News

2023 Kayak Trail Schedules are out

At last we have all 3 national kayaks trail schedule available so anglers can start making plans and goals for 2023. Only a couple events overlap for trail to trail and those are seemingly distant enough regionally that there shouldn’t be much if any issues for anglers wanting to fish and or all 3 series.

Another fun fact on the 3 trails is there is only 1 body of water used more than once, La Crosse, WI on the Mississippi River. The events are a month apart so shouldn't cause any issues for anglers wanting to fish both.

Kayak Bass Fishing Trail

The first to get their schedule out was Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) and will kick off in Polk County, FL where the Tenvitational and KBF The Ten will be hosted for 2023.

With some changes to the format including removing the “Pro Series”, and opting instead for an optional 2 day total buy in for bonus cash. This reduces the overall cost to participate for the weekend considerably. Early sign up discounts also available for those who want to buy in early for the entire weekend.

A lot of rule updates have been made that anglers need to get familiar with for 2023. (Read KBF’s Real Game Changer)

KBF will continue as the only national trail to host signups and entries for the tournaments on Fishing Chaos, which they have used for the past 3 years with good success. To get the details of the events Chad Hoover has decided to push the event information back to the website for each event. The goal to limit confusion and consolidate need to know information.

Jan 28	Polk County	FL
Feb 25	Lake Murray	SC
Apr 1	Lake Havasu	AZ
Apr 15	Lake St. Clair	MI
Apr 23	Grand Lake	OK
Apr 29	Potomac River	VA
May 21	Lake George	NY
June 10	Chicamauga Lake	TN

Hobie Bass Open Series

The second to confirm dates and location was Hobie Bass Open Series (Hobie BOS) with events across the country also starting the 2023 season in Florida. Some familiar Hobie BOS lakes from 2022 return for 2023 such as Santee Cooper, and some new lakes such as New York’s Cayuga Lake.

AJ Mcwhorter told Basstrail "In 2023, the BOS series looks to continue on a similar path we have since our existence... we will build on the success of the previous years and make adjustments to our format and rules that help the series and sport of kayak fishing grow accordingly."

With sell outs being the norm in the beginning of 2023, there will be release dates for signup available announced separately for each event. (Read HOBIE BOS: SOLD OUT?) With the number of sell out event in 2022 there will also a lot of unprecedented refund requests for folks who optimistically bought in early to beat the cap and subsequently were unable to attend the event. This lead to a new refund policy that anglers need to be away of when signing up early for events. (Read HOBIE BOS UPDATES ANGLER REFUNDS POLICY)

"We hope that some of or tweaks will provide some relief on our registration and sell out challenges we were faced in 2022." Mcwhorter added. Hobie BOS will also put more effort into the college series for 2023. 

Hobie BOS will again be using TourneyX to manage signups and entries for the tournaments. Being the longest kayak bass fishing tournament platform, TourneyX is the more familiar apps for most anglers in the sport.

Feb 18	Harris Chain	FL
Mar 11	Lake Caddo and Bistineau	LA
Apr 1	Santee Cooper Lakes	SC
May 20	Kentucky Lake	KY
June 24	Cayuga Lake	NY
Jul 29	New RIver	WV
Aug 19	Mississippi River	WI
Sep 23	Lake Sam Rayburn	TX
Nov 8	Tournament of Champions	TBD

Bassmaster Kayak Series

Last to drop the schedule was the Bassmaster Kayak Series (BKS) that has new leadership with Steve Owens for 2023 taking the reigns from Jon Stewart at Bassmaster.

“We're excited for the 2023 season & hope to provide a service which will help grow the Bassmaster Kayak Series.” Owens tells Basstrail “There will be a few changes going forward & those will be published once finalized.” The changes will be announced some time after the first of the year, so keep an eye on Basstrail for coverage.

BKS will also be using TourneyX to manage entries for the tournaments. Having a long standing relationship with Bassmaster since 2019, Dwayne Walley has been a key figure in the series ensuring smooth transactions between signups and ensuring the events run smoothly on competition day. I key difference in the signups compared to the other series, anglers need to sign up early through Bassmaster https://www.bassmaster.com/kayak

Mar 4	Lake Guntersville	AL
Apr 15	Lake Hartwell	SC
June 3	Possum Kingdom Lake	TