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.
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
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.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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?
- Geared in Hot Springs is a great tackle shop and they were awesome every time I’ve been there.
- BBQ is always a great post-tournament dinner.
- 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.