When I signed up to enter the Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) Trail event to be held on Bull Shoals in April, I had visions of clear water, 60 degree water and bass beginning the spawn in my head. Boy was I wrong about that. What 53 anglers encountered on the beautiful Arkansas lake was a blast of winter that may not have bothered the fish, but it froze the butts off a lot of anglers.
It was my first trip to fish this lake and I had heard a lot of great things. Upon arrival I saw that the rumors were correct, it was a beautiful fishery with clear water and lots of rock and some shoreline cover in the form of flooded bushes almost everywhere you went. The communities of Bull Shoals and Lakeview did a fantastic job of hosting the event and really rolled out the red carpet for us. Quick shout out to Gaston’s White River Resort which was a great place to stay, definitely want to get back there and do some trout fishing on the White River.
Tough Day of Fishing – Dominant Performances
Overall the results showed a difficult day, partly due to the weather I would assume. A major cold front moved in overnight and brought with it sleet, snow and 27 degree temps at lines in. Temps didn’t get above freezing until almost noon. It seems that Smallmouth and Spotted bass were key for a lot of the anglers who did well.
Of the 53 anglers who entered, only 12 (23%) turned in a limit of five bass, and only 30 (57%) turned in at least one keeper. This is on a lake that is recognized as being crammed with bass and usually is a pretty easy touch.
The top finishers were Jason Adams (Ark.) with 89.25″, Josue Rodriguez (Okla.) with 79.5″ and Garrett Morgan (Ark.) with 79″ overall. This was a very large margin for the winner, making it not close for first place. You can see the full 2018 Bull Shoals results here. Read below for some insight and video of Jason’s winning day.
Here is a recap of the top 10 finishers:
- Jason Adams (Ark.)
- Josue Rodriguez (Okla.)
- Garrett Morgan (Ark.)
- Ben Spangler (Ark.)
- Roy Roberts (Ark.)
- Hans Bentz (Mo.)
- Cody Milton (Ark.)
- Brad Case (Ms.)
- Brian Hillman (Mo.)
- Dorman Hughey (Mo.)
Angler Recaps
The top three finishers participated in a roundtable to share some thoughts on how they did it. Jason Adams, Josue Rodriguez and Garrett Morgan answered my questions about the event.
Where did you go and why did you choose that part of the lake?
Jason – I wanted to go to the furthest area that was in bounds but still in Arkansas. I was looking for dirty water and found it in the mouths of the creeks.
Josue – I went to look at several spots before the tournament and just fished from the bank trying to figure out some type of pattern. We decided on the east side of the lake, close to the check in.
Garrett – I went to Coon Creek and fished secondary points as I knew fish have been making there way to the backs of creeks as the spawn is approaching. I knew the cold front would push them out a bit but didn’t feel they would travel too far away. So, midway back toward the lake seemed like a good way to spend my time on deeper points of flats near deep water once the sun came out.
Main baits that worked for you?
Jason – I used a Ned rig on a Solid Tackle jig head and a senko cut in half. The big bites later in the day were on a Skirmish one-knocker square bill in chartreuse.
Josue – Drop shot and an A-rig.
Garrett – My two baits I caught fish on were an A-rig and a wiggle wart.
Any particular approach or strategy you wanted to employ to try to win?
Jason – To try and get a limit at my first location was my primary strategy. Then move to another location to fish with a crank bait to try and catch larger fish to upgrade. I wanted to crank and cover water.
Josue – When I started to fish I was having problems right off the bat with my micro guides, they were freezing over. So fishing slow was difficult for me because the line kept getting stuck. I caught my first fish on a drop shot, it was only 9.5 inches and I was just happy to catch a fish at the time. Then I picked up an A-rig and fished a pocket and caught two fish back to back…after that i went looking for similar pockets. I had three fish at the time and that’s when it kinda went south for me. I was really cold and wanted to get out and walk around a bit. I couldn’t feel my legs so when I stood up in my kayak I fell in the water. Lucky for me only my legs got wet but I was still freezing at this point. I was ready to call it quits and I couldn’t fish because of how cold I was. I started to paddle back to the truck. On the way back I saw a good looking cove and I wasn’t very far from it so I decided to fish it really quick. I’m glad I did because I caught my last two fish and cull my smallest one.
Garrett – It was a roller coaster day of highs and lows and highs! My rods, reels and feet were locking up from the cold. I managed to catch a nice Smallmouth in the same area an hour later and lift my spirits a bit. A few hours and spots later my feet were so numb I couldn’t feel them. I headed to the opposite side of the creek channel from where I had caught my first fish, rolled up on a flat reached for the wiggle wart and caught another Smallmouth! A few minutes later I managed my only Largemouth on the A-rig. By this time it’s 11:30 and I’ve got three fish and feeling much better. I tried my spots again and noticed other folks headed in, I turn my phone on, check the time and see it’s about 2:30 and decided to head back toward my first spot one more time on the way in. I fish it about ten minutes and then head in with three fish for the day. As I approach the gravel ramp I see a nice breeze catching the front of the first drop out in front of it, which I noticed on my graph when I headed out that morning and never fished. At 2:43 I cast out in front of the gravel ramp area and hook up with a Smallmouth. I quickly grab my phone to take a pic, only to realize it has 1% because it’s been searching for signal and I never turned it off after the last time I checked the time. On low battery mode it had enough to snap a quick pic. I cast out at 2:46 and three revolutions of the reel later I’m hooked up with a another Smallmouth. I boat-flipped it in my lap, threw it on measuring board, prayed my phone would take a photo, and it did! Released the fish in the water and with the help of fellow competitors was loaded in less than 6 minutes.
Anything else interesting that happened or you wanted to mention? Thoughts on Bull Shoals?
Jason – When the sun finally came out and the fish moved up on shallow road beds – I happened to be in the right place when it happened. I quit fishing at 2:00 but knew I could keep upgrading if I had kept going, I’d caught around 30 fish at my second location and culled 7 times.
Josue – Overall I really like the lake. First time fishing it and I see that it has a lot of potential living up to the hype.
Garrett – This game is 10% skill and 90% mental in my opinion. I’d say I was tested harder mentally than any other tournament. I may have cursed a few times, but I was able to reset and never believed I couldn’t get back in contention as long as there was time left to fish. Adjusting little things like the color of my swimbaits at 2:00 pm when the sun popped out and I only have three fish, is not giving up! You got to believe it can still happen on any cast! I was glad it did on my last one!
Final Thoughts
I definitely hope that KBF comes back to Bull Shoals next year, it was a great lake and venue and the town really seemed to care that the tournament was in town. I was asked several times over a couple of days about the tournament by locals and they were genuinely interested.
The event was well-run and really turned out to be cold, but a fun experience on the water overall.