This past weekend, 196 of the top club anglers from around the country descended on Truman Lake, nestled between Clinton and Warsaw, Missouri. This was not the first All American Kayak Classic on Truman, but it was the first held in the spring. We were not really sure what to expect going into it, had hoped fishing would be strong – the guess was we would see pre-spawn or various stages of spawn and anglers could find the stage they wanted to take advantage of.
Harry S. Truman Reservoir is a HUGE body of water, cover 55,600 acres and 958 miles of shoreline. By comparison, Beaver Lake is roughly half as large, with 31,700 acres and 435 miles of shoreline. So, fair to say there’s a lot of water available. As big as it is, oddly it seems to fish small as anglers congregated in many of the same areas – but overall gave you many options. One other notable thing about the lake if you haven’t been on it is that there are no private docks or other man-made cover present on the lake, outside of marinas. What it does have is pole timber…millions of trees, in some places so thick you can’t even get a kayak through very well.
In this tournament, anglers were competing individually, but also competing for a Club Championship by taking the top five scores from the teams to determine the overall best kayak fishing group. More on that later… There were a couple of other kayak events going on at Truman, but for this recap we’re focused on the All-American Kayak Classic.
Individual Classic Tournament Results
Fishing for the 2023 Classic was very strong overall. The fish you caught were healthy and feisty, a lot of fun and had fight in ’em. A good number of fish were caught. The Fish Per Angler (FPA) was a robust 5.04 for the two day average, and was likely higher than that because the field thins out a bit on day two. For comparison, the 2020 AAKS Championship had a FPA of 2.20 (167 anglers, November, single day) and the FPA in 2021 was 3.12 (170 anglers, October, two day average). Safe to say, April is a WAAAY better time to fish on Truman than the fall based on this data point.
NSKA’s Cole Sikes (AR) took the individual top slot with a 1st place total of 174.75″, followed by Chad Davison (MO) with 171.50″ and Jake Gellersen (IA) in 3rd with 171.25″ for the event. Ryan Wells (IA) took Big Bass for the event with a 21.00″ largemouth. Interestingly, really big fish were not a major component on Truman. In the two days, my count is only seven 20s caught out of 1,974 fish submitted. Shockingly low number, especially for the spawn timeframe. I mean that’s Dead-sea Beaver Lake situation.
Here were the top 10 anglers:
- Cole Sikes (AR) 174.75
- Chad Davison (MO) 171.50
- Jake Gellersen (IA) 171.25
- Matt Kern (CO) 168.50
- Joe Bailey (MO) 168.00
- Sammy B (NE) 165.50
- Joe Palmer (IL) 165.25
- John Denton (MO) 164.75
- Josh Swigart (NE) 164.50
- Kyle Christensen (NE) 164.00
NSKA – Club Champions
One of the really cool aspects of the All-American Kayak Classic is the competition between clubs for the Club Championship. Top five totals from each qualifying club are combined for a club total. Natural State Kayak Anglers took the trophy as Club Champions for 2023! Last time, NSKA fell just short to the Moyak group who won it in a close one. Moyak fishes Truman frequently and it is a familiar lake for many of them. Not going to lie, the NSKA team was focused on winning this 2023 title on Missouri water. Congrats to the guys who stepped up big-time! We’re going to hear from them below in the Angler Roundtable…
Angler Roundtable
Once again, we’re going to hear the secrets to unlocking Truman Lake from the anglers themselves. This is the Truman Lake Angler Roundtable – NSKA Top Five edition. Cole Sikes, Tyler Zengerle, Ryan Paskiewicz, Kyle Long and James Haeberle were the anglers who contributed the top five totals to the Club Championship. They spill the beans below on how it went down:
When going to a giant lake you haven’t fished much, how do you break it down to find the fishing location?
Cole – Typically, I like to try to pick one area of the lake and focus my entire time on trying to learn that area. If you’re able to pre-fish, it allows you to maximum your time on the water and less traveling from ramp to ramp. I feel like it’s more risky to bounce around to different parts of the lake when you’re not familiar with it.
