NSKA

Arkansas Junior Anglers – Friends and Fishing

Special to kayakfishingfocus.com courtesy of Aaron McBride:

The Natural State Kayak Anglers (NSKA), the largest kayak bass fishing club in Arkansas, and the cornerstone of the Razoryak Tournament Trail, is proud to have several active Junior Angler members. These young men are not just tag-alongs with their fathers either, as each one of them are long-standing members who have had their turn taking the adult member’s money in a tournament or yakpot setting. These boys aren’t beating up on a bunch of weak sticks, NSKA features a lot of talented fishermen who have a lot of success on the national scene.

Jacob Hudson, Carson McBride, and Declan McDonald at the 2016 Arkansas State Championship.

Anyone involved in kayak fishing in the region likely knows exactly how serious these kids are on the water. I’m not sure of any other club nationwide that boasts this number of quality skilled youth anglers in their club – all posing a serious competitive threat. As these boys approach their Senior year of high school, I thought it would be fun to do a feature on this great group of anglers.

Making Friends
Declan and Carson at a tournament weigh-in as Junior Anglers.

One thing that really stands out is that most of these kids started kayak fishing at the same time, not knowing each other. Since that first tournament to kick off the 2015 season, these kids have fished nearly 100% of the NSKA events. Carson McBride and Declan McDonald, both 13 at the time, had big aspirations to not only prove their ability, but to beat the adults. Friends since the 4th grade, they were a little surprised to see some other kids trying kayak tourneys for the first time. Brayden Richardson showed up with his dad, Craig. Baron Meek was there with his uncle, Justin Wright.

Jacob Hudson was the first Junior Angler in the group and now competes as an adult.

All four of these kids were in the 8th grade! And we cannot forget the OG: Original Junior Angler Jacob Hudson. Jacob was a couple of years ahead of this new group, and had fished the previous season as the only youth. Jacob now competes in the adult category and has continued to do well as an angler.

Carson and Baron at a High School event.

From that day on, these five kids gravitated to each other at pre-tourney checks, weigh-ins, and on the water. They regularly schedule fishing trips outside of the tourneys. Carson and Baron even teamed up to fish the High School circuits in bass boats.

Jr. Angler Award
Carson receives his first Junior Angler award from Tournament Director Jeff Malott.

The creation of the Jr. Angler award at every tournament really pushed these boy’s competitiveness. I loved watching them show up at weigh-in wondering how each other did, and who was going to win. Through it all, they have enjoyed a great friendship and supported one another. If one does well, the rest are quick to congratulate him. It didn’t take long for the rest of the club to realize that these kids weren’t just there to compete for top Junior Angler.

Winning Ways

These four boys have all finished in the money several times. This season alone, two out of our five NSKA events in 2018 have been won by a Junior Angler. Baron beat a record field of 80+ anglers in our season opener at Beaver Lake South with a crankbait at Natural Walk. Brayden won the other Beaver Lake event, throwing his Neko rig near Beaver Shores. With the Beaver Lake North event approaching, I guarantee you that Carson and Declan are going to give it everything they have to try to outfish the field. These two did show out a little for the River Valley Kayak Anglers event on Ozark City Lake back in April, showing the Fort Smith circuit that the northwest Arkansas kids mean business. They finished 1st and 2nd respectively in this night tournament.

In 2018 the Junior Anglers have been winning adult events. Baron won Beaver Lake South, Brayden won Beaver Lake, and Carson took 1st at Ozark City Lake with Declan finishing 2nd.
Angler of the Year Race

Speaking of Declan and Carson, they both sit at 3rd and 4th place in the NSKA AOY (Angler of the Year) points. It’s anybody’s race to take as there are two events left and anglers get to drop their lowest two scores. A lot can happen when the final fish is caught and scores are tallied. Both of these Junior Anglers are major threats to steal the title from one of the adults.

Junior Angler of the Year Race

While Carson and Declan are eyeing the top AOY spot, another good race to watch is the NSKA Junior Angler of the year award. It’s shaping up to be a close call, just like last year. The first Junior AOY award was in 2015, and was awarded to Baron, who dominated all year. In 2016 the title went to Carson. Last year was a tight race, with Declan and Brayden battling it out for top Junior AOY. What nobody saw coming was Carson’s 2nd place finish in the season finale on Beaver Lake, shooting him up the standings and winning Junior AOY for the 2nd year in a row.

Natural State Kayak Anglers 2015 Junior AOY Baron Meek, 2016 and 2017 Junior AOY Carson McBride
National Recognition
Carson McBride receiving his scholarship at the 2018 Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship.

All four of the current Junior Anglers qualified for the 2018 Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship on Kentucky Lake. Baron had baseball obligations and could not attend, but Carson, Declan, and Brayden all went to Kentucky Lake to try their luck against 752 of the nation’s best. Only a handful of youth fished in the main event, but those that did were obviously just as capable as the adult competitors. KBF does a good job getting youth involved with their Young Guns event and other activities. However, the kids that qualified for the big show want everyone to know they mean business, and rightly so. Some of these kids were there last year and are well known to each other. They are all good sticks. In that event, Carson took top Youth honors with a very respectable 39th place finish overall, a sizable check, and a four-year fishing scholarship to Bethel University.

A Bright Future for the Junior Anglers
Brayden and Carson take a break from kayak fishing and hop in the bass boat.

Within the next year, these four boys will be aging out of the Junior Angler category. I believe all four will be turning 18 before or during the 2019 season. It’s been great fun watching them grow and develop their skills. The adults in this group took them under their wings and have been truly awesome with them. They have been so much fun to watch. Hopefully this group can attract another group of kids to take up the sport of competitive kayak bass fishing. We’ve had a few kids show up and fish an event or two, but never really stuck with it. The next up and comer is Channon Thomas, who has fished several events over the last couple of years with his father, Jason Thomas. Hopefully we will see a new influx of the next round of Junior Anglers. No matter what happens, it’s been fun watching these kids grow into fine young men.