KINBURN – It’s a silver medal for Team Canada and Kinburn’s Scott Barton at the inaugural Pan-American Kayak Bass Fishing Championship.

Barton just returned from the event last Sunday (June 2) afternoon after spending eight days in Cookevillle-Putnam County, Tennesee competing in the three-day championship.

Men and women representing the countries of Canada, the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic competed in the three-day tournament held on Centre Hill Lake.

“The lake is a huge reservoir with two dams at each end,” Barton told West Carleton Online yesterday (June 6). “There’s no weeds, the temperature of the water is 85 degrees (Fahrenheit). The fishing is quite different than what we’re used to here.”

The lake is 64 miles (102 kilometres) long and up to 195 feet (59 metres) deep.

Barton has only been involved in the sport for roughly the last eight years. In the last year he has slowly been recognized as one of the leaders in kayak fishing. Last October he was a guest host on the Kayak Fishing Show sharing his favourite Ottawa Valley fishing holes. He has picked up some sponsors along the way including industry leaders Jackson Kayaks. Then last March, Barton was named to the Canadian team.

The inaugural Pan-Am games is the first large step on the path to becoming an Olympic sport. The sport next needs to establish a world championship.

A kayak fishing tournament is similar to a bass fishing tournament, but competitors must use paddle-power to fish the lake. The tournament competition is two days long with competitors getting an official practice day first. During the tournament, competitors submit their five longest fish each day. The total length is divided by the number of team members and the highest number is awarded the team win.

Team Canada was made up of nine men and three women selected mostly from Ontario.

Teams divided in to three, and each group picks one of three areas to launch from. Each group must stick with their dock for the entire day.

“So, there’s a bit of strategy involved,” Barton said. “Do you want to paddle far and get away from the crowd or use that time fishing?”

Anglers use an app to upload their fish to the competition and to the world. Kayak fishing uses an app where competitors take a photo of their fish with a ruler, upload the photo to the app, then release the fish back into the water. Those interested in the competition can see the photos get uploaded in real time. The fish are returned to the spot they were caught from and are released soon after capture doing as little harm as possible.

“The kayak fishing community is very proud of this system,” Barton said.

When the tournament was done, Gold went to the USA, Silver to Canada and Bronze to Costa Rica, which had to pass Mexico on Day 2 to earn the bronze.

Barton said the town of Cookeville was very welcoming. Competitors took part in a parade through town driven around in the back of Nissan trucks – one of the title sponsors of the event.

Barton got a firefighters’ welcome as well as Chief Daryl Blair of the Cookeville Fire Department and the rest of the crew dropped by to say hello to a fellow firefighter.

“The chief, the captain and the crew all stopped by all within five minutes of each other,” Barton said. “So that was pretty cool.”

Barton says the whole event will be a lifelong memory.

“It was really unique,” Barton said. “They really threw out the welcome mat for us. It was pretty special.”

Barton says competitors and organizers are really pleased with how the inaugural event went.

“Nobody really knew how it was going to go,” he said. “This was all put together last January. We didn’t even have a qualifying tournament. There was a real sense of community. I think everyone felt like we were laying the groundwork for something pretty special.”

The road forward will be more challenging for all competitors in Canada. Next year the Pan-Am games will be in Mexico, but there will be a qualifying tournament for the team this summer.

“There will be a lot of competition to make the team,” Barton said. “They’ll be choosing from across the county next time as well instead of just Ontario.”

Barton says the sport would really like to see some growth on the women side. Barton said a team has room for six females, but only fielded three at this tournament.

“It’s a great opportunity for women to get in at the grass roots level,” he said.

For more information on the local kayak fishing club, click here.