All posts by jkincy

NSKA, Tournaments

2020 NSKA Roadrunner 2 Recap: The Sequel

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!

Heavy Hitters Standings

As a fun side-contest for the season, we’re running a Heavy Hitters competition which will take the largest fish from each NSKA AOY competition events and create the best five fish limit for the season. There is STILL TIME to enter the Heavy Hitters competition – Do so before the next event!

The Top Five after two events are: Jason Kincy, Roy Roberts, Michael Burgess, Cole Sikes and Andrew Newsome.

Heavy Hitters

NSKA Heavy Hitters Standings – Week 1

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.

NSKA, Uncategorized

NSKA NWA RoadRunner – Recap

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

Uncategorized

NSKA NWA Heavy Hitter Side Pot – Roster and Rules

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 $$

  1. 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.
  2. Your name goes on the Roster of competitors below. Results and rankings will be kept and displayed on Kayakfishingfocus.com all season long.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Fishing Recap

Hobie BOS Lake Fork Recap

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 X and 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 an iRod 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!

See you all back at Fork in March for B.A.S.S.!

Tournaments

Hobie BOS Tournament of Champions Recap

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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…
  7. 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?
  8. Geared in Hot Springs is a great tackle shop and they were awesome every time I’ve been there.
  9. BBQ is always a great post-tournament dinner.
  10. The 2019 Hobie BOS – Tournament of Champions was a great event. View all of the results on iAngler Tournament and read a good recap and interview with the Champion, Jody Queen on Bassmaster.com.

 

NSKA

2019 NWA NSKA Classic Recap and AOY Race

The first ever Natural State Kayak Anglers NWA end of season Classic was held over two days on beautiful Beaver Lake in the Ozarks. The Classic was going to crown an event winner, but also would go a long way in deciding the NSKA Angler of the Year. Day one was launched out of the Hickory Creek area and day two would be out of Prairie Creek. The top 25 anglers from the regular season were ready to battle it out.

Day One – Hickory Creek

On the first day there were 24 participants who took the water on a very tough post-front, high skies bluebird day with little wind. Beaver wasn’t going to make it easy. Of the 24 anglers, all but one (96%) turned in at least one keeper, while a strong 17 (70%) turned in a limit. Big Bass for the day was a Beaver Lake beast at 20.50″ and after day one the leaders were Jeriamy Vann with 75.25″ and Ryan Paskiewicz with 75″ followed by Devon Esry, Jason Cowell and Justin Brewer with 70″ each.

Kyle Long’s 20.50″ Big Bass led the way in the NSKA Classic.

Day Two – Hickory Creek

The second day of the event was more of the same with little to no wind, clear skies and lots of sun and heat. The anglers would have a big challenge to find quality bass. On day two 23 (95%) of the 24 participants turned in a keeper and only 13 (54%) of the anglers turned in a limit. The numbers, including Big Bass for the day by Jason Kincy and Jacob Hudson both at 18.57″ showed that it was a tougher grind than day one. Top performers on day two were Andrew Newsom with 79″ followed by Cole Sikes with 76.5″ and Jeriamy Vann with a 74″ total.

Final Standings

Jeriamy Vann took first place with a two day total of 149.25″ followed by Andrew Newsom in second place with 147″ and Cole Sikes third with 145.25″.  Kyle Long’s day one 20.50″ bass was the largest of the tournament.

The top ten finishers:

  1. Jeriamy Vann
  2. Andrew Newsom
  3. Cole Sikes
  4. Ryan Paskiewicz
  5. Dwain Batey
  6. Tyler Zengerle
  7. Jason Kincy
  8. Jason Cowell
  9. Jonathan Brewer
  10. Justin Phillips

Jeriamy Vann wins the 2019 NSKA NWA Classic on Beaver Lake.

Angler Of the Year

Cole Sikes wins the 2019 NSKA NWA Angler Of the Year title.

The NSKA Angler of the Year race came down to the final event, with Dwain Batey and Cole Sikes in a dead heat in points. Cole’s higher finish in the Classic propelled him to his second AOY in a row – an impressive achievement.

Angler Recaps

The top finishers in the Classic provided their insights as to how they did it and their final thoughts on the season. Jeriamy Vann, Andrew Newsom, Cole Sikes and Ryan Paskiewicz shared their thoughts in the roundtable.

How do you compare or contrast Hickory Creek and Prairie Creek? Did you approach them differently?

Jeriamy – First off I want to thank my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ. I love him and everything good in my life flows through him.  I’ve never had much luck at Hickory Creek so to be honest I tried to fish as far away from there as I could. For some reason it’s always been a tough area on Beaver Lake for me. Prairie Creek I’ve always enjoyed and one difference I think is access to a bigger portion of the of the main lake.

Andrew – I try and fish my strengths no matter the area of the lake I’m fishing. I just try and find an area I’m comfortable with and go for it. At Hickory Creek, I was able to stick with my game plan pretty much the whole day. I know the area well, so I knew where I was going all day long. At Prairie Creek, you have a lot more boat traffic. Bass boats fishing the same area kind of dictated where I was able to go. My game plan changed multiple times so I was hopping from spot to spot all day.

Cole – In my opinion, Hickory Creek and Prairie Creek fish quite a bit different even though they are only 12 miles apart. The great thing about Beaver Lake is that you can target different species depending on which part of the lake you’re fishing. Hickory Creek bass population is primarily Largemouth and Spotted bass and the water clarity usually has a little more color than Prairie Creek. Usually you’ll be able to target Largemouth up shallow and can catch a few spots around bluffs. The wild card for Prairie Creek are the Smallmouth, an angler could win a tournament by just catching Smallmouth in that area. Typically, an angler will need to fish out deeper around Prairie Creek once the sun gets up. Knowing this, I did approach them differently. While fishing Hickory Creek, I stayed up shallow all day trying to find the better quality Largemouth. While fishing Prairie Creek, I fished shallow for the first few hours until the sun got up and started targeting Smallmouth and spots out deeper.

Ryan – I actually ended up pedaling to War Eagle marina area to start and didn’t fish much if any in the Hickory area. With that being said, it fished vastly different for me. My approach on day one was to move from main lake/river channel swings and transitions to the next, covering a lot of high percentage areas. Prairie provided more water clarity and obviously fished a bit different. My initial plan was to hit a couple key main lake points. Unfortunately this didn’t produce and I then began targeting smaller main lake pockets with docks These produced some fish early but as the day went on I couldn’t get bit. Not having a lot of known areas i was left scrambling a bit as the day went on. Boat traffic and wake was another key difference and factor in comparing the two areas.

What were the primary baits that led you to victory?

Jeriamy – I caught all my fish on a jig and craw. Surprise, surprise.
It’s kinda what I do. 😁

Andrew – All my keepers both days came on a Slow Town jig. I threw a few other baits, but the jig bite was what seemed to be working.

Cole – By no surprise, every single fish I caught this weekend was on a football jig by Slowtown Custom Lures. The great thing about a football jig is the versatility, I used the exact same bait and caught fish in 6 inches to 35 feet of water during this tournament.

Ryan – No victory here but a solid finish, lol. I used a  3/8 oz round ball jig with a Rage Menace and ½ oz football jig with a Rage Craw.

What were the key fish you caught and what were the circumstances?

Jeriamy – Probably the key fish for me were my last two culls on day one. I had a long dry spell without a bite so I decided to change everything up in my approach and it worked out.

Andrew – At Hickory Creek, I caught my biggest bass of the day around 1:30 pm. I had not had a bite for a few hours and found myself in an area that had been heavily fished by fellow kayakers all day. Catching a good one that late in the day really gave me a lot of confidence going into day 2.

Cole – On day one at Hickory Creek, I was able to catch one quality Largemouth of 18.5 inches skipping my jig under a boat dock. That fish was the only reason I had somewhat of a decent day on day one. Prairie Creek was a grind for the most part, I had a small limit majority of the day but at 1:30 I was able to cull over 10 inches on an offshore spot where bass were loaded up. I was such in the zone, I forgot about all of the ski boats whizzing only 30 yards away from me.

