Story by John Kelly | Photos Courtesy of Casey Reed and Old Town Kayaks
Casey Reed, a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, began kayak fishing because of a simple desire to get off the banks and into the river. Little did he know that decision would send him into the competitive kayak fishing world’s brightest spotlight.
Yet, there he was in 2019, walking across the stage at the awards ceremony of the first annual Kayak Series Championship at the Bassmaster Classic—a stroll he earned with his 10th-place finish in the event. While he was certainly impressed with the glitz and glamour of the moment, Reed, now one of the sport’s most recognizable names, says the main thing the experience gave him was a steadfast determination to return to that stage one day as a champion.
“We had a little trail that was based out of Smith Mountain Lake,” he said, “and maybe you would have 12 people showing up at each tournament.” He did not capture top honors at any of those events his first season, but his overall performance earned him “Angler of the Year” honors.
As he headed to larger and unfamiliar bodies of water, Reed struggled. “It was a whole different game,” he said. “But after a couple of years doing that, and getting a little more relaxed with everything, I was less nervous. You learn something every time you go out, so I picked up things here and there and started seeing some success by the end of 2018.”
He ended that season with his highest finish, a second place in the Pack Bass Fishing Trail Series Championship on Toledo Bend. It set the stage for a breakout 2019 that would vault him to the top tier of a fast-growing sport, making him a pioneer in a rise that is evident both at premiere events and on ponds and lakes across America.
Later that year, a study from the Recreational Fishing and Boating Foundation found that nearly 40 million people in America spend at least some time fishing from a kayak.
There are now kayak fishing clubs in most states, and many states have more than one. The sport, he said, is huge in North and South Carolina. Virginia boasts multiple options for recreational and competitive kayak fishing alike, including the Northern Virginia Kayak Anglers, which regularly draws between 50-70 participants for each of its events.
While the relatively low costs involved with starting out in recreational kayak fishing certainly fueled that rise, the same is certainly not true in the pro game. When you get to the big leagues, a drop in the water is hardly a drop in the bucket.
Reed’s own kayak fishing journey started with a $150 kayak. After a year, he upgraded to a $500 model before buying his first Old Town Kayak, a leading-edge brand that offered Reed one of his first sponsorships in 2017.
Reed’s Old Town Sportsman Autopilot 136 is considered a top-of-the-line fishing kayak. It features Minn Kota’s Spot-Lock technology, which allows you to not only get to your spot faster, but to stay in that spot. The kayak can be operated with the touch of a thumb using a Bluetooth-connected i-Pilot remote.
Reed and his tour-leading competitors load their boats with the very latest in navigation and fish-finding technology gear. The state-of-the-art vessels with attendant gear often cost between $40,000 and $60,000, Reed said, and can weigh in at nearly 200 pounds.
He says that enthusiasts can get themselves in a good fishing kayak for about $1,000. “I just tell people to do their research and come up with a budget and think about the best kayak you can afford with that budget,” Reed said. He suggests that those interested in the sport start their own journeys by researching owner groups online. “It’s a great way to learn what other people are doing with these kayaks.”
While Reed continued his consistent winning ways in tournaments around the country for nearly a decade, there was always “one that got away” on the circuit: A KBF Series championship trophy. He had not even cracked the Top 10 there—a fact which his friends on the water reminded him about often. Reed chose the jersey number 11 as a motivator.
A new number is now in order. Last October in North Alabama when, as KBF Tournament News reported, he won the Challenge Series Championship, grabbed second in the KBF Trail Series Championship and finished third overall in points for both series.
Reed’s own payload includes “more tackle than I will ever need” on his tournament outings and as many as 12 fishing rods. As most fishermen will tell you, the most important bit of equipment weighs almost nothing at all. He is known for his use of, and success with, shaky heads. “When I kind of broke through in 2019, I think I caught about 80% of my fish with the shaky head.”
The one must-have tool in competitive kayak fishing is a tournament-approved measuring board. Without the extra room for the traditional live well and weigh-in system, kayak fishermen are judged by length as opposed to weight.
Anglers submit photos of each fish on the measuring board and upload them to an online tournament management system that records the catches and creates and maintains an updated leaderboard. At day’s end the fish are verified by officials, and a total score is calculated based on your best five of the day.
Last year, Reed fished three tournament trails, and travel costs alone can add up. He spends a bare minimum of two days of practice time at a site and sometimes takes a full week off from his full-time job working at Liberty University in its Liberty Mountain Snowflex Center snow-gear rental shop.
Sponsorships like Old Town Kayaks play a key role in Reed’s professional journey and in setting his own competition budget. In addition to Old Town, his sponsors include Humminbird, Minn Kota, Dakota Lithium Batteries, FishUSA, Cashion Fishing Rods, Ketch, Atfco, Leupold, Sniper Marine and Carver Covers.
No matter how they may be biting on a given day, Reed feels fortunate to do what he does, and thankful for the many remarkable places the sport takes him. A recent tournament brought him to Dale Hollow, located on the border between Tennessee and Kentucky.
“You’re driving around the lake, and you have these walls surrounding you where the roads were literally carved out of these mountains,” Reed said. “I went to my ramp, down the steepest hill I had ever driven, and it just opened into a beautiful lake you never would have known was there, with gorgeous mountains all around. I was blown away the entire time I was there.”
It reminds you of the T-shirt. You know, the one about a bad day of fishing and a good day at the office. Reed agrees wholeheartedly. “What I get to do is awesome, and I absolutely love it.”
All that time traveling to tournaments and scouting the waters offers plenty of time to dream. No matter how many new and beautiful places Reed finds himself in, those dreams always surround steps he has taken before—the ones across that bridge at the Bassmaster Classic.
I would not bet against him.
John Kelly is the managing editor of The Virginia Sportsman. He is a writer and public relations professional based in Charlottesville, Virginia, whose work has appeared in the UVA Arts Magazine, Albemarle Magazine and USA Today, among other publications. Kelly also works regularly throughout Central Virginia as a singer-songwriter (jkellysongs.com) and recently released an album of original songs titled “In Between.”
