Halfway through the season in 2020 it’s time to take a look at some of the top anglers this season as well as over the past few years. Who has been getting it done on the water when it counts on tournament day? Performance Points rankings show the history of competition finishes.
To measure this we simply looked at order of finish 1st through 5th in events and assigned points for each spot. (5 for 1st, 4 for 2nd, etc.) Performance Points metrics will look at 2020, the past three years and past five years. An astounding total of 64 different anglers have earned Performance Points in the past five years.
NSKA ready for take-off. Jeff and Taylor talking some smack before lines in.
One thing is clear as you look at the long-term results…there are three anglers who have been far and away better and more consistent than the rest of the field. After those anglers the finishes are spread among many more competitors around the club.
2020 Performance Rankings
For the year of 2020 using the scoring system described above, here are the top five anglers along with their points total:
Dwain Batey – 11
Justin Brewer – 10
Ryan Paskiewicz – 9 (tie)
Jon Wofford – 9 (tie)
Roy Roberts – 8
Clearly this will change quite a bit as the rest of the year plays out but its where we stand currently. This shakes out a bit differently than the AOY top five (Dwain Batey, Justin Brewer, Jason Coleman, Roy Roberts, Chris Needham) In 2020, 16 different anglers have earned Performance Points.
Three Year Top Ten
Over the past three years there starts to be a pretty clear trend in the top anglers over this time period, with Cole, Dwain, Roy and Jeriamy rounding out the top four. Here are the numbers from the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Cole Sikes – 34
Dwain Batey – 28
Roy Roberts – 21
Jeriamy Vann – 18
Declan McDonald – 15
Justin Brewer – 13
Ryan Paskiewicz – 11
Craig Wood – 10 (tie)
Bo Sarratt – 10 (tie)
Jon Wofford, Tyler Zengerle, Carson McBride – 9 (tie)
Lots of anglers in the 10, 9, 8, 7 Performance Points range and the rest of this seasons should clean up the bottom few spots on this list.
Here’s a fish. And a Bending Branches paddle!
Five Year Top Ten
When you look at the five year top ten only a few names change, but the top anglers extend their lead in Performance Points over the field. Here are the numbers from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Dwain Batey – 44
Cole Sikes – 38
Roy Roberts – 27
Jason Kincy – 22
Jeriamy Vann – 21
Justin Brewer – 19
Craig Wood – 18
Carson McBride – 17
Christa Hibbs – 16
Declan McDonald – 15
Some NSKA OGs show up in this list, including an awkward reminder that I used to be able to catch fish. It’s been a tough couple of years…what can I say? There are some on the three year Performance Points list that could move into the five year list with some good finishes. (Justin, Ryan, Craig, etc.)
At the end of the day Performance Points don’t mean anything but they are fun to look at when the long hot summer days roll around.
Watch in a couple of weeks for a look back at NSKA Big Bass history.
More than halfway through the season the 2020 NSKA Angler Of the Year (AOY) race is taking shape – but with the ability to drop two events there is still a lot unknown and to be determined. Using some data and past history, we’ll attempt to determine the real contenders and see if we can say who will the AOY champion.
People often live in the moment, suffering from recency bias, meaning that a person most easily remembers something that’s happened recently compared to something that happens most often. We saw this with the recent Beaver Lake event where recency bias had most predicting mid-to-high 80s for the winning length when the average winning length on Beaver over time has been 79.50″ in recent years. Ryan Paskiewicz hit that number on the nose with…yep…79.50″.
Current 2020 Angler Of the Year Standings
The top 10 AOY contenders have many familiar names and also several new ones for 2020. Finishing in the Top 10 for the year is an achievement in one of the toughest kayak fishing clubs around. Looking at this list it would seem there are clear-cut contenders for the title.
This is great work by the Top 10 to this point in the season. Unfortunately this list will change, a lot, over the next two events.
Projected 2020 Angler Of the Year POTENTIAL
The key to AOY is the best five events, dropping two. The last two events will create a tremendous amount of movement in the standings as people replace either a bad event, or, a zero because they didn’t enter an event. Those with the biggest opportunity to move up are those who can drop bad scores and retain good scores.
Who has the most potential if you look at their best-case scenarios?
If you look at a scenario where each angler drops one bad event with a better score later in the year, here’s the Drop 1 Potential Top 10:
In this case where everyone may replace one score with a better one, Roy Roberts and Tyler Zengerle and Danny Dutton show the most benefit of potential upward movement.
In reality though, many in the Top 10 could wind up having two very good Beaver Lake tournaments and could add two good scores. So, who has the most potential if they can replace two of their current scores? Here’s the Drop 2 Potential Top 10:
This view begins to make it more clear who could benefit most from the ability to drop two events. John Wofford is the biggest mover, into the top tier with Dwain Batey, Justin Brewer and Roy Roberts. Devon Esry jumps into the Top 10 in this view.
These projections will NOT be accurate because there are many, many variables. However, it can tell us who really has a shot at AOY based on their remaining potential.
Predictions for Final AOY Champion
As we look at the numbers and potential above and combine it with the remaining tournament schedule of South Beaver Lake and North Beaver Lake, I’ve put together some thoughts on the contenders for 2020 Angler Of the Year and have put them in tiers.
In the Hunt
Almost everyone in the Top 10 is theoretically in the hunt for AOY if everything fell just right. So it’s important to recognize some of the guys in the models above who could win it if all of the chips fell just right: Devon Esry, Michael Burgess, Jason Coleman and Chris Needham. Some of these guys are new to the club and have had a great first season so far!
The Players
Dwain Batey, Justin Brewer, Roy Roberts and John Wofford are all legitimate threats to win AOY at this point and are separated by only THREE points in the Drop 2 Potential scenario. I expect all four of these to be in the mix for the final AOY title. Back to back NSKA AOY winner is in this tier because he is in striking distance and generally excels on Beaver Lake. He needs some stumbles though from the leaders to be a contender.
The Winner
All of these anglers mentioned in this article have had a great year on the water and have consistently put good fish on the board. Predicting the ultimate AOY from the “Players” now comes down to schedule on Beaver Lake. Here are their finishes on their Beaver Lake lake only events from the past three years:
Cole Sikes – 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 11th, 12th
Dwain Batey – 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 17th, 20th
Justin Brewer – 5th, 13th, 16th, 16th, 24th
Roy Roberts – 1st, 2nd, 5th, 19th, 20th, 36th
Jon Wofford – 7th, 22nd
Cole and Dwain have been the most consistent in their finishes on Beaver Lake, but Cole may just be too far back at this point to catch up. Justin has had a hot start to the year and nobody is hotter over the past three events than Jon, but the numbers for them aren’t quite as strong on Beaver Lake. Roy has the best three finishes and is right there from a points perspective.
Based on all the data, and the final lakes, it seems AOY will come down to Roy and Dwain – with Dwain Batey winning by a razor-thin margin.
Of course, this is likely all not what will happen because, hey, it’s fishing.
After a Covid-19 induced ban on tournaments on Beaver Lake by the Corp, NSKA anglers were finally able to hit the water for a day-long fishing expedition on the Dead Sea. Some of the recent tournaments on Beaver lulled anglers into a comfort zone and the predictions for this tournament had big totals and big bass in mind. Not so fast…this is post-spawn Beaver Lake.