Ryan – I caught a day 1 kicker around 1:30 that went 17”. On day 2, I couldn’t find the right size and fell short because of it. I was able to scrape together a limit but it just wasn’t enough against the sticks ahead of me.

First year of the Classic, what did you think?

Jeriamy – I loved the classic idea from the start. You have to earn your way there and when you get there you know you’re fishing against the best 25 anglers in our club for the year. It was a great challenge indeed. We have hammers.

Andrew – My goal all season was to make the Classic. When I realized I had enough AOY points to get in, I was super excited. The entire tournament was a blast and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to be in it.

Cole –  I thought the Classic was a lot of fun, it gives the anglers all year something to work towards even if they are out of the Angler Of the Year race. I think it would be cool if we rotated different spots each year on Beaver so it’s not Hickory and Prairie Creek each time.

Ryan – Man, this was awesome. After a really disappointing season on the whole, I was able to qualify and gain some confidence on Beaver Lake and in general. The format is great and requires you to adjust, adapt and also have different plans for each day. You get to test your skills against the best that year, as well as, test yourself against a grinder of a lake. I can’t think of anything I would change.

Season is over, what’s your best memory from it?

Jeriamy – I gotta say holding that classic trophy at the end was pretty dang sweet, but I did enjoy this year overall.  I feel like I got to know some good people a little better and to me that’s really cool.
What a great fishing family !

Andrew – This was my first full season and meeting so many awesome people along the way made for my best memories.

Cole – This is a tough one, overall I had an amazing season and had lots of great memories. There are two tournaments that stuck out to me the most and I didn’t win either one. The first one would be the road runner. I chose to fish War Eagle Creek and was able to catch a huge Smallmouth and Largemouth that was good enough for 2nd place. The reason this memory was so great was because this exact creek is where I really learned to fish, it is where my family would go almost every weekend in the summer and it’s a special place to me. The second memory was that last hour of the Classic. Fishing that offshore spot in the last hour to cull over 10 inches was an adrenaline rush, grinding all day and finally pull up to the right spot in the last hour to win Angler Of the Year was an amazing experience.

Ryan – Lots of good memories but participating in the State Championship was number 1. Spending 4 days with a great group of guys fishing and hanging out was awesome. I learned a ton on that trip and can’t wait to do it again.

 

 

NSKA

NSKA NWA Beaver Town Recap

Orlando Bloom on the bridge on the Beaver bridge…probably dreaming about a giant Table Rock bass.

The region where the tailwaters from Beaver Dam merge into Table Rock Lake is one of the most scenic spots in Northwest Arkansas. The waters from Beaver Town to Holiday Island provided a lot of diversity for anglers as they took on the final regular season event of 2019. The most striking feature of the area is the yellow bridge in Beaver, Arkansas, which was the backdrop in some key scenes for Orlando Bloom in the pretty terrible movie called Elizabethtown from 2005. Hopefully director Cameron Crowe and Orlando hit the water while they were on set.

This year’s regular season finale had a lot of drama as the top AOY contenders entered crunch time and had to catch’em. Additional drama was in the air as the rest of the field tried to solidify their spot in the top 25 for the NSKA Classic coming up in September. The final 25 isn’t out yet, but based on some initial calculations there were risers and fallers based on this event.

Beaver Town Results

It was a hot, hot day in the Ozarks but the fish cooperated with a few of the anglers while they frustrated others. Overall, 39% of anglers turned in a limit while a very strong 84% turned in at least one keeper. Once again some familiar names finished at or near the top. Cole Sikes took first place with 83.75″, Dwain Batey took second with 77″ and Jeriamy Vann third with 73.25″. Sikes also took home the Big Bass prize with a 19.5″ kicker.

Top Ten Finishers:

  1. Cole Sikes
  2. Dwain Batey
  3. Jeriamy Vann
  4.  Chad Warford
  5.  Craig Wood
  6.  Michael Sandlin
  7.  Kyle Long
  8.  Tyler Zengerle
  9.  John Wofford
  10.  Jonathan Brewer

Big Bass from Beaver Town in 2019 was caught by Cole Sikes.