Tyler – When pre-fishing, I chose two different areas where I thought fish would be this time of year. One spot, I chose the river since it was shallower and more places for fish to spawn, if they were. My second spot, I chose an area on the main lake close to coves and pockets in case the fish were still in their pre-spawn pattern.
Ryan – I do some map study based on what phase I think the fish will be in and then break down sections of the lake with the most potential based on that. I try to think of breaking down a section into its own lake. Truman is huge and you can get caught up in thinking so many areas would be good. So I just pick an area and try to figure out what the fish and doing and fish as many of those high percentage areas as possible.
Kyle – I try to find things that fit my strengths and that I like to fish. With that lake being so big, just from the map, I was able to eliminate 95% of it just because it didn’t fit my eye. Also finding multiple high percentage areas in that area that aren’t miles apart but are different as far as depth, cover, structure etc. is a big factor.
James – Map study is first when trying to break down a new lake. I want to find areas with a lot of diversity. Feeder creeks, bluff walls, main lake and secondary points, and spawing ares. I like to check each area to find what the active fish are relating to. Then I can find other spots like that on the lake to target.
What type of an area were you looking for to fish for the tournament and why?
Cole – Going into the tournament, my assumption was the fish would be in all phases of the spawn. Because of that I wanted to focus on ideal spawning areas so I was looking for shallow water with gravel and small rocks and with numerous pockets in the area. Also, from what little history I have on this lake I knew for the most part it’s dirty up the rivers and dingy by the dam so I wanted to focus on that dingy water which eliminated majority of the lake for me and allowed me to focus on a smaller area.
Tyler – I was really looking for areas that were somewhat similar to Beaver Lake, to be honest. Even with the abundance of standing timber, my main lake spot set up much better for my style of fishing.
Ryan – During prefishing I determined that the fish weren’t as far a long in the spawning phase as I thought they would be. With that information I looked for small mainlake pockets close to deep water that the females would be staging at. For example, I fished a bluff line on day one and moved from each small cut that fish could be close to moving up into.
Kyle – I like to move quickly and make lots of casts. There is so much standing timber in that lake and lots of areas make moving and making lots of casts difficult. I tried to find areas where I felt like I could move and cast without being hampered all day long. Also launching in the dark and fishing in the wind makes the vast areas with timber unappealing and potentially rough on your equipment Some is fine, choked out is not my thing.
James – I was assuming the fish would be in a pre-spawn pattern, giving the time of year and weather conditions. So I checked a bunch of stuff in the backs of creeks and spawning pockets and didn’t find anything. After finding some active fish on steep bluff walls and chunk rock banks, I found the fish were relating to ledges on the bluffs and steep banks that were about 5 to 10 feet deep. That is what I fished on day one. Day two was different. All the fish moved off that stuff and made their way to the secondary points and backs of pockets. I have never before seen this happen overnight.
What were the main techniques or baits that caught you most of your good fish?
Cole – On day one, I was using moving baits and was really struggling on catching fish. Around 10 am the sun popped out and there was zero wind so I started throwing a fluke on secondary points and weeded through tons of fish to finally landed a few above average fish but never could find a kicker but kept me in contention of winning the tournament. On day two, the wind was ripping so I started in wind-protected pockets with a fluke and caught some really nice quality. With the high winds, I was not able to work the fluke so I switched over to a spinnerbait and was able to catch fish on wind-blown points and pockets.
Tyler – In practice, I caught fish on literally everything. Day one, I fished a fluke and my trusty shakey head. Day two, conditions were different and rotated between the fluke, shakey head, and culled with a free rig the rest of the day.
Ryan – I caught most of my fish on day one with a free rigged creature bait. I like to fish a jig but I fought the rocks and getting hung up so much in pre-fishing that I needed a lighter presentation to avoid this. I used a 1/4oz cylinder drop shot weight that moves up and down the mainline giving some nice action and minimizes hang ups. Day two I caught fish on a fluke mostly but also added key fish with a RkCrawler, spinnerbait, and a donkey rig (double fluke rig). My two biggest fish came on the free rig on day one and the donkey rig on day two.
Kyle – Spinnerbait, fluke, squarebill. I should have taken time to drag a jig in some places where I knew fish were but weren’t eating moving baits but I didn’t do that and I think it cost me on day two.