Tournament Results
It was a mixed story for the 60 anglers entered into the event, with a lot of fish caught, but size was hard to find. A very good 92% of anglers turned in at least one keeper, with 75% turning in a limit. Ryan Paskiewicz took first place with 79.5″, Craig Wood second with 78.5″ and Tyler Zengerle took a leisurely route to third with 78.25″ on the day. Ryan Paskiewicz also won “Big” Bass with a 19.25″ largemouth, followed by Tyler Zengerle’s 18.75″ 2nd place Big Bass.
The top ten finishers were as follows:
Ryan Paskiewicz
Craig Wood
Tyler Zengerle
Chris Needham
Jeriamy Vann
Billy Bowden
John Wofford
Jason Kincy
Chad Warford
Devon Esry
Ryan’s “Big” bass on the day took home the money. I can’t figure out how that camera orientation worked on this photo.
Angler Recap Roundtable
Top three finishers took a few minutes to share how it went down on Saturday.
What section of Beaver did you go to and why?
Ryan – I fished the south end of Beaver. I prefer dirtier water and have more experience and confidence on the south end. I hadn’t actually been to the area I fished but it set up to my strengths so I gave it a go.
Craig – I like the stained water of the War Eagle arm and it is an area i know fairly well. I targeted pockets of wood and brush on the main lake and avoided coves.
Tyler – I chose to go mid-lake, below Highway 12. I am very familiar with the area I chose to fish, as I have fished there a numerous amount of times. I always prefer the water color and the types of structure that surround that area. As a shallow water angler, it allows me to fish my strengths and fish with confidence.
What were the main type of baits you used (category is fine) to catch most of your fish?
Ryan – I caught my fish on four different baits. I found a few keepers early on topwater. When that dried up a bit I began throwing a Slowtown jig and a 12” Ol’ Monster worm. My big fish came on a jig. Late in the day I did some cranking deeper and caught a few but couldn’t upgrade. I caught 20+ fish on the day and was fortunate to find a kicker. I did lose one off the board that i thought was going to haunt me. It would have given me two more inches. Thankfully it didn’t!
Craig – I had a shaky head, Whopper Plopper, crankbait and a swim jig tied on. The swim jig by Slowtown Custom Lures did all the work, I caught over twenty bass during the tournament.
Tyler – My main baits were pretty simple. I used a jig made by Slow Town Custom Lures in green pumpkin. I also Texas-rigged a Burner Worm (speed worm) and Bacon Rind (creature bait), both made by Gambler Lures.
How many rods do you carry for a tournament and how many are spinning vs baitcaster?
Ryan – Too many! I brought 12 on this trip. I hate retying. I used 5 of them on this trip. I carry 3-4 spinning setups and 8-9 casting.
Craig – I carry four Trinity Fishing custom rods that I build, and my heavy action rod is my jig rod.
Tyler – I carry 11 rods. 8 of those are baitcasting and 3 spinning.
What’s one thing you have in your kayak on tourney day that people might not think to take or have handy?
Ryan – Super glue and an extra measuring device. I also carry a spare charging battery for my phone.
Craig – I don’t really carry anything special on tournament day except for a exceptional lunch – usually a Dagwood sandwich cut in six pieces so I can munch on it while moving spots.
Tyler – I’m just going to say…I’m always thankful to have Dude Wipes with me and it stinks when I don’t. Besides that, I always have a socket set for my drive, and an extra measuring device (Fish Stik) just in case I lose my Ketch overboard.
Heavy Hitters Update
Beaver Lake was stingy when it came to big fish which made it difficult for anyone to really make a big move this week. Time is running out to put some big fish on the board. I was lucky to extend my lead for the moment a bit with a decent 18″ addition to put me at 93.5″. Michael Burgess (87.75″), Cole Sikes (86.75″) and Justin Phillips (86.5″) are still in the hunt but they need to haul in some tanks coming up to take over the lead. It appears that with Ryan’s “Big” Bass from this week he’s creeping into contention but needs two or three more big fish. Or, maybe someone else will smash’em in the next events to come out of nowhere for the lead – anything can happen!
AOY Update
The Angler of the Year race took an interesting turn this week as the top contenders all came up a bit short in earning any meaningful AOY points. In fact, most of the leaders missed a huge opportunity to gain on the field, but since the top four in the rankings all had a difficult day, there wasn’t much movement at the top. Some other anglers really helped their chances to have a shot to get into the mix, especially
Watch for my AOY Breakdown later this week where we will break down some hidden data, handicap the field vs upcoming schedule, and I’ll make a prediction for the AOY winner this season.
Here are the top 25 if the Classic were held today. Green indicates a “good” points total, yellow “fair” and pink “poor” and needs replaced by a better score. Dwain Batey and Jason Coleman are the only anglers with all Green and Yellow for each event thus far.
As the crazy 2020 calendar keeps rolling along with the ‘Rona and all of its side effects causing chaos in the kayak tournament circuits. The latest disruption this past weekend was not pandemic, murder hornets or ‘Karen’ driven – it was the Bella Vista Bass Club scheduling a boat tourney on Lake Fort Smith on the same date, causing NSKA to make a move to the deep water of Oklahoma on Pumpback.
Pumpback Lake (or Chimney Rock Lake) is an interesting and confusing place. According to an old article in the Tulsa World, it uses more electricity to pump the water uphill into the lake than is generated when the water is released back into Lake Hudson. I guess it’s a profit deal that they do when there’s peak demand and can charge more for the electricity. Which explains the unpredictable timing of when water goes up and down. But I digress…
Preparing for a “shotgun” start on Pumpback. Photo: kayakfishingfocus.com
NSKA Pumpback Tournament Results
For a lake that not a ton of NWA anglers had fished very often and a very tough, hot day, a lot of good fish were caught. This is a testament to the fish population and angler skill. The numbers reflected a strong showing by the lake with 91% of anglers turning in at least one fish and a respectable 51% posting a five fish limit.
When the lake was announced my immediate thought was that all of the Okies were going to get paid with NSKA making the trek over into their territory. This was flat wrong – in fact – the top 13 finishers were from Arkansas even though there were at least a dozen Oklahomans in the field.
First place was won by John Wofford with a whopping 93” on the day including TWO Smallmouth over 20” contributing to his total. Dwain Batey was second with 89.5” and Justin Brewer third with 85.25”.
John Wofford’s 21″ Smallmouth that won Big Bass. Photo: TourneyX
John also won Big Bass with his 21” bruiser Smallmouth and Justin Phillips took second Big Bass with a 20.75” Largemouth caught late in the day.
The top 10 were as follows:
John Wofford – 93”
Dwain Batey – 89.5”
Justin Brewer – 85.25”
Cole Sikes – 83.25”
Kyle Long – 83.25”
Michael Burgess – 82.50”
Jason Coleman – 82.25”
Billy Bowden – 82”
Roy Roberts – 81.25”
Danny Dutton – 81”
Angler Profile – John Wofford
John Wofford dominated the day on Pumpback with his first-place finish and Big Bass. This is another good day in a recent string of good performances by John (we’ll forget the bracket challenge…) in competition with a second place finish in King of the String and first place on Pumpback. In this tourney recap I thought we’d focus a bit on getting to know John and how he’s been catching them.