Beaver Town Angler Recaps

So how did the top finishers catch ’em on tournament day? The top four finishers – Cole Sikes, Dwain Batey, Jeriamy Vann and Chad Warford spill the tea on how they conquered this picturesque fishery. As the anglers did their interviews, one shared some words I felt were appropriate for the amazing natural setting and the blessings we all have to participate in this sport.

“Thank you Jesus
For your beautiful creation
And your sacrifice
‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’”

What was your overall strategy going into the Beavertown tournament?

Cole – More or less my strategy for the tournament was the same as the year before. Try to cover water early with topwater early to catch a limit, then switch to a jig and try to upgrade throughout the day. I didn’t pre-fish before the tournament but was able to figure out a pattern around 10:00 to catch some quality and for the remainder of the day I just ran that pattern.

Dwain – I had never been to Beaver Town before, So I peeked at Navionics on the computer, didn’t see anything special, just decided to go to the closest ramp, and fish it like I would any river this time of year.

Jeriamy – My overall strategy was to try to capitalize on the early bite and get a limit…and stay really focused on trying to cull before lines out. I focused on shade and ambush points mostly.

Chad – Since I had never been to Beaver Town and didn’t get a chance to pre-fish, the first part of my strategy was to pray…a lot as I needed at least a top 15 finish to secure my spot in the upcoming Classic. With that, the pressure was on. I haven’t fished rivers much for bass but overall, find structure on a shady bank and start there. Also, in doing my homework, I knew there would be good water movement at just after 11:00 as that is when the generation cycle for the day was set to start. Knowing that, I also keyed in on ambush spots. At least initially that was the plan.

What time of day did you catch your largest fish and what on?

Cole – I caught my biggest fish just after noon next to a boat dock with a Slowtown Custom jig.

Dwain – My largest fish at 17.75” was around 9 am. It was already hot and I had already put up the topwater and started using the chicken rig at that point.

Jeriamy – My largest fish was my last fish between trying to take a picture and trying to get service I barely got it in on time. I caught that one on a jig.

Chad – My big fish were scattered throughout the day up until about 1:30. Not knowing the river and where to fish, I simply headed up-river towards the dam. The fishing was slow at first with a few small ones but as the morning progressed, the bigger they got. My primary baits were the Strike King KVD 7” Super Finesse Worm on a Shaky Head Jig (multiple colors) and their new Thunder Cricket, mostly bluegill color. I had to be on the fast track to learning the water and I can’t stress enough to always watch and adapt to the changing conditions, and on that river, they changed a lot for the short time we were there. From which way the river flowed (stumped me in the morning it was moving uphill), to where the shade and limited wind was, the water temperature change, the slight rise in the river to how fast it was flowing and when. Lots of variables to consider but I quickly put the puzzle together and ended up catching my biggest fish in some very specific conditions.

Looking back on the season, what was your favorite event and why?

Cole – My favorite event of the year was the Road Runner. I decided to float War Eagle with the mindset of just trying to get a top ten finish. I knew I would catch fish but I was shocked to catch 89.25 inches with a mix bag of Largemouth, Smallmouth and Spots.

Dwain –  Probably Beaver Lake North, not only was it a win, but I got to catch some great fish on a swimbait, and that’s always really fun, especially on a lake like Beaver where it’s rare.

Jeriamy – My favorite tournament every year is the Road Runner. I like that format and I like how everyone is spread out. I would like to see the River Road Runner come back for 2020.

Chad – My favorite tournament this year (I can already hear the groans) was Lake Ft. Smith. I am always up for a good challenge and that lake seems to be the most challenging for NSKA anglers each year…except for a select few (Cole/Christa).

With the classic coming up, what are your thoughts on it and how you approach a two day cumulative tournament?

Cole – I’m excited to fish the classic, I think it will be a fun way to end the year. My approach for a two-day cumulative tournament will not change, I will treat each day as if they are just another tournament and I’ll go out there and just try to catch fish and have fun!

Dwain – I really like having it in two different areas and being two days, it will really give us a nice challenge. Multi day events are good because someone who just wanders into some fish can win a single day event, but catching fish two days in a row in two different areas is going to really give us a good idea of who was able to adapt to the different areas, and conditions. I think it will really be a fun event because of this format, and I’m looking forward to it.

