SEDLEY—On a cloudy, rainy and windy day, Jake Lusk and around 280 other participants competed in the TKAA Kayak Fish for Charity Tournament on Sept. 27.

While Lusk didn’t bring home the Hobie Fishing Slam prize for the largest combined redfish, trout and flounder, he did catch the largest trout by 3.5 inches, taking home the Nu-Canoe/Wild River Outfitters Speckled Trout Division prize for his 22-inch trout.

“I was surprised at first because I didn’t think I was going to win,” Lusk said. “I didn’t realize that I’d have a chance until I got to the marina and started talking to people, and then I realized that I might have a shot. I was excited to win.”

Along with the trophy, he also won a Frontier 10 fishing kayak.

Lusk said the day was supposed to be clear and sunny, but by the time Friday rolled around, the wind was blowing 25 miles per hour and it was also rainy.

“That messed everyone up,” he said. “Nobody knew what to do. A lot of them switched to fishing in the freshwater.”

Lusk started out along the coast, fishing for redfish. After about two hours, he’d caught two redfish, the largest being 22 inches.

Thinking that might be good enough, he went back to the Elizabeth River to fish for trout.

“I hook up with a 14.5-inch fish, but I tried to stay in the area to hook up with a bigger fish,” he said. “Sure enough, on the next pass, I hook up with one that’s got to be 24- to 26-inches long, and that one would have won.

“Unfortunately, he threw the hook before I could land him.”

After trying a few other spots, Lusk returned to the spot where he had missed the large fish.

“Right as I get back in the area, I hooked up again, this time with a 22-inch trout, and that ended up winning the speckled trout division,” he said.

At that point, Lusk returned to the marina for lunch. All he had to do was catch a flounder to compete for the fishing slam, which he had done the previous year.

“I came in third place last year,” he said. “It is your biggest trout, flounder and redfish combined. I was trying to win that. I had my redfish. I had my trout.”

So after lunch, he was on the water again looking for a flounder.

“I fished the Lynnhaven Inlet, and then I went to the Lesner Bridge,” Lusk said. “There were four-foot waves. I didn’t find any flounder there, so I went back to weigh in.”

At the weigh-in, the largest trout he heard about was around 18 inches, and his was 22, so he figured he had a chance to place in the trout division.

“I went out there not expecting to do anything, and I ended up winning,” Lusk said.

Proceeds from the event benefited the Heroes on the Water Foundation.