John with his giant Smallmouth on Pumpback. Photo: John Wofford
First of all, what happened on Pumpback!? How’d you catch those monster Smallmouth?
Pumpback was literally a magical day. I had only fished the lake one time and only caught 3-4 fish so my expectations were not high at all and I was just concerned about getting a limit.
First thing in the morning I noticed a Shad spawn happening so I automatically began throwing shad-like baits. Right off the bat I missed a MONSTER Smallie bigger than my 21” because I was using a rod that was too light for what I was doing. Shortly after losing the first big one I noticed on my graph I was coming up on a ledge at the end of a flat/point. My first cast into there I caught my 19.5” Smallmouth. Between losing the first Smallie and catching the 19.5” one I realized I had stumbled upon my patterns for the day. I fished out that whole cove losing more and more fish and one Largemouth that would’ve went 18-19” at least.
I was almost spinning out in my head after losing the Largemouth but I took a second to compose myself and changed gears. Started throwing my fluke on a MH power rod and only lost maybe 1-2 fish the rest of the day. After fishing the back of my first cove I had a few people come in on me so I decided to leave and make some runs to areas that my graph looked similar to where I hooked up with the big fish – and man did that pay off. I believe it was on my second cast in the second spot that I hooked into the 21” and the fight was on! I swore I had a Drum or a Striper on because it took forever for her to come up but once she did I about had a heart attack as I did everything in my power to get her in the net. Once I got her in a wave of emotion came over me and I had a feeling that today just might be my day. Thankfully, Ryan Paskiewicz was nearby and I hollered at him to come get a picture because I not only just broke my Smallmouth PB but I broke my kayak bass PB with a 21” Smallie!
After getting my pictures we let her go and I thanked Ryan and we went our separate ways. I tried to calm my nerves for a moment before getting back to fishing and it wasn’t two casts after the 21” I hooked into the 20.25” on a ledge 20 yards down the cove. This one I was sure was a drum but to my surprise it was the hardest fighting smallmouth I’ve ever caught. It took longer to get this one in the boat than any bass I’ve ever caught. That last big bite came at about 9:15 and from then on it was a dink fest. I moved to the north side of the lake and found some shaded areas with deeper pockets adjacent to them and managed to cull some 14’s with a 15.5” and a 16.75” around noon but other than that the bite slowed down and what I was catching were all smaller than 15.5”. I had an amazing time fishing Pumpback and it is a heck of a fishery!
You seem to have really taken a step forward in tournament finishes this year, what’s been the biggest change or contributor to that?
I lost my Grandpa at the beginning of the season this year and I decided that I was going to dedicate this year to him. Also, I have really been working on myself to stay out of my head to not put too much pressure on myself and just fish. I ask the good Lord before every tournament to keep everyone safe for the day and to allow me to fish clean and give me the knowledge to fish to the best of my abilities.
I know you fish a lot with your wife, Hope, can you talk a bit about that and how that’s helped your fishing and/or relationship?
Haha! Oh man…kayak tournament fishing with my wife has been fun and a strain at the same time. I love taking her out with me and seeing her learn new techniques and catching fish on bodies of water she used to zero on. I’m probably a little hard on her at times but that’s because I want her to do the best she can do and she has really surprised me this year and has learned a lot each time we fish a tournament. I do worry about her sometimes though when we are on the water if there’s a lot of boats around with the weather starts to turn a little, I’ll make my way around the corner or where I can see her and she’s just out there fishing away not letting any of it bother her. I really do love the fact that she has that competitive drive like I do and we are always competing against one another in the tournaments as much as we are the rest of the field and I think that has made both of us better anglers.
John with a Beaver Lake Largemouth Bass. Photo: John Wofford
What’s the biggest thing you’ve improved on this year from a fishing standpoint?
My biggest improvement this year has just been getting back to my strengths and not trying to go out and fish other techniques that are other people’s strengths. And I am always studying bass fishing every single day, it’s almost as if that is all I think about anymore. Anytime I talk with someone, read an article or watch a YouTube video I soak up every bit of information I can and then I try to apply that to my style of fishing. And most importantly I have been able to stay out of my head for the most part this season and just went out and fished the conditions that were dealt to me instead of getting upset the conditions aren’t the exact same they were when I pre-fished.
What’s the best advice you can give an angler who is struggling halfway through a tournament? Take what you’ve done earlier and try to learn from it, make your changes and go catch some fish…but most importantly, never give up. I didn’t cull out my smaller fish until right at noon, but if I would’ve given up before that Dwain and I would’ve tied for first instead of winning.
Heavy Hitters Update
More big fish are in the books after Pumpback. I’m still lucky enough to be in the lead (75.5) followed by Michael Burgess (71.75), but there are some strong moves being made, especially by John Wofford (69.5) with his two 20+ and Cole Sikes (70.5) and Justin Phillips (71) who have 20+ inch fish on the board. It’s still anyone’s crown to win.
NSKA Angler of the Year Update
Things are starting to take shape and contenders are emerging for AOY for NSKA. After four events the contenders and pretenders are starting to separate. There is a long way to go and some big events coming up but so far it looks like Roy Roberts, Dwain Batey, Justin Brewer, Jason Coleman and Michael Burgess are best positioned. Cole Sikes is still within striking distance but has no more room for error.
Here are the top 25 anglers if the Classic were held today. Green indicates a “good” points total, yellow “fair” and pink “poor” and needs replaced by a better score.
For a myriad of reasons, most of them tied to the ‘Rona, the second Road Runner of the year took place, this time with a 30 mile radius around Rogers, Arkansas. Once again some familiar bodies of water played a big role in the outcome.
Tournament Results
Another large field of 84 anglers spread out over the 30 mile radius to their favorite fishing holes in search of big bass. As usual for a Road Runner there were a lot of fish caught – 57% of anglers turned in a limit and a strong 87% were able to catch a scoreable bass.
Dwain Batey took first place with 93.5″ followed by Ryan Paskiewicz who had 85″ for second place. Third place was Chris Needham with 84.75″ and Nathan Henthorn took fourth with 82.75″.
Chris Needham also took home Big Bass with a 21.75″ tank, followed by Kyle Long who had second Big Bass with 20.25″.
Angler Recaps
The top anglers from the event took some time to share how they were able to be successful on a sunny Saturday in April. Dwain Batey, Ryan Paskiewicz, Chris Needham and Nathan Henthorn share their thoughts below. (You can tell it’s getting serious…they are being a bit more secretive…)
Where’d you go and why’d you choose that place?
Dwain – I hadn’t had a chance to pre-fish at all so I just picked a lake at random where I have confidence I can do well if the fish are cooperating, and there aren’t too many people fishing there at once.
Ryan – I chose a lake that I was confident that if i got 5 bites I’d have a chance at a good finish. It’s also a lake that can humble you in a hurry. All my pre-fishing was on Beaver before the switch to a Road Runner. I had to punt and go with my gut.
Chris – I fished close to Prairie Creek. I pre-fished the area a week prior and caught a couple around 15 inches. I didn’t think I could win but thought I could make it competitive. I figured Siloam Springs City Lake would get it done again.
Nathan – I chose a river because I know the quality of fish that live there and it’s where I’m most confident fishing.
What baits (technique or specific) were key to catching your fish?
Dwain – I basically had to junk fish, catching some on a fluke, wacky rigged senko, jackhammer, Skirmish Baits M9-OK Squarebill, a hollow body swimbait, and a Texas rigged Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver. I believe most fish were spawning, though I only caught one while looking at it, and that one was smaller than I thought and didn’t help me.
Ryan – I started in an area I know I thought would produce a good one early, it didn’t in the first 45 minutes or so and I moved to some clearer water that before the sun got up. I threw a wacky rig at a lay down and hooked up to a solid 18+ but my drag was a bit tight and it broke me off. Had to take a few to regroup but calmed down and retied. I threw back at it and caught an 18.5 followed by a 13.75. Once the sun got up I moved back to my start and fished a chatterbait and was able to catch a 19.5 and a 20” on it. I struggled to find a 5th fish and was worried the one I broke off would haunt me. I finally slowed down and fished some bedding areas and found a 13” on a drop shot.
Chris – I caught my first one at 6:19 on a jig and had my limit in 30 minutes. I tore them up with the jig the first two hours of the day. One of my keepers came off a fluke but once I had a decent limit I stuck with the jig hoping for another stud.
Nathan – My best 5 came on a wacky rigged stickbait fished very slow.
Any interesting or good story from the day with a fish or location?
Dwain – I caught an 18.75” bass on the way back to the ramp on a swimbait that I had thought about trying all day and finally tied on with just a few minutes left in the day. I wound up with mostly male bass and if I had done that earlier I may have been able to find some bigger females offshore, but at least it worked out in the end.
Ryan – I had 6 bites all day. Lost the one good one. It was a good day to work on the mental side of a tourney day. In the past losing the first big one could have wrecked my day. I chose to put my head down and stay positive. It paid off.
Chris – My day started out like a nightmare. I figured I would start my day throwing a Whopper Plopper. The first cast I got it stuck in my net and bungee cord on my front hatch. It took me awhile to get it unstuck. My second cast my line snapped and I absolutely launched the bait deep in the woods. I sat there dumbfounded as to what was taking place. I picked up my jig and threw it in a tree. My first actual cast that landed in the water I caught a 21.75” 5.5 pound bass! When I got the big girl on my board she almost flopped off into the water. I tackled her and got her calm enough for a picture. If she would have fallen in the water I would have just went home for a good cry.
Nathan – Although I caught several fish, it was still a tough day. I squandered the morning bite trying to figure them out and got really frustrated by a nice fish getting off. I found a perfect stump on the bank that created current break and cast my squarebill to it but got stuck on the stump. As I popped it free a big one inhaled it on top. Unable to get a good hookset, it spit it when it jumped. Next cast with stickbait I caught a keeper. I let the spot rest for an hour and came back, first cast caught my 18.5 which I believe was the same fish that spit it earlier. This was a crucial upgrade late in the day
What’s the best advice you could give a new angler?
Dwain – Your photos are just as important as catching the fish, get a good system down for taking them so you’re both efficient and accurate. It’s hard enough to catch fish sometimes, you want them all to count.
Ryan – In the short couple of years I’ve been fishing seriously I’ve found that surrounding yourself with anglers who have been at it a while is very helpful. Ask questions! Many guys in our club are willing to share advice on the different aspects of bass fishing. Also, try not to be too hard on yourself. Learning this thing is a process and takes time. Also, every 1/4” matters. I fought hard on every fish to get that extra 1/4” and ended up securing 2nd instead of 3rd because of it. Take your time and get good pics and make the most of each fish.
Chris – Just have fun and be thankful we can experience God’s creation in the way we do.
Nathan – My best advice for new anglers is practice taking pictures, and figure out what works best for you. I prefer the board to span the kayak instead of having it in the lap. The lap can cause a terrible angle and if holding the camera overhead, you are taking pictures blind. Also, if the fish flops in your lap, there is a greater chance of him going back in the water. Also, if you are serious about fishing, make your second kayak your first kayak. If not, either you will get frustrated and not want to kayak fish, or most likely, get addicted and wish you had something better!
The first annual NSKA Heavy Hitters side pot is off and running, but there’s still time to enter and compete. One event down and there are some big fish on the board but there’s a lot of time to catch up or to enter. As a reminder, your best fish from five events make up your Heavy Hitter limit. There are still six events left so it is a wide open race. Sign up here now ($10) so you are ready for the next event: Heavy Hitters Side Pot. For a complete breakdown, go back and read this previous article.
Week one Heavy Hitters big fish – 22″ caught by Jason Kincy on a Norman Deep Little N crankbait on the Elk River.
Week One Rankings – Siloam Springs Roadrunner
Jason Kincy – 22″
Cole Sikes – 20.25″
Roy Roberts – 19″
Jeriamy Vann – 19″
Josh Meyers – 18.25″
Bo Sarratt – 18″
Devon Esry – 17.5″
Andrew Newsom – 17.5″
Justin Phillips – 17.25″
Michael Burgess – 16.75″
Tyler Zengerle – 15.75″
Christa Hibbs – 15.75″
Jason Adams – 15.75″
Alex Girenko – 14.5″
Jon Swann – 14.25
Joe Baird – 13.75″
Kyle Long – 12″
John Wofford – 11.75″
David Roberds – 11.75″
Kevin Tadda – 10.5″
Michael Fohner – 0
Ryan Paskiewicz – 0
James Haeberle – 0
Jose Garcia – 0
Don’t forget to sign up now if you aren’t entered. There are still six events left so it is a wide open race. Sign up here now ($10) so you are ready for the next event: Heavy Hitters Side Pot. For a complete breakdown, go back and read this previous article.
The 2020 NSKA NWA RoadRunner was one to remember for a few reasons. First, an expanded radius of 60 miles from Siloam Springs put more water in play than ever for a road runner. Secondly, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and social distancing there was no captain’s meeting and no weigh-in get together. Finally, it will be remembered as a day where some big fish totals and giant bass were put in the kayak!
Tournament Results
My 22″ bass was only good for 2nd place Big Bass. Caught on a Norman Middle N.
Overall the road runner kept true to form by producing some big limits and a large number of fish submitted. What didn’t hold was involvement of the usual big fish destinations in the standings, with Elmdale, Siloam Springs City Lake and Lincoln Lake not making the top three. A really strong 41% of the field turned in a limit and an outstanding 77% of the field turned in fish, however, these totals are a step back from 2019 which were 52% and 83% respectively.
Justin Brewer dropped the hammer early in the day and took first place with 94.25″, followed by Devin Mathews with 90.5″ in second and Roy Roberts in third with 88″ on the day. Finishers fourth through ten were: Dwain Batey, Jason Ray, Cole Sikes, Devon Esry, Michael Burgess, Chris Needham and Kyle Fields. Check out all of the results on TourneyX.