Jeriamy – I really think it’s cool to have the top 25 for the season battle it out for the NSKA classic trophy. Even if you can’t win AOY you still have a shot at winning “The Classic”.  Two day tournaments are tough, and I think the most important thing is to get a limit the first day then you have a chance of winning because anything can happen. I want to thank Jeff Malott for everything he’s done for our club. I know he is looking forward to fishing more events next year and his shoes will be hard to fill.

Chad – For the upcoming NSKA Classic, I am thrilled with the new format to help determine the ultimate NSKA AOY for 2019! One lake, different launch each day, 25 of the very best for the year grinding to be the last one standing. This new format gives everyone something to compete for all season to earn one of those coveted 25 spots. I will stay with my same approach I take to each tournament with one exception, it’s a marathon and not a sprint like the others. That may change the approach slightly but going against the very best of the best NSKA anglers, the grind must be 100% focus, 100% of the time to have any chance against these great anglers!

 

NSKA

NSKA NWA Roadrunner Recap – City Lake Dominates

There are times when things don’t go as expected, and there are times when things go exactly as you think they will. This was one of those times. In the NSKA Roadrunner Preview, the historical data implied that Siloam City Lake would be a major player in the standings – and man did that come through in the final standings. Of the seven anglers reported to have gone to Siloam City Lake, four finished in the overall top six for the day and five finished in the top 10.

Tournament Results

Of the 63 anglers in the event, 52% (33) caught a limit and a very strong 83% turned in a keeper on this blistering hot day in Arkansas. NSKA members brought it on the fish catching front with 287 fish submitted for a robust 4.53 FPA average.

Bo Sarratt repeated as the Road Runner champ by carding a strong 91.25″ at Siloam City Lake, followed by Cole Sikes with 89.25″ on the War Eagle river, and Dwain Batey took third at Siloam City Lake with 86.75″ on the day.

Lincoln Lake dominated Big Bass honors, but was stingy otherwise. Rance Richardson took big bass with a 22″ giant and Clay Johnson was second Big Bass with 21.75″ – unfortunately Lincoln was only giving up dinks otherwise which prevented these guys from the money.

Rance Richardson’s 22 inch bass from Lincoln won Big Bass and knocked flip flops off.

Top ten finishers:

  1. Bo Sarratt
  2.  Cole Sikes
  3.  Dwain Batey
  4.  Justin Brewer
  5.  Carson McBride
  6.  Danny Dutton
  7.  Andrew Newsome
  8.  Josh King
  9.  Tyler Zengerle
  10.  Rance Richardson
Angler Recaps

Top finishers Bo Sarratt, Cole Sikes and Dwain Batey share their secrets in how they caught the big limits in the recap roundtable.

Where did you go and why?

Bo – I went to Siloam city lake because it’s got the big fish and I usually have a pretty good handle on how to figure them out there.

Cole – The week prior to the tournament I was considering fishing Lincoln, Elmdale or Beaver. I was able to get out for a few hours and prefish Beaver and Elmdale and they were a bust. Then there was Lincoln, I heard that the bite was tough but had been getting better. The forecasted weather for Saturday was hot, calm and sunny which from my experience is usually a tough bite on lakes. Also, I thought there would be lots of fishing pressure on Lincoln so I made an audible and decide to go float War Eagle and stay cool, catch lots of fish and hope to get lucky and catch upper 70 or low 80s to sneak into top ten.

Dwain – I hadn’t been able to fish a lot leading up to the event, so my choice was Siloam Springs City Lake, just because I felt like I could catch them there with no practice.

How did you catch them?

Bo – I spent about 3 hours offshore because I didn’t want to fish behind the guys there, but after not catching anything I went shallow. I knew the full moon was just a day or two away so I went to pitching and throwing perch imitation baits knowing there should be a perch spawn happening and it worked out.

Cole –  My primary bait was a River2Sea black Whopper Plopper. The best areas were at the upper ends of the holes in the current and the holes that had a little more depth were best. I was able to catch a quick solid limit of low 80s by 8:30. Later in the day I ran into some holes that were better for Largemouth. The holes were calm and shallow so I switch to my Slowtown Custom jig and started flipping laydowns and skipping into shade pockets. Around 12:30 I caught my 20.75 kicker on some roots on the bank that helped put me towards the top.

