2023 marks CKA’s 10th anniversary season. We will celebrate our anglers and the club’s pioneering role in growing the sport of kayak fishing in North Carolina. First, some highlights of our 2023 season, which is again powered by Dakota Lithium!
- A “greatest hits” schedule packed with some of the most popular bass fisheries in North Carolina
- The new “20 for 23” online series
- An “Angler of the Decade”title (in addition to the usual AOY and ROY titles)
- The new Str8UpMounts Big Bass Award
- New sponsors and prize opportunities
- A return to KBF National Championship qualification through CKA
- The KBF AmBASSador Series Championship for CKA team anglers
- The expanded fifth annual Battle on the Border
- A second multi-club event (with CCKF and Foothills Kayak Anglers)
- A return to the original Gate City Classic format (3 fish limit? Digital cameras?)!
- And more to come soon!
We will have more exciting news to post in the coming weeks, but for a moment let’s look back before we look ahead…..
CKA 2013-2023
In October of 2013, Garrett Phillips, Wayne Butler and Cory Dreyer decided to hold a team kayak fishing tournament on Randleman Reservoir. The event was to announce a new club that would begin its first full season in 2014. The club’s name was initially Triad Area Kayak Anglers (TAKA), but according to co-founder Cory Dreyer the name was changed prior to the 2014 season to “expand it outside of the Triad.”
As a result, Carolina Kayak Anglers (CKA) was born.
That 2013 tournament on Randleman Reservoir was also a hand-off. Since 2009, another club, Carolina Yakfish, had been the primary kayak bass fishing trail series in the state. An offshoot of the multi-species North Carolina Kayak Fishing Association (NCKFA), Carolina Yakfish was run by Joey Sullivan and Bob Dainton. When Joey and Bob decided to close up shop after the 2013 season, they encouraged Yakfish members to check out a new club that was holding an event at Randleman. Bob and Joey fished that first event, and have remained CKA anglers ever since.
No less than a half dozen kayak fishing trails have appeared in North Carolina since that day at Randleman 10 years ago. Some lasted a few seasons, others have thrived and all have contributed to building our sport – and all of them have some connection to CKA. In that way CKA proudly stands as the longest running continuous trail series that links the early history of kayak bass fishing in North Carolina during the 2000’s to the current boom in its statewide and regional popularity over the past decade.
Highlights: A Tradition of Excellence
CKA anglers have advanced to renown at every level of the sport.
- As competitors, we have won championships at the club, state, regional and national level, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars along the way.
- As ambassadors of the sport, we have given seminars, participated in community events, and been featured in major fishing media ranging from national kayak fishing podcasts and television programs to the covers of magazines.
- As a club founded by U.S. Military veterans, we have worked with various charity organization to raise awareness and tens of thousands of dollars for veteran’s causes.
- As a club run by and for its anglers, we have a long history of friendly competition, commemorated in the CKA Hall of Champions.
- We proudly support local businesses and brands that are central to our sport’s success. Our title sponsor is independent retailer Get Outdoors Pedal and Paddle of Greensboro, N.C. has been there with us every step of the way, and our collaboration has provided the model for how kayak trails and businesses maintain long running partnerships.
At every turn, at every tournament and across every season, CKA anglers have represented kayak bass fishing with integrity, commitment to community and by keeping the fire of competitive kayak fishing lit across the Old North State.
If you are an old timer who hasn’t fished CKA in a while, come back and celebrate the club in 2023.
If you are new to the sport, come learn it from anglers in the oldest, most experienced club in the state.
If you just want to fish from a kayak and meet some folks, we got that covered, too.
We are CKA, the Carolina Kayak Anglers. Fish with us in 2023 and be a part of history.
Click here to see the full 2023 schedule
Click here to become a CKA Member for 2023!!!
All content and photos © Carolina Kayak Anglers LLC, 2022.