Big Bass was a MONSTER
Angler Jason Coleman won Big Bass with a 22.75″ pig (that was really bigger but had a mouth open deduction) and beat out my 22″ 2nd place Big Bass. His story is too good not to share and I’m sure we all can identify with how he felt when he got it in the kayak:
“I was planning to fish Tenkiller for this event and drove over to OK Saturday afternoon to camp near the lake. I didn’t realize that Tenkiller was washed out and most of the launch sites were closed. I drove all the way around the lake and it was a mess and lake looked like chocolate milk and there was debris everywhere. I wasn’t feeling it so I ended up driving back to Bentonville…Glad I did! It wasn’t until about 9:00 Saturday night that I decided where I was going to go. I got on Google Earth and picked a place that I had fished near before. I felt wanted to get away from crowds and go somewhere that had quick limit potential. Big bass was not even on my radar in the area…I was fishing near Holiday Island. I was lucky to catch a small limit by 8:00 on a Green Pumpkin Strike King Shim E Stick. After I had five keepers, I switched to a White and Chartreuse Strike King Thunder Cricket (available at WM store 100 in Bentonville)! I was planning to fish the Cricket for a while and try and cull a few.
22.75″ scored Big Bass caught by Jason Coleman near Holiday Island would have gone 23″+ if the mouth deduction had not been applied. Likely 10+ pounds!
Within ten casts I hooked in to the big gal! When I first hooked her I knew it was a big fish. She turned my kayak 180 degrees real quick. When I first got a glimpse I thought I had snagged a big carp. The water was stained and I’d never seen a bass that fat. When I got a second glimpse, I realized this was a TOAD! I don’t know how long I fought her, but it seemed like forever. When I got her to the boat it took me about three or four swipes to get her in the net. She was too big for it! Once I was finally able to get her nose in it I could half swing her into the boat….I was shaking for about two minutes while I left her in the net. I don’t smoke but I needed a cigarette. She was so big I was scared to take her out and try and take a pic. Once I got my phone and bump board ready I pulled her out the net and started trying to get a photo. I was shaking like a heroin addict without methadone! The first two tries she started flopping around and I had to tackle her in my chair! It was a shit show! I finally got her to calm down enough to get a few pics. They turned out be be all bad. Her mouth was wide open and she was half on and off the board in all the pics. At this point, she had been out of the water for a few minutes so I held her back in to take a few breaths.
I then went back at it again. I snapped probably ten more pics between several close call flops, but could never get her to close her lips all the way. This went on for about three or four more minutes before I decided to give up. I had her out of the water for while and I didn’t want to stress her too much. I figured I’d rather get a penalty than to see her go belly up on the release. Over the years I’ve weighed several fish in the 8’s and 9’s, but never an official 10. This gal was by far bigger than any bass I’ve put my hands on. I didn’t have a scale, but I’m pretty sure she’d hit 10 and then some…Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Angler Roundtable – How they caught ’em!
The top four anglers were good enough to stay more than six feet apart and share how they caught their limits. Check out below how Justin Brewer, Devin Mathews, Roy Roberts and Dwain Batey did their damage:
Where did you go and why did you choose to go there?
Justin – Going into this event I wanted to find a lake as far south and secluded that I could find. First, hoping the water would be warmer and maybe warm enough for fish to start the spawning process. Second, to try and avoid the 95 other anglers that would crawling all over the local lakes. I do believe I accomplished that by the fact that I didn’t have another competitor on that lake, only local traffic.
Devin – I fished elk river in Missouri, water was high and murky making it move pretty good.
Roy – I went to the east end of Eucha. I probably would have fished closer to the dam but since I don’t have an “adult sized” kayak I decided to stay on the upper end to follow all the “local rules” for Oklahoma. That probably worked out for the best. It seemed like the bite was tough everywhere I went leading up to this event so I wanted to go somewhere I would be around quality fish and Eucha has that reputation. I had not been there in a few years but had some previous experience to draw off of.
Dwain – I was unable to practice anywhere more than a couple hours at Siloam City Lake, and practicing there I managed to only catch one 15” fish. I still felt that I would be able to catch them there, with the warming trend and fishing wanting so badly to begin spawning.
What was the water temp where you were fishing and how did that affect your approach?
Justin – The water temp was actually a lot cooler than I was expecting and hoping for. Started at 60 in the morning and slowly climbed to 66 by 2 p.m. But really did not change my approach due to the cooler temps the night before I figured the surface temps would be cooler.
Devin – I don’t know, didn’t have any electronics to check the water temp.
Roy – It was 53 degrees in the morning. A little cooler than I expected. I tried to slow down and use some pauses in my retrieves to trigger strikes.
Dwain – The water temperatures were from 57 to 59 degrees, and this was really getting those male bass in the mood to move up and start making beds.
What baits or general techniques that worked for you?
Justin – With the lake still being a little flooded my main approach was to flip bushes all day because pre-fishing this lake I was able to catch 89.50″ in an hour doing this. But I did not start fishing till 10:00 that day. So when first cast rolled around I picked up a white Booyah Melee to pass the time and it just so happened to be the key bait for me catching three of my keepers at 6:43, 6:47, 6:55 then rounding out my first limit of 90.75 with one at 7:15 and 7:22. Eventually culled up later in the day.
Devin – I used moving baits all day long.
Roy – My best bites early came on a Megabass jerkbait (French Pearl) and a Jackhammer chatterbait (Black and Blue). There was some intense fishing pressure with 10-12 boats in my small area by 7:30, so I had to use some finesse tactics to finish my limit and cull a little bit.
Dwain – I caught one fish on a vibrating jig, and the rest on a weightless soft plastic bait.
Any interesting stories or tidbits you want to share from the event?
Justin – Seeing how the results turned out I could have loaded up and been headed home by 8:00 and still been alright. But I just knew that with the fisherman in this tournament and how good they were biting for me I was gonna have a lot of work to do to keep the lead.
Roy – I have a student in class who I was able to convince to fish his first kayak tournament. It was so rewarding to get to talk to him about his experience and how different this tournament was compared to a boat tournament. I challenge everyone else to find a youth angler they can encourage to join us and fish sometime.
Dwain – I had a few things happen, first off it was really slow and it took a while to boat my first fish. I got it in and thought, “I’ll use my new phone today.” So I snapped pictures of the 16.75” fish and checked to make sure they were good, let the fish go. Started to put it on TourneyX and it says it doesn’t have the location. I looked, sure enough no location, but the sunrise picture I took an hour before was fine. Go figure. Needless to say I didn’t take any chances and used my other phone the rest of the day with no issues. Second was just how the whole day went. First off, I fished Siloam City Lake, with the plan to move to Lincoln Lake at some point in the day. After that first fish that didn’t count, It was a long time before I caught another fish, and I was fishing my way back to load up when I caught my best fish at 19.25” and that made me stay until it was too late to move lakes.
After the sun came up I saw lots of beds, but no fish on them. I kept thinking that as the water warmed up it would get those fish back on those active beds, and they almost outlasted our event time. I had about an hour left when suddenly every bed seemed to have a male bass that was ready to eat on it. I got a couple of culls and missed a few fish, and then with seconds to go I missed a big one that I got to see, but I am really glad I didn’t catch it. My Dakota Lithium battery had been out a couple of trips since I charged it, so with an hour left my graph had died, so I didn’t know exactly what time it was.
As soon as I lost that fish I looked and it was 2:30 on the nose. If I had gotten that big fish in I would have been so mad that it was too late ha ha. Morals of the story: 1. Check all of your gear even your phone before you use anything in a live event. 2. Have a plan but be flexible and follow the conditions and the bass. 3. Don’t give up, it took all day to fill my limit and finally start culling.
Next NSKA Event: ONLINE Beaver Lake event in April – No AOY Points
Welcome to the 2020 NSKA Heavy Hitter Side Pot – a season-long big bass showdown combining your best five bass from the NSKA NWA tournament season.
How to join the Roster of Competitors and WIN $$
Enter the Heavy Hitter competition by sending your entry of $10 to commissioner Roy Roberts. The sooner you enter, the sooner you can start counting your big fish. Visit the Heavy Hitters PayPal pool site to register and pay your entry. Sign up at any point, but the deadline to sign up is Friday, March 27, if you want a fish from Saturday’s Siloam Springs Road Runner to count toward your total.
Your name goes on the Roster of competitors below. Results and rankings will be kept and displayed on Kayakfishingfocus.com all season long.
Compete in NSKA NWA regular season AOY events and catch big bass. your biggest fish from each regular season event can count toward your limit. There are seven eligible events and you take the best fish from five of them to create your largest limit.
Winner takes all the $$, the glory and the title of NSKA NWA Heavy Hitter Champion.
2020 Heavy Hitters
Roy Roberts
Cole Sikes
Devon Esry
Jason Kincy
Kyle Long
Tyler Zengerle
Joe Baird
David Roberds
Andrew Newsome
Alex Girenko
Kevin Tadda
Mike Fohner
Jon Wofford
Ryan Paskiewicz
Jason Adams
Jeriamy Vann
Christa Hibbs
Bo Sarratt
Michael Burgess
James Haeberle
Justin Phillips
Joshua Meyers
Jose Garcia
Jonathan Swann
Eligible Events – Your largest bass from be eligible to count toward your Heavy Hitters best five limit.
3/28 Roadrunner 5/2 Beaver 5/16 King of the String 6/6 Lake Fort Smith 6/20 Roadrunner 7/18 Beaver South 8/22 Beavertown
The winner will be announced after the 8/22 Beavertown tournament.
When the Hobie Bass Open Series (BOS) schedule came out for 2020, Lake Fork in February was one that many anglers circled on the calendar as a big fish showdown throwdown. The Hobie BOS returned to Texas with 155 top kayak anglers fired up to catch a PB or at least to try and string together a couple of limits to finish in the money.
Kayak anglers racing to their spots on Saturday morning on Lake Fork for the Hobie BOS.
This was my fifth kayak tournament on Lake Fork, one of my favorite places to go for a big event like this and a place I’d had some past success. Although the weekend didn’t go well for me overall, I still had a great time and it was once again good to be back that the Lake Fork Marina & Motel and swapping stories while eating at Tiffany’s.
Lake Fork tank from day one of the Hobie BOS tournament.
The nice warming trend leading up to practice week was moving the lake in the right direction and by all accounts big fish were being caught everywhere the weekend before the tournament. A cold front and cold rain descended on the area on Wednesday changing things up and making it brutally difficult to find active fish. Things began to improve slightly for Saturday and Sunday, just enough for a few anglers to find the bite.
Tournament Results
At the Captain’s meeting on Friday night there was much speculation as to what would win and what would place someone in the money. Most I spoke to felt like two limits would get you a check based on how difficult things had been in previous days. The conditions absolutely made anglers earn it as a paltry 17 of 155 (11%) caught a limit on day one and only 13 (8%) boated a limit on day two. Those are some stone-cold tough numbers. Conversely, a whopping 32% (49) zeroed on day one and 47% (72) didn’t turn in a bass on day two, although many had given up by then on the tough conditions. These are some of the worst catch rate numbers I’ve seen in any of my tournament recaps.
Matthew Scotch pulled in the largest bass of the event and in the history of Hobie BOS events with a 24.75″ monster pulled out of a grass mat. He also led day one with 106.75″ – another record for Hobie BOS. Day two was a slugfest for the heavyweights at the top, with Rus Snyders taking the top spot posting a 192.25″ total (98/94.25). Rus has been on fire to start the year and this continued on Lake Fork with two days that made him the champ. Talking with Rus he was very gracious and open in discussing his win and shares some of how he did it in the Angler Roundtable below. Full results can be seen on Tourney Xand some great photos and videos on the Hobie BOS Facebook page.
Rus Snyders took 1st place in the Hobie BOS Lake Fork event by catching 192.25″ for his two day limit. Photo source: Hobie BOS
Arkansas Anglers Showed Out + Angler Roundtable
One of the great things about these events is that they attract top anglers from all around the country. Arkansas had a solid contingent of sticks who hit the water and placed more in the money than any other state: Arkansas 5, Texas 4, Tennessee 2, New Mexico 2, and Georgia, Missouri and Nebraska each with one.
Arkansas anglers Garrett Morgan, Eric Morris, Cody Milton, Dwain Batey and Jason Adams cashed a check in the Hobie BOS on Lake Fork.
Hobie BOS Lake Fork champion Rus Snyders and four of our top Arkansas anglers agreed to share how they did it in our roundtable recap: Rus Snyders (1st), Jason Adams (7th), Garrett Morgan (9th), Eric Morris (10th) and Cody Milton (16th).
With the tough weather conditions how did you attack the lake and handle pre-fishing?
Rus – Due to the weather that week on a couple of days I slept in a bit and had breakfast, not wanting to get out in the wind and the cold too early. Got on the water around 8 or so on these days and was wanting to fish shallow. Knowing that the north end of the lake had a lot more grass and shallow cover, that’s where I wanted to fish. However, with all of the rain, that end got really muddy and there was more rain on the way. At that point I decided to try and find some clearer water. My buddy Matt Scotch helped me jump around checking out a few different areas as I tried to put together a pattern. I found some fish on Thursday, and on Friday I expanded on that by finding a good area which was a little more isolated from the crowd and decided that’s where I was going to start.
Jason – The lake has always been tough for me. I thought about the wind direction mostly thinking the south wind on Sunday would be best. I like to fish wind blown banks and that is what I did. I didn’t have much time for pre-fishing. Got in late Thursday and got out Friday early to drive around looking at ramps. I put in at the first spot and fished for an hour. Ran into a guy who I’d helped rig his boat but had never met. His name is Bill Nelson from Fort Smith who bought his second Hobie from OMTC. I really enjoy the social aspect of these events especially talking with other anglers from Arkansas.
Garrett – Pre-fishing I checked the entire lake for water clarity, temps and signs of possible spawning activity. The first spot I went I caught a 20incher and knew I’d likely be there. I spent the majority of pre-fishing time eliminating other options and scouting for my next event there March 14th. The weather leading up had been warm and stable, we got hit we some cold winds and low night temps the three days leading up. I knew the bite would be tough but I embrace these events and feel they play to my strengths of being driven enough to always feel I have a chance until the clock hits 3 pm to find my five fish.
Eric – For me on the lake I decided to pre-fish four different areas of the lake and catch two in each spot looking for bigger fish and also looking for a good amount of bites. But then the temps dropped and changed the whole pattern and the fish locked up.
