"Mountain men used to come out of the mountains at the end of the season to sell their furs, socialize, trade goods and tell stories at the Rendezvous. Tidewater Kayak Anglers might not have furs to sell, but when the kayak fishing is slow they know how to eat, drink, and tell stories!"

This has been the rallying message behind the annual Kayak Fishing Rendezvous at ARC-Hampton. This year marked the third time the tidewater kayak fishing community has gathered to celebrate a new year. On Sunday Feb. 8th, the tribe came together, ate chili, grilled hotdogs, raffled prizes, swapped and sold gear, and shared stories. If you're thinking, "man, that sounds fun," well, it is and you shouldn't miss it in the future.

.

The Kayak Fishing Rendezvous also features a highly competitive Chili Cook-Off and this year was no different. There were 24 pots of chili up for judging. Somehow we did not burn the whole place to the ground.

.

.

Ten TKAA, Tidewater Kayak Anglers Assoc., Officers and Board Members were on tap to judge and they had their work cut out for them. They used score sheets with 5 criteria - color, aroma, consistency, taste and aftertaste. Each criteria was rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Here is Seth Goodrich checking on the aroma of chili #4.

.

.

When the totals had been added up, the winners were announced. I missed the opportunity to snap photos of the winners when my sister and her family arrived. Hopefully someone will post them on our Facebook page in the coming days. In the meantime, Congrats to the Top 3 finishers. Prizes awarded inc. gift certificates from ARC - 1st ($75), 2nd ($60), and 3rd ($50) and bragging rights.

2015 Kayak Rendezvous Chili Cook-Off Champions

1st place - John Gorman
2nd Place -  Tom Powers
3rd Place - Dean Matty

Then the chili was opened up to the crowd.

.

.

Bobby, from ARC-Hampton, started grilling hotdogs for the kids.

.

.

The raffles were called out next, with all proceeds benefiting tidewater chapter of Heroes on the Water. Top prizes were guided kayak fishing trips donated by "1st Landing Kayak Fishing Services" (Mark Lozier) and "Outer Banks Kayak Fishing" (Rob Alderman) along with miscellaneous items donated by TKAA, ARC, Finatic Kayak Fishing Tournament, and Tidewater HOW. Total raised was $317.

.

.

The gear swap section seemed to be hustling and bustling throughout the event. There was a lot of cool second hand stuff up for sale and even some cool art from Rob Choi.

.

.

Rob Choi, of Ocean Kayak/Werner Paddles/Kokatat/YakAttack, also presented a Shad Seminar in the shop. There is always a lot of good info available from our local Pro Staff guys and they are all great ambassadors to the sport of kayak fishing. One of the cool things about the Rendezvous is getting all the guys and gals together in one spot, where there is no tournament tension or expo expectations, and where they can just hang out and have a good time.

.

.

But, the best part is getting everyone from the community together, with all the Pro Staff folks, in a place where everyone gets to freely mingle about and talk fishing.

.

.

No hype and no fuss, just a great community coming together and enjoying each others company. That was always the goal, and though this event has grown each of it's three years, that will continue to be the goal. We love this little grassroots style event. We love seeing the tribe sharing easy smiles and a little heckling. And we love being a part of it.

.

Yes, and five feet away is a store slam full of awesome kayaks.

.

.

But it's not about that. For one day at ARC-Hampton it is solely about this...

.

.

Good times with good people. We are a community, and a damn fine one at that.

Thank You to everyone for coming out and for letting us be a part of it!

Next community event: Meet the Pro Staff at ARC Hampton continues Thursday February 26th with William Ragulsky, of Hurricane Kayaks/Werner Paddles/Astral, leading a discussion about Flyfishing inshore waters of Tidewater Virginia. RSVP to the Facebook Event page here.

* I'll post all the photos I took at the event on our Facebook page on Monday afternoon. Please share any of yours on our page as well. Thank you.

**Also, if you haven't joined TKAA yet, you should.