Dwain –  I wasn’t on any real pattern so I just junk fished. I caught the first fish an hour into the event on a Fluke in less than a foot of water. After another long dry spell I found one on a shaky head offshore. Then I managed to catch several, including two that made the big show, on a Chicken Rig, before finally catching my last and largest fish on a Skirmish Baits squarebill offshore.

What was your first kayak tournament event and how did you do?

Bo – I believe my first kayak tournament was at Swepco back in probably 2016. I didn’t do any good that day!

Cole – My first kayak tourney was on Swepco in 2017. It was very overwhelming and I didn’t know what to expect. I pulled up to the ramp and the parking lot was completely full and I didn’t know anyone. Even considered on turning around and heading home but I got up crazy early and was already there so just stuck with it. We had a shotgun start and I headed across the lake as my starting spot. My kayak was pretty new to me and didn’t know it well but I had my pole in poorly designed slot on my kayak and I pulled my bungee to access my rod and it fell straight into the water. Was a terrible way to start my first tournament. Soon after that I caught an 18.5 inch fish, I hadn’t had any practice with taking pictures of fish on my Hawg Trough. I struggled to get a picture and finally got it done but just like every rookie, I had the mouth open and had a 1 inch deduction. I only ended up with 4 keepers and finished 30th of 61 anglers. All in all, I’m glad I didn’t turn around and go back home, I learned a lot and made some great friends on that day.

Dwain – What was the first kayak tourney you entered and how did it go? When I first got my kayak I fished some of the Angler Combat online events just to get a handle on taking photos and the whole process. My first would have been in November 2015, I finished 12th out of 54 anglers nationwide. If i’m not mistaken though, those were land, boat or kayak.

Three Year Rolling Rankings

Looking back over the past three years I broke down the most successful anglers in NWA NSKA events and the standings have moved just a bit after the Road Runner.  We will keep adjusting these totals through the end of 2019.

The top ten anglers from 2017 – 2019:

  1. Cole Sikes (30)
  2. Dwain Batey (23)
  3. Roy Roberts (19)
  4. Jason Kincy (16)
  5. Carson McBride (15)
  6. Declan Mcdonald (15)
  7. Jeriamy Vann (12)
  8. Christa Hibbs (11)
  9. Baron Meek (11)
  10. Bo Sarratt (10)

NEXT TOURNAMENT – BEAVERTOWN ON SATURDAY AUGUST 17

 

 

 

NSKA

NSKA Road Runner Preview – Hot as a Firecracker

Kick the tires and light the fires, it’s time for NWA NSKA to sprint across Northwest Arkansas in search of bass in the summer heat. The NSKA Road Runner is one of the best tournaments of the year with kayak anglers checking out new water in search of fish or banking on their favorite honey hole to come up big. This year looks to be another tough one with a long stretch of summer temps in the 90s leading up to tournament weekend.

IMPORTANT NOTE – Because this is a road runner, ALL eligible water is off limits after Wednesday, July 10, not just where you plan to fish. Swepco, Lake Prairie Grove and Bella Vista Lakes are NOT ELIGIBLE for this event, nor are any private access areas, launches or take out points. The boundaries are 30 miles from Boar’s Nest in Rogers.

Boundaries for the 2019 NWA NSKA Road Runner.

History Says The Roadrunner Can Be Won Anywhere

A quick look at the lakes with wins from the past Road Runners shows that there’s no monopoly on where to catch the right fish in summertime. It’s more a matter of the right angler on the right lake on the right day.  Past road runner results in order of First, Second and Third.

2015 – Beaver Lake, Crystal Lake, Lincoln Lake

2016 – Beaver Lake, Siloam City Lake, Bob Kidd

2017 – Elmdale, Elmdale, Swepco (off limits in 2019)

2018 – Siloam City Lake, Siloam City Lake, Beaver Lake

In 2018, almost all of the anglers (93%) carded a keeper and a stout 65% turning in a limit. Getting to pick where you want to fish gives anglers and advantage to put their best foot forward and find water that suits them.