Cody – With the tougher and changing water conditions I chose to fish more mid lake. Which i don’t Generally do at lake fork but the mid lake area was fishing so much better. You had a lot cleaner and warmer water.
In general, what were some of your techniques that you used to catch fish?
Rus – Most of my fish for the tournament were caught punching grass mats with a 1 oz weight and a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver on a flipping hook. I switched colors for the Beaver depending on the water clarity, with black and blue in dirtier water and something like a watermelon red in clearer water. In many cases the mats would be spread a little ways apart from each other, sometimes I would have to go up to a 1/4 mile away to find the next good mats. My setup consisted of aniRod Air 775 7’7″ rod with a high speed Quantum reel with 65# braid to a 25# floro leader. Sometimes I will use 50# to 20#, but just because of bigger fish and the thickness of the mats I bumped it up for Lake Fork. One other tip I’ll share is that when I tie my leader, I’ll make it only about 4′ long because I never want the knot inside of my guides.
Jason – I planned to fish a couple of different techniques but started cranking and didn’t stop.
Garrett – On day one I caught a 20incher on a SheAngler Customs rattle trap. In pre-fishing I had caught some in shallow green grass with a chatterbait and remembered Friday I had talked with a local at the boat ramp that said he had been catching fish on white flukes Carolina rigged in shallow grass. I rigged up a Texas rig with a small 3/16 once Wicked Weights Quality Tungsten mortar bomb. It was a white neko stick with silver glitter and I cast out over a ditch onto the grass flat in the middle of this pocket and got hit right away, catching a 21incher. The next day I committed to the grass flat for the day. I had a good early bite. Setting up the same way, using the wind to my advantage as it would push my fluke on the fall toward the ditch off the flat. I caught four before 10 am, all were over 17 inches giving me 74 inches. I worked extremely hard never taking a break the rest of the day to get that 5th fish but just couldn’t find it.
Eric – On tourney day I decided to go after numbers because of the huge weather change but that didn’t work, so I threw everything out the window and went with a different strategy and it paid off on Saturday. Sunday was totally different. I went back to my Monday and Tuesday strategy throwing a black & blue football jig for the first half and the Saturday strategy the second half throwing a red crankbait.
Cody – I caught every fish on a double Colorado bladed spinnerbait and a 1 oz black and red jig. In the mornings I was slow rolling a spinnerbait in alligator grass and after about 9 a.m., I punched the same areas the rest of the day.
What makes Lake Fork special and what are some things you like or don’t like about that fishery?
Rus – Man, I was a little surprised how small the lake was for how famous it is. It definitely has some giant fish in there…I lost a 10 pounder on the first day, and caught an 8 1/2 pounder in pre-fishing. It fishes pretty big because there are a lot of ways to fish whether it is power fishing in grass/shallow or you can fish offshore, with jerkbaits, or many other ways. There is a ton of wood in the water and standing timber. This reminded me of a lake in California, Lake Sonoma, where there is a ton of wood like this. For lakes with a lot of standing timber, I try to pretend almost that it isn’t there. Some people target the trees but there are so many it can be hard to find the fish. Really, it can sometimes be better to just pay attention to depths, underwater structure, rock or other features and ignore the timber.
Jason – Lake Fork is special to me because I took 3rd place my first time here in the 2015 TOC. I came back the following year for the TOC and didn’t catch a measurable fish. That discouraged me from coming back until now. The Hobie BOS event had a 12″ limit instead of the 14″ limit at the original TOC and I thought I could get a limit easier. After this weekend I feel much more confident at this lake and look forward to coming back in the future.
Eric – The lake has amazing features with all the flats and secondary points and I’m sure with all the dead mats in the spring and summer it’s a great frog bite. Such a great experience for my first Hobie BOS tourney and national event ever. A top 10 is still unbelievable for me.
Cody – Lake Fork has always meant so much to me. I started going down there most every March since I was 9 and cashed my 2nd check ever on Fork. Every time I get around the lake it brings back so many good memories. I’ve always loved towns that live and breath bass fishing and the little towns around Lake Fork do just that. There’s several top-notch bait companies just a few miles from each other. All of the gas stations do a great job catering to fishermen. It’s a must visit lake for sure!
A Well Run Event – See you next time!
A.J. McWhorter and crew do a great job with the Hobie events. For having more than 150 anglers to deal with and a multi-day tournament it was run very smoothly. The venue of the Captain’s meetings and weigh-in was good and the identifiers top-notch. The Hobie BOS tournaments are the best run events I’ve personally been to. Will be interesting to see how B.A.S.S. conducts their events this year, I hope they have been paying attention to Hobie!
Lake Ouachita in Arkansas was the site of the Hobie BOS – Tournament of Champions and it presented a great challenge on a beautiful lake. The stacked field is arguably the most concentrated group of top kayak anglers ever assembled for a major event.
This is the fifth Tournament of Champions in a row that I have qualified for and was by far my worst performance. Although I caught some fish in practice, my primary mistake for the weekend was to try and find fish the way I wanted to catch them and not the way they wanted to be caught. Lesson learned. On Friday afternoon I had a black cat cross the road in front of me just east of Story, AR…I should have known what was coming.
One of the better Lake Ouachita Largemouth Bass I caught during the week and like many was healthy and chunky, feeding up. This one came on a Cotton Cordell 1/2 oz spoon. Source: kayakfishingfocus.com
Lake Ouachita is a massive and beautiful lake. Being from the Ozarks I felt right at home with the clear, deep water and rocky shorelines. The water was down about 9 feet a week prior to the event but rose a couple of feet during the week after some heavy rains on Thursday, although most of the cover was still out of the water on the bank. Although very accessible by boat, moving your yak from one side to the other easily took more than an hour of drive time. Moving spots or covering different areas in pre-fishing involved serious windshield time.
Hobie TOC Shootout
A total of four spots in the TOC were up for grabs as 40 anglers took to the water on shootout Friday. Fishing conditions weren’t ideal…rains from Thursday were moving out and a cold front was moving in, however, there was some wind and some cloud cover early. Of the 40 entrants in the event, 32 (80%) submitted a keeper while only 14 (35%) turned in a limit. The four slots were filled out by Jim Harding (83.25″), Justin Patrick (80.25″), NSKA’s Caroline Hibbs (78.75″) and Mel Ashe (76.25″).
Tournament of Champions
2019 Hobie BOS – Tournament of Champions winner Jody Queen. Source: Hobie BOS FB
With a complete field of 50 set for championship weekend, the post-front conditions were in full effect. Freezing temps to start the day along with sunny blue-bird skies met the anglers on both days. While this made it tough on the field, there were some anglers who were able to generate the right size bites. On Saturday, anglers tried to adjust to changing patterns to put together a good total – resulting in 25 (50%) turning in a limit, much lower than I expected with this stacked field. Jody Queen led day one totals with 85″ while Justin Patrick of Memphis, TN caught a 23.5″ Largemouth for big bass of the weekend. On Sunday, day two, the bite seemed to be even a bit tougher on anglers with almost zero wind until the last few hours. On this day 23 (46%) of anglers turned in limits with Jody Queen once again turning in the top total with 84″ in length. Jody Queen dominated the event from start to finish taking first place with 169″ for the two day total.