James – 90% of my keepers for me were on a fluke. I caught a few on a Whopper Plopper, spinnerbait, and some on a squarebill.
What are the adjustments you made from day one to day two?
Cole – On day one, the fish were still positioned where they were while pre-fishing which was on the main-lake points. The main-lake was warmer than the back of the pockets to start the day so I believe that’s where they were. As the day went on the back of the pockets were warmer and fish started to move into those. On day two, I was fishing the same key stretches on the main-lake points and was struggling. So I slid into the back of a pocket and for the first time that week the pockets were warmer than the points first thing in the morning. I was able to catch three good fish in the very backs in super shallow water.
Tyler – After learning where the fish were NOT on day one, I focused fishing the stuff where the fish were for day two. Unfortunately, the fish weren’t really in those same areas, so I just covered more water and fished more thoroughly. The wind blew me around all day, so I couldn’t fish the weightless stuff efficiently, so I had to use heavier baits.
Ryan – I didn’t feel like I could replicate my day one in the same area, so I moved to an area I had fished in the previous Classic. It set up similar and felt confident there would be fishing in the area. The wind was also a factor on day two. The windy day helped my bite and allowed me to fish a spinnerbait a bit more.
Kyle – In pre-fishing it seemed every fish in the lake was on a main lake point. At some point from Wednesday afternoon to Friday morning a lot of those fish pushed back in my area. It took me a while to find them. On day two, I tried to make Friday afternoon’s bite work on Saturday morning regardless of a big water temp cool down in the backs. That’s where I should have slowed down and tried a jig in those areas. But instead I hopped from pocket to pocket to try and find them eating a fluke. Once the afternoon hit Saturday, they were back there eating the fluke again, but not in every pocket. It just took me too long to find them that day.
James – I actually stumbled on to the fish movement and the pattern for the day by accident. I went to a spot where I didn’t get a bite in practice or the first day of the tournament because I had a lot of company at my ramp and everyone was taking and asking how each other had done the day before. Knowing I would have eyes on me, I went to dead water where I could see my starting spot and wait for everyone to move on past so I could fish it without being noticed by everyone. Luckily for me, the fish moved, and I landed on them. I had my limit in 30 minutes. After that, I fished my good stuff without a bite for over an hour. That told me to go back to where I started and find more spots like that in the area.
What was the biggest key you unlocked on either day that made you feel like you were onto something?
Cole – As I eluded to in the previous question, I believe the biggest key for me was able to relocate the fish quickly on day two in the back of the pockets. It was the very first time of the entire four days I was on the lake that the water was warmer in the backs of pockets. Also, the area I fished the pockets were short so the fish didn’t have to travel far from the points to the back which helped me figure it out more quickly.
Tyler – I found that the best fish were on trees/stumps that were in 5-8 feet of water and were 18+ inches wide, so I targeted those mostly. The rocky banks that transitioned quickly to 5+ feet of water was also key in finding fish. When those two stars aligned, it was game on.
Ryan – I caught my big fish early on day one and that gave me the confidence to keep throwing what i was throwing and commit to it with confidence. Day two I had to share a small area with three guys (one being the 2nd place guy from day one), so I gave him first crack at the pocket and then was able to share it after. We communicated well and that was nice to see the sportsmanship side of this sport. They ate the fluke early and this was a confidence booster that carried my day.
Kyle – I’d say figuring out that a lot of fish had made the move back and also which type of pockets to target. Not all of them were good. It needed to have some timber, maybe 35-45° angle banks, and off the main lake. At least where I was at.
James – The biggest keys for me were two things. First was I was targeting bluffs and steep banks while most of the people at my launch were not. Second was I was getting bites on a fluke, and I didn’t see anyone else using one. I made sure to keep it hidden at the boat ramp, and I think it helped due to all the fishing pressure in my area.
Kudos to the Event and Organizers
I’d encourage everyone to try and participate in the All-American Kayak Classic if they can. It’s a very well run event, great organization and communication. Loved all the communication. Josh Boothe and others who run it do an outstanding job. Hope to qualify to get back again next year!
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