Free Kayak Fishing Tournaments

For many years, we have organized a series of kayak fishing tournaments on local waters around the Phoenix area, and we continue on for another year in 2026! Each tourney event offers cash and gift prizes for the top places, along with a nice wall plaque. AGAIN FOR 2026 - ALL ENTRANTS QUALIFY FOR A FREE FISHING KAYAK! Not sure which model, but as always one retailing at $2500 or more. Again for 2026 is an optional 3-person team competition, and a pre-event meeting for any new attendees that want to be better prepared. And the big fish/small fish side pot is still here. There's still no entry fee required, but we do have an optional buy-in series tier for "Top Dawgs" - an option for those wanting to shoot for a bigger payoff!

See our Facebook tournament page for the latest updates and past event results, including team and individual winners.

We've designed these events as a get-out-and-have-some-fun with other anglers that share your passion for kayak fishing, without any financial risk. There's usually some camping the night before, and fun hanging around afterwards. Bring family members so they can join in - it's all good. It's a great way to meet other anglers, see how others have their kayaks rigged up, and learn what to cast based on conditions, time of day and time of year.

Here's the 2026 schedule, always subject to potential change by the Tonto National Forest admins.

March 7 – Roosevelt Windy Hill (Badger Ramp) – 6:30 am

April 18 – Apache – 5:45 am

May 30 – Bartlett-Jojoba (night) – 5:30 pm

October 3 – Saguaro Butcher Jones – 6:00 am

October 31 – Bartlett-Flats– 6:30 am

TBD - Raffle and AOY awards at the store

The times above are estimates; the morning-time tournaments start at the above times or first safe light thereafter, whichever is later. Most events are 6 hours out on the water. Dates, times and launch points can change, so watch our Facebook page for the latest updates, or give us a call at Lowergear at 480-348-8917. You can sign up right from our web site for each event, up to the day before each event, as a free registrant or get into any pools you want. On-site registration is also an option for free-entry participants.

Here are the general rules:

• There is no entry fee required to participate, but there is a optional entry fee of $29 per event for winner-take-all, 100% payout for 1st place at that event (more below on these options).

• $100 (or Top Dawg pot)/$60/$40 cash prizes and plaques for top 3. $20 store gift certificates for places 4 and 5.
• Team winners - each on the team get bragging rights, special recognition and plaques at year end and the occasional gift certificates from our store or supporting fishing supply businesses. Plus 1 extra raffle ticket for the kayak.

• “Big/Small Fish" side pot: Optional entry is $10, paid via checkout/registration on this page (not at the launch site). Pool is then paid out at the event 90% for largest bass and 10% to smallest bass. Tie breaker is time of catch.
• For a more level playing field for those not yet all-in on the latest technolcogy riggings, we have a concurrent competition via what we call the "Classic Yaks" group - those fishing our tournaments with neither a motor nor a forward-facing sonar (FFS). See full details on this competition down below.
• Raffle for a new fishing kayak (details below)

• Angler of Year Points for special recognition and AOY wall plaque for top individual, and the top10 AOY finishers get 1 extra raffle ticket.

• Catch, Photo and Release - Grand total of your top 3 longest measured largemouth or smallmouth bass

• Measuring device must be a single piece, store-bought trough style (Hawg Trough/ Ketch, YakAttack, etc) with easy to read lines (cannot be a flat ruler or extendable style).

• Bass - facing left on trough style board, dorsal fin toward top of photo, tail centered and in a relaxed, un-pinched condition, mouth completely closed - with jaw / lip touching fence of measuring board. 1/4" or more deduction if mouth open

• Bass length is determined by its tail touching or crossing a quarter-inch line on the measuring board.

• If the tail falls short of a line, the length is rounded down to nearest 1/4 inch mark

• Tie breakers - biggest bass within the measurable grouping of those tied. If the biggest bass length ties, then the earliest timestamp among the photos of those biggest bass wins

• Digital photographs of each bass submitted must meet these requirements:

Legible - photo must be clear enough to read identifier and to judge length accurately
Eligible - photo must have been created within the official competition start and end times
Include - Kayak and ID card clearly visible in photo, and accurate time stamp available

• Anglers must be registered before each tournament launch begins. You can register as a free participant in advance or at the time of event on site, but to be in the Top Dawg pot, you must do so in advance via this web site (see above). Anglers must be at pre-tournament check-in for final instructions and issuance of a unique score card for that event. All participants subject to inclusion in event-related photos. There is potentially a cap on the number of entrants per event that varies by month and location, so sign up early.

