ‘yaks and gear onto the Balearia Caribbean ferry out of Port Everglades, Florida, for a four-hour trip to another country, tropical Bahama. Battle: For two days they duel blazing wahoo, frantic mahi-mahi, giant kingfish, and sulking grouper. Bahamas: The water is clear and the deepest of blues. The bottom is stony, then falls away into the abyss. The beaches are palm-fringed, with silky white sands.
In this year’s edition, EKF regular Joe Kraatz of Florida smashed the field, scoring a spectacular 72.9-pound aggregate tally: a 17.2-pound yellowfin grouper, a 7.7-pound mahi-mahi, a 17.6-pound wahoo, and the dagger – a 30.4-pound kingfish. The win earned him a fat $10,000 check. Hobie Fishing caught up to him during his victory lap.
Kraatz came through after finishing second, third, fourth and sixth in past EKF events:
I joked with [EKF owners] Joe and Maria Hector that I wasn’t trying to win. I was waiting for the prizes to get better so I could win more money. [Laughs] I’ve tried for so long and come so close. EKF has a lot of good anglers. Victory was just out of reach. Winning is validation that all the hard work pays off. It’s a lot off my shoulders. I’ve had a good tournament career. It is something I can mark off my list. Now I can go out there and have fun.
For two days Kraatz spent his days fishing the tournament and his nights hunting for live bait – a critical competitive edge:
Most nights I was the only person out there. A couple people joined me here and there. I was out there every morning and every night. I’ll do it again next year. You always want to try and win. If that’s your goal you need to put in the work. I’ll try just as hard. Hopefully I can do a two-peat, so I can hold it over past two-time winner Brian Nelli’s head. His highest total weight was three pounds more than mine. Since he wasn’t able to make it this year, technically I didn’t beat him. It would have been a little more to brag about.
The night before the final day of the competition, Kraatz couldn’t catch live bait. Others were luckier:
I had only had one goggle eye in my pen. I couldn’t find them for some reason. I felt I was at a disadvantage with other people having a lot more gogs than me. Eric McDonald had a bucket full. I asked him if he wanted to sell them at a premium. He said yeah, for $300. I was debating it. I bet him he’d catch nothing but barracuda.
McDonald caught a dozen cuda on day two. He couldn’t escape the toothy beasts. Kraatz caught a wahoo and mahi, propelling him to an insurmountable lead.
Kraatz says prefishing is pointless if you’re fishing for pelagics. He believes in the power of live bait – and sticking with a plan:
I only fish the tournaments. Get the basics down, do what you know, and stick to your plan. If it is slow stick it out and be patient. Don’t change your game plan, stick to what works. It seems to pay off for me.
The winner of the Battle of the Bahamas loves his Hobie Mirage Outback:
I hate paddling with my arms. I prefer leg power using Hobie’s MirageDrive. I think the Outback is the best of the Hobie kayaks. It’s not the slowest, not the fastest, and stable. I can put a lot of gear on it. I can get eight rods on it plus a cooler bag. My hands are free to do other things such as tie a knot while I’m heading offshore. I think of it as a tank.
Along with Florida kayak dealer Nautical Ventures, Hobie Fishing sponsored the 2016 Extreme Kayak Fishing Battle in the Bahamas. Together they awarded second place finisher Brandon Nodal a prized Limited Edition Hobie Outback, just one of 500, valued at $3,400.