I just can’t wait to get on the road again…the life I love is goin’ fishing with my friends. And I can’t wait to get on the road again.

Breakdown of the Fisheries

It’s a long list, but here are some of the key bodies of water that anglers will be fanning out to in search of bass. For each body of water I’ve listed my (PB) and a one-liner description.

Beaver Lake (21.5) – The Dead Sea has been a major player in past Road Runners and is a “spot lake” where anglers can find a place they feel comfortable.

Beavertown (18.5) – One of the most scenic fisheries in the area with a strong population of bass, from Holiday Island marina up to the bridge and beyond.

Elmdale (21.5) – Also a major player in past Road Runners of the past. Elmdale has had a bad rep this year but word on the street is it’s been rebounding lately and the muck is disappearing. Could it get hot?

Lincoln (20.5) – A big bass lake that historically hasn’t performed well on tournament day. Last year was the exception to the rule, will it happen again or will the fickle lake strike back?

Lake Wilson (20.5) – This little lake has some massive fish and gets almost no pressure. If you like to fish a frog and vegetation this could be a hidden gem.

Crystal Lake (18.5) – Crystal Lake is the Steady Eddie of the group, always seems to be in the mix somehow. Although big fish are harder to find, there have been many 20+ caught there.

Bob Kidd (19.5) – A really nice lake with a bit of everything from riprap to timber to grass, could be a real dark horse this year.

Shadow Lake (21) – This is one of my favorite summertime and wintertime haunts to catch fish. Float the Elk and land in Shadow, that’s a great summer Saturday.

Siloam City Lake (19.5) – Some real bruisers live in this shallow lake which is why it’s been in the money several times in the past and rivals Swepco for monthly online tournament giants.

Some others I don’t fish as much include Lake Wedington, Lake Fayetteville, Illinois River (within 30 miles), War Eagle, White River.

Top Angler Previews

Established tournament anglers Kyle Long and Roy Roberts provide their take on what might happen in this year’s Road Runner. Are they giving the inside scoop or spinning some dock talk?

The winner will come from which three bodies of water?

Roy – Siloam City Lake, Lincoln or Beaver Lake.

Kyle – I honestly have zero clue. Conventional wisdom says maybe Lincoln, Siloam City Lake, or possibly Elmdale but I also would not be surprised if Lincoln and Siloam put up some zeros and Elmdale with the muck is unfishable in most places. I’ve zeroed fishing on Lincoln plenty and Siloam is as finicky of a lake as there is. Dark horse…I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in the money fishes Beaver.

Summer heat fishing, is a limit or big fish more important and why?

Roy – There are several places where I think a person can pretty easily catch a limit in this tournament. Catching a limit of 15” or better fish should finish near the top. One giant and a bunch of squeakers usually is not the best formula. So overall I think quality bites are what to look for not necessarily number of bites or spend all day looking for a giant.

Kyle – In any tournament, no matter what season I think a limit is always the goal. Big fish are a bonus but sometimes, when it’s tough, get your five, get some AOY points, and live to fight another day. And it’s tough right now.

What’s a body of water you are staying away from and why?

Roy – I really haven’t ruled anything out. We have small lakes, big lakes, and rivers that could all produce good limits. There are a couple small lakes likely to attract a crowd that I might try to avoid for that reason.

Kyle – All options are open for me. I mean all options. I know that’s a cop out answer so I’ll pick one. Where do I think a zero is the highest likelihood? Lincoln. It’s the epitome of a coin flip lake. Feast or famine. Doesn’t mean I won’t give it a shot if I need to upgrade a dink limit but I’d rather play it safe…probably why I won’t win.

Winning length and big bass?

Roy – 88.5” to win and 21.75″ for Big Bass.

Kyle – Too many good sticks in this club to think that anything under about 84” will have a shot so I’ll say 85.25”…And Big Bass…21”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

READ: TOP TEN NWA NSKA ANGLERS 2017-2019 – WHO IS MONEY?

READ: NSKA NWA RECAP – BELLA VISTA NIGHT OPS