(Area) SWIFT, with the support from Atlantic based Duke Rentals, will make history this Saturday when over 30 student anglers take to the waters on Littlefield Lake in Exira for their first competitive Bass junior and high school tournament. SWIFT will be the first kayak team in the state of Iowa and one of the largest in the country.
In just two short years the fishing team has experienced huge growth from 9 students anglers to now over 75 from across Southwest Iowa. With the growth it has presented challenges to find enough adult boat captains to allow the students to fish off boats during tournaments. This challenged the SWIFT organizers to find a way to allow more students to experience bass fishing from on the water. Kayak fishing is one of the hottest segments in the sport and it provided all the options for the more student anglers to be involved. It was an individual sport; tournaments could be held on smaller bodies of waters, and it was more affordable to purchase than a bass boat. Plus, more and more online and in person kayak tournaments were being organized drawing more participation.
Duke Rentals President Ken Tolton, an avid angler in his own right, heard about the success of SWIFT and listened to the idea of starting a student kayak series. With his generosity and Cappel’s Ace Hardware negotiating a deal for Lifetime kayaks the first junior and high school team was formed in the state of Iowa. Student anglers have three options to be a part of the Duke Rentals Kayak series, they can use their own kayak, the kayak they purchased from SWIFT or use one of the SWIFT loaner kayaks.
At all Duke Rentals kayak tournaments anglers will use the Fishing Chaos app to score the tournament based on the longest five-bass limit. This app allows anglers to photograph their fish on an approved measuring board, release the fish and then upload the photo for scoring.
The SWIFT Duke Rentals Kayak Series will host four tournaments and cap off the series with the State Championships on July 17th at Prairie Rose Lake. May 7th will be at Littlefield Lake, May 21st at Morman Trail Lake, near Bridgewater, and on June 12th at Greenfield Lake.
