The first summer event of the year was the 2022 NSKA NWA Tenkiller event, presented by H2 Heat and Air as anglers made their way to Oklahoma for the sixth event of the season.
One thing everyone could agree on when it was over – it was a HOT day, and for many the fishing was as hot as the weather.
Tournament Results
The 48 anglers who took to the water were ready to take on some high water conditions, flooded ramps and a last minute deluge a few days before the event. That didn’t keep the field from catching the heck out of bass on this Saturday.
Overall it was a strong outing, with an amazing 41 of 44 (93%) turning in a limit, and a Fish Per Angler (FPA) of 7.5 which made it one of the stronger events of the year.
Vince Minnick took home the win with 89.50″ on the day, Roy Roberts finished 2nd with 89.00″ and Dwain Batey finished 3rd with 87.75″ for the event. The top ten was a set of strong totals with all over 80″ for the tournament.
Big Bass was also won by Vince Minnick with a 20.75″ Tenkiller Smallie – what a great catch!
The Top Ten:
- Vince Minnick
- Roy Roberts
- Dwain Batey
- Billy Bowden
- Jacob Webber
- Josh Landreth
- Jordan Rozenblum
- David Byrd
- Cody McCarter
- James Shumate
Angler Roundtables
Our top finishers – Vince, Roy and Dwain shared how it went down on Tenkiller:
Where did you go and why?
Vince – I chose to go down by the dam to hopefully get into some cleaner water since the area got hit with more rains during the week.
Roy – I went to snake creek. I haven’t been to Tenkiller in at least 5-6 years and hadn’t done well the time I did go. So I just picked a ramp that looked like it had a lot of options nearby.
Dwain – I went mid-lake because I didn’t pre-fish and I really have only ever been to two areas on Tenkiller before.
What were the techniques or baits that caught most of your fish?
Vince – After catching my 1st Smallmouth, it spit up a small crayfish which got me to change to a Strike King coffee tube in green pumpkin with purple fleck. Figured it out that the bigger fish were in the 11ft-14ft depth where there were some flooded bushes and rock. The fish were on the outside edge of these bushes.
Roy – I caught four fish on a spook early. After that I went a couple hours up shallow without any luck so I moved out to what I think was the old bank line, about 10-12 foot deep and started using my graph to stay on the edge of bushes or rocks. I found one pocket that was absolutely loaded with all types of fish and bait in that depth range. The only thing I could get bit on was a drop shot and for about two hours I could call my shot. I ran out of finesse worms and the heat was getting to me about noon so I tried a few different things but never could get back on anything.
Dwain – I caught fish on topwater and a swim jig.
What’s the story on your best fish of the day?
Vince – The boat traffic was getting bad back close to the area I put in but there was a main lake point that I had a fish hit topwater when I started the morning and I decided to go back and fish it. It was probably around the 3rd or 4th cast on this point that I got hung up on the rock on the bottom. While in the process of getting it in-hung the fish bit the tube. At first I thought I was hung up on something else as it was heavy and didn’t really move…then all of a sudden all I could do was just hang on. I thought I had a big drum hooked until it surfaced. This all happened at 1:30 and I had a couple of bass boats wanting to move in on me like they always do. I honestly was about to give up since it was hot and I hadn’t gotten a bite in over an hour. You have to keep telling your self to never give up…it could always be that next cast! I was very lucky.
Roy – My best fish was on the topwater early. It came out of bush and torpedoes my spook but didn’t hook up. A couple twitches later it came back for another swing. Rarely see one that big come back for a second look so I felt lucky!
Dwain – My biggest fish actually came out of cover to look at my topwater about two hours before I caught her, she didn’t commit but she was very wide across her back so I made a mark on the graph, and when I came back by I was lucky enough that she bit about 20 yards from where I had first seen her. My other big fish also ate topwater for me but this one literally ate my bait with no line out, right at the boat, I just let the rod flex while I fought the fish and managed to miraculously get the fish in somehow despite being short-lined so badly.
AOY Race Update
The Angler of the Year race is going to go down to the wire, as usual. Looking like nobody will have enough of a lead to relax going into the Classic event. The top anglers on the list are fairly steady at this point with some dark horses with three good scores in positions to make a late run if they knock it out of the park in the next two events. Right now Kyle, Dwain, Ryan, Terrill and Craig are a tier above everyone else in the AOY race – with Kyle and Dwain in the best position for now. Going to tighten up, hang on!
As for the top 25, there are a lot of anglers with a lot to fish for to make the Classic this year. There are literally a dozen or more anglers currently out of the top 25 who can make it in with two decent events to finish the season. Keep fishing and keep catching, you are not out of it!
Heavy Hitters
If you aren’t in the race by summer for Heavy Hitters, then you are not going to catch up generally. Bigger fish tend to come in the spring more often, so it’s hard to make headway late in the season – but not impossible. This always gets tight at the end of the year, and there definitely could be some surprises.
Right now I’m making the bold prediction that Ryan Paskiewicz is going to be the Heavy Hitters champ for 2022. We’ll see how it plays out!
Next event is the Road Runner, watch for a big preview article coming to outline the most productive waters based on tournament history.