• First three positions in individual competition: First Place awarded at least $100; Second $60; Third $40. Each of top 3 receives a wall plaque. Next 2 places (4th and 5th) each win a $20 gift certificate.

• Top Dawg Hawg optional series for individual competition: Pool entry is $29 for an event, payable only via advance registration. Pool is then paid out 100% for First Place (only if the winner was a Top Dawg participant in that event). Examples - if a free-entry participant comes in first, they get $100 and the entire Top Dawg pool rolls over to the next event. If a Top Dawg participant comes in first, they get the entire pool from that event and anything rolled over from a prior one, instead of the $100. If a free participant wins, the top prize is $100 that we fund. For the last event of the season, the pool will be paid out to the highest placing Top Dawg participant regardless of overall placement (does not have to be #1 overall).
• Awards for places 2-5 are the same for free and Top Dawg participants.
• Each placing winner has the responsibility to share at least one successful technique that led to their catch with other participants as part of the educational purpose of this event.

• Every participant will receive a raffle ticket for a season-ending drawing for a new PDL 120 from Old Town. Team winners get 1 extra raffle ticket for that event, as do the top 10 AOY leaders. See additional rules for this prize at the end of this rules list.

• Participating anglers must be 18 or older or accompanied by an adult.

• Anglers must follow all AZ Game and Fish and event locale rules, and wear a PFD at all times on the water.

• Single and tandem kayaks, canoes, SUPs and float tubes allowed. Electric motors allowed. Each angler in a tandem must be registered as an individual participant and no pooling of catches allowed.

• No live bait; artificial lures only

• No fishing in designated off-limits areas, such as marinas

• No use of alcohol or drugs during event

• All bass must be caught on rod, reel, line and hook only. An angler may only have one line in the water at a time.

• No late returns - must be back at the designated check-in station by stated end time. Allow enough time for you to get out of the water and back at the station in time - otherwise you are disqualified

• Additional rules if applicable will be covered at the event. Any disputes resolved solely at discretion of Lowergear.

Angler of Year - Points system winner acknowledged with special plaque at end of the season events and our Facebook page header image for the following year. All anglers who catch a fish at any event earn AOY points. Winner of an event receives a point total equal to the number of registered participants in that event; 2nd Place earns a point total equal to the number of participants minus 1; 3rd place -2, etc and on down the line. Angler with most points at end of series is Angler of Year. Tie breaker for the same cumulative score is highest rank for an event; second highest, etc.

Team competition - 3-person teams, formed on a create-your-own basis prior to season start. To minimize 'superteams', those in the top 20 AOY positions (see Facebook page for rankings) for the '25 season cannot be teammates. If you'd like to be on a team, reach out to others or we'll help facilitate matchups. Top 5 fish among the team are totalled like the individual scoring, but no more than 3 fish can come from any one individual. If 2 of 3 members of a team participate, the team can still get up to the 5 fish limit (3 and 2), but if only 1 on a team shows up at an event, team total will be limited to that angler's biggest 3 fish. In other words, reliability in attendance makes a good team mate. Admins will determine team winners and post after each event. Team winner for the year is the team with the highest total length for all 5 events.

Kayak prize rules - At the end of each event, each participant will earn a raffle ticket onto which we will write their name and drop in the ticket bowl. Bonus raffle tickets are earned in 2 ways - each member of the winning team for the season gets a bonus ticket, as do all anglers that came in the top 10 for AOY points. At a season-ending event at our retail store, we will draw from all eligible raffle tickets (those with minimum of 2 entries) and award the winner a new kayak. You must be at the drawing in person to win. The winner may be able to optionally apply partial value of the awarded kayak toward a different model of higher value if preferred. The more times you participate in the tournament events, the more tickets are entered with your name and the better your chances to win. See some of the prior winners below!

Further info on the "Classic Yaks" competition:
There are no separate paid pools for the Classics competition; entrants are still eligible to participate in the overall paid pools. We're just providing additional plaques and prize winnings from our side.

Any Classic winner could well also win or place in the overall competition as well – not all winners in the past have FFS and/or motors.

Pedal drives are ok in the Classic group as are regular graph setups. No FFS or motor means just that; cannot be on the kayak and “promised not to use”.

You are able to join in this competition via a dropdown option on the registration page.

Season ending event – at our retail store, date to be determined

First-time participants or those wanting a refresher - watch this video, and we'll post a Zoom link for asking questions a couple days ahead of each event!

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