USAngling Introduces New USA Kayak Saltwater Fishing Team

Exciting times!  You may recognize a few names involved here ...

USA, April 4, 2024
USAngling is proud to announce an exciting new sports team, Saltwater Kayak Fishing, to the USAngling program. USAngling has set up an USA Kayak Fishing Saltwater committee to select America’s best saltwater kayak fishing teams. These teams will represent the USA at the upcoming Costa Rica Pan American Championship in June and the World Championship in Spain this October. These are sanctioned events that will assist in the global effort to gain recognition for sport fishing by the International Olympic committee.

The committee currently consists of: Craig Storms – President, David Elgas – Vice President, Allen Sansano – Secretary, Annie Nagel – Communications Director, Adam Fisk – Team Coach, Robert Field – Gulf Coast Director and Joe Hector – Atlantic SE Director. This committee is establishing a program to build regional qualifiers, national championships, Pan Am events and a path for American athletes to compete in future Saltwater Kayak Fishing World Championships.

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Full press release here, https://conta.cc/3VOEbHd

-Allen

That's a bad ass alternative to the ditch pickle circuit!

-Mark-

I recognize most of these names, but never heard of this Allen guy.  How did he ever make the list?

You would think he would have at least been a household name in the kayak world, no?   


Congrats, my man!

I recognize most of these names, but never heard of this Allen guy.  How did he ever make the list?

He was brought in for his looks I'm sure.

-Allen

Things happen for a reason.

In October, David Elgas (Boogie-D) and I and a few others were in La Paz, Mexico.  We met a local kayak angler there name Jonatan.  We were supposed to be out to sea for the whole week, but shit happens and we had to pivot to a hotel based week.  This allowed us to spend more time with Jonatan.  Jonatan is on the Mexican Team.  He asked us why the USA didn't have a team at the upcoming PanAm championship.  We had no clue.  He made a call and introduced us to the Mexican heads, and they introduced us to USAngling.  USAngling asked us to figure this out.  We made a few phone calls and pulled the rest of the team in, and here we are, moving at the speed of light.

-Allen

I recognize most of these names, but never heard of this Allen guy.  How did he ever make the list?

He was brought in for his looks I'm sure.

-Allen

We'll go with that.   

We made a few phone calls and pulled the rest of the team in, and here we are, moving at the speed of light.

-Allen

Surprised to not see Howard in that list. 

What's he up to these days?

We made a few phone calls and pulled the rest of the team in, and here we are, moving at the speed of light.

-Allen

Surprised to not see Howard in that list. 

What's he up to these days?

I haven't spoken to Howard in a few years.  Now I have to call and see.

You'll be seeing another name on the list soon, that you'll recognize from the NW. 

-Allen

We made a few phone calls and pulled the rest of the team in, and here we are, moving at the speed of light.

-Allen

Surprised to not see Howard in that list. 

What's he up to these days?

I haven't spoken to Howard in a few years.  Now I have to call and see.

You'll be seeing another name on the list soon, that you'll recognize from the NW. 

-Allen

If you get a good chat going with Howard, have him pop in and say Hi here.  Would love to hear what kind of adventures he's been up to. 

So how does one get selected for a team or is it got to know the right people?

So how does one get selected for a team or is it got to know the right people?

The long term goal is to have qualifier tournaments around the country.  There are some practicalities to consider for the upcoming PanAm championship in June, as there is no time for qualifiers.  In some cases it may be knowing the right people, in other cases, it is anglers that have a presences and are known.  The coach and captain are in charge of putting together the best team to smash to competition at the PanAm's.

-Allen

Not exactly salmon shark fishing, but, Wow, historical heavy hitters list to get things up and running. Way to go old school crew!..

So, how many countries are involved

Not exactly salmon shark fishing, but, Wow, historical heavy hitters list to get things up and running. Way to go old school crew!..

So, how many countries are involved

For the upcoming PanAm Championship at the end of June ... USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Venezuela.

There is a World Champsionship in Spain in October.  We don't know which countries yet.

-Allen

So how does one get selected for a team or is it got to know the right people?

The long term goal is to have qualifier tournaments around the country.  There are some practicalities to consider for the upcoming PanAm championship in June, as there is no time for qualifiers.  In some cases it may be knowing the right people, in other cases, it is anglers that have a presences and are known.  The coach and captain are in charge of putting together the best team to smash to competition at the PanAm's.

-Allen

I hope to see qualifiers sooner then later.  Its definitely a who you know game now. Unfortunately, it is not representative of the entire group but more a small circle of friends.  Panam champion is a bit misleading at the moment-should be "champion amongst small group of invite only friends" .   

Currently the state's largest Ocean tournament is the AOTD tournament in Coos Bay- That could be a good qualifier.  ORC would have been good but has lacked support and participants for several years and not representative of the kayak community as  a whole.  Until anyone has a chance to make the team it seems silly to say that this team is represents the skillset across the NW. 

If it was based on recent tournaments/skillsets - Evan Merz has had the highest average finishing rate for the last several years.  Casey Broyles- had a year recently where he won every tournament  (AOTY, AOTD, ORC, Brownlee and others -these were big tourneys pre-covid).  Chris Mayes has won several large tournaments.  Jed Rivera broke records for AOTY and is constantly on top. If its truly about having a "presences that are known"" in the kayak community then Tyler Hicks should be considered...  i am surprised that none of them were named to the team.

Hoping that the leaders from this group/team can have a strong voice and support this for the long term and do it without personal bias.  We have had great tournaments in the past, only to see them fall by the wayside-- AOTY and ORC

I hope this is taken as constructive criticism and not just me complaining. Excited to see the series start and look forward to see it growing in the future. 

So how does one get selected for a team or is it got to know the right people?

The long term goal is to have qualifier tournaments around the country.  There are some practicalities to consider for the upcoming PanAm championship in June, as there is no time for qualifiers.  In some cases it may be knowing the right people, in other cases, it is anglers that have a presences and are known.  The coach and captain are in charge of putting together the best team to smash to competition at the PanAm's.

-Allen

I hope to see qualifiers sooner then later.  Its definitely a who you know game now. Unfortunately, it is not representative of the entire group but more a small circle of friends.  Panam champion is a bit misleading at the moment-should be "champion amongst small group of invite only friends" .   

Currently the state's largest Ocean tournament is the AOTD tournament in Coos Bay- That could be a good qualifier.  ORC would have been good but has lacked support and participants for several years and not representative of the kayak community as  a whole.  Until anyone has a chance to make the team it seems silly to say that this team is represents the skillset across the NW. 

If it was based on recent tournaments/skillsets - Evan Merz has had the highest average finishing rate for the last several years.  Casey Broyles- had a year recently where he won every tournament  (AOTY, AOTD, ORC, Brownlee and others -these were big tourneys pre-covid).  Chris Mayes has won several large tournaments.  Jed Rivera broke records for AOTY and is constantly on top. If its truly about having a "presences that are known"" in the kayak community then Tyler Hicks should be considered...  i am surprised that none of them were named to the team.

Hoping that the leaders from this group/team can have a strong voice and support this for the long term and do it without personal bias.  We have had great tournaments in the past, only to see them fall by the wayside-- AOTY and ORC

I hope this is taken as constructive criticism and not just me complaining. Excited to see the series start and look forward to see it growing in the future.

Good stuff!  Thanks for the feedback.  There is no right way to approach a tournament that is less than 3 months away.  However, it is impossible to hold qualifiers for it in this time frame.

BTW, there is no way to have a qualifier in every coastal state.  There are not enough positions in a team.

So while less than ideal, we put together a team for the PanAms that has the capabilities to win it all.  Stay tuned for qualifier info for the Worlds in October in Spain.  We're scrambling to get this in place.

-Allen