SWIFT with the support from Atlantic based Duke Rentals made history this past Saturday when over 30 student anglers took 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’s angers 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.

Ken Tolton, president of Duke Rentals and 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 angles to photograph their fish on an approved measuring board, release the fish and then upload the photo for scoring.

30 anglers competed at Littlefield and reeled in 73 fish totaling 731.75 inches. Powerade High School division was won by Owen Hoover, 2nd place was Jake Oathoudt, 3rd place Colton Rudy, 4th Vicente Butcher and 5th Joaquin Wailes. Fairlife Junior division was won by Colin Rudy, second Gavin Dougherty, third Grady Roberts, fourth Bently Hughes and 5th was Garret Stetzel. The Duke Bank tournament was won by Jarrett Hansen, Jake Wailes was second, 3rd was Tegan Steinkuehler, 4th Brendan Wilke and 5th Kayden Dreyer. Big Fish Winner was Colin Rudy.

The SWIFT Duke Rentals Kayak Series will host four tournaments and cap off the series with the State Championships on July 17^th at Prairie Rose Lake. May 7^th was at Littlefield Lake, May 21^st at Morman Trail Lake, near Bridgewater, June 12^th Greenfield Lake.

For more information on please contact Southwest Iowa Fishing at swifishing@gmail.com or check out the website at www.swifishteam.com