This 23.5″ tank caught by Justin Patrick of Memphis, TN, was the Big Bass for the 2019 Hobie TOC. Source: Justin Patrick
Top Angler Recaps
Some of the top finishers for the 2019 Hobie TOC share their experiences and how they did it in this roundtable discussion and recap. Jody Queen (1st), Cody Milton (3rd) and NSKA’s own Cole Sikes (9th) spill the tournament tea.
What general part of the lake did you choose to fish on tournament days and why?
Jody – The southwest part of the lake, it is the South Fork of the Ouachita River arm.
Cody – I chose to fish the Iron Fork area. I decided to fish that area because it offered the best deeper bite with a close shallow option as well. And the water color was stained in that area for a good mile or two. I also felt like it wasn’t going to get as much attention as other parts of the lake with stained water. It wasn’t the best area of the lake by any means but it had a lot less pressure and still held a good amount of fish across the water column. I’m a big believer that you don’t have to fish the best area of a lake to do well as long as you find an area with lots of options close by.
Cole – I ended up choosing to fish mid-lake and out on the main lake. With the weather changing each day, I felt as if the main lake would be more consistent throughout the event and the water temp was overall warmer and shouldn’t fluctuate as much as the dirtier water.
The weather changed dramatically from mid-week to the weekend, how did that affect your approach?
Jody – Actually, the weather almost through me a curve. Because of the cold front, I made the decision to pre-fish brush piles on the main lake points and creek mouths in 18 to 25 feet of water. I did find fish on these areas but on the day of the Shootout tournament I couldn’t hardly find a bite on this pattern. I decided to make a move to the head of a creek that was close and that’s where I found the pattern that would carry me through to the win at the TOC. The pattern was actually pretty simple. I threw a Z-Man Jackhammer in Green Pumpkin (3/8 oz) with a Z-Man Razor Shad in a “The Deal” color for the trailer. I slowed the retrieve way down and bumped it off brush, sticks, stumps and anything that was on the bottom anywhere from 2 to 7 feet of water. Mainly in an area on a large flat, located between two large creek channels.
Cody – If the weather hadn’t did what it did I would’ve been in a different part of the lake. For me the weather really killed the shallow water topwater and spinnerbait bite. But In turn it put a lot of bait fish right against bluff walls and made them easy to catch with an Alabama rig. So I opted for an area with better deep fishing and semi-good shallow fishing.
Cole – I was able to find some good schools of fish during practice out on main lake points. During the tournament, the fish were still there but I couldn’t get the schools to fire up and I think the weather had to be a contributing factor. I ended up having to really bounce around and junk fish to fill out a limit each day. I caught fish from 8 inches of water all the way to 40 feet.
During the week what baits or equipment were critical for your success?
Jody – I was using a 7’ 3” Muse Black rod from 13 Fishing with a fast tip equipped with a Lews Tournament MB with a 7.3:1 gear ratio, spooled with Berkeley vanish flourocarbon 14lb test. My most used tool however, was my Lowrance 7 TI2 unit. I used my sidescan to mark over 70 pieces of cover on that large flat and just ran from waypoint to waypoint for two days. It was instrumental in my win. I never caught more than two fish off any waypoint at any one time but found that by the time I made my circuitous route back to my starting point the cover had reloaded with another fish. It was a perfect setup for my style of fishing…just move, fish, and catch. I was very fortunate.
Cody – The Hog Farmer Harvester Rig was key for me in being able to catch a lot of fish quickly. Each day I caught a double that helped greatly. When the shallow fish finally set up right on the afternoon of day 2, my key fish all came on an Accent Fishing River Special spinnerbait and a bladed jig.
Cole – The most critical equipment for me during the tournament was my Garmin depth finder. I relied on it all weekend to find bait, fish and brush piles. In the mornings I would start on my schools and throwing moving shad baits such as YUM Flash Mob Jr. rigs, jerk baits, crankbaits, etc., but as the day would go on I would graph over points from 10-30 feet looking for brush piles. Once I found a brush pile I would spin around and throw a Slowtown jig in there and could almost always catch one fish out of it then I would have to move on to the next point.
What advice do you have for other kayak tournament anglers in how to improve their mental approach to big time events?
Jody – Try not to get spun out. When things aren’t going your way, try to take a breath and make adjustments. Have more than one confidence bait. The more baits you feel you can catch fish on it just increase your chances. Research the upcoming lake through videos, local blogs or podcasts…and by all means visit the local tackle stores. You can usually find a wealth of information there. I can’t stress this last one enough – Time on the water. Fish local clubs and partner organizations. I fish a lot of the KBF Challenges to stay in shape and know what’s going on with the fish in between the bigger tournaments you will learn a lot just by being on the water.
Cody – Stay in it! Continually keep putting yourself in the best place for whatever bite is trending. This time of year that can drastically change in a short amount of time. A lot of tournaments get lost in the first few hours but never won.
Cole – Decision-making and having a solid mental game are the biggest factors to being a successful tournament angler. One of the best ways to really improve your mental game is to practice fishing when the conditions are the most difficult. We all love to catch fish and want to be out there when they are biting the best, however you’ll learn the most when things are tough. Whether it’s fishing 45 degree water temperature and below in the winter or fishing post-frontal conditions, get out on the water and try to learn how to catch fish during these tough conditions. This will help you give you the mindset of never giving up and also you’ll learn how to catch fish when conditions are tough. You’re typically not going to learn as much when fish are active and feeding on about anything you throw in front of them.
Top Ten Observations and Wrap-Up
The 2019 Hobie TOC was arguably my worst tournament performance in the past few years, but I had a great time. It was well-run, first class and I really enjoyed it. Want to say thanks to my fishing partner and roommate for the tournament, Cole Sikes (congrats on top 10!), we had a good time pre-fishing and hanging out. Also got to see some other friends that I don’t run into very often and met some new ones, which is part of the culture of our sport. In conclusion, here are final takeaways:
AJ McWhorter and Hobie ran a fantastic event, one of the best I’ve ever attended. This matched my experience at Lake Fork. They really have it together and I thank them for their leadership in the industry.
Kayak fishing is becoming a more respected and recognized sport as evidenced by how many boat anglers and locals I talked to who knew about the TOC event or asked questions and talked about how they would like to try kayak angling. Growth over the next few years is going to be exponential.
Mountain Harbor was a great HQ. Parking was a bit tight in spots but it was affordable, had decent lodging and friendly staff who put up with my multiple “I lost my key” visits to the office.
If you want to get a cup of coffee or breakfast at a gas station before 6:00 a.m. on the weekend, good luck.
The Shootout seemed to be a really cool event, and it was very exciting for me to root for my fellow NSKA friends throughout the day.
Ouachita represents all that the Natural State has to offer. I saw deer, turkeys, a wild hog, eagles, foxes, beavers and of course the black cat…
I believe iAngler is faster and simpler to upload fish than TourneyX, but doesn’t have as many features. One thing I really wish it did was allow you to look at all of the fish of all the anglers like TourneyX does. Maybe I don’t know how to use it?
Geared in Hot Springs is a great tackle shop and they were awesome every time I’ve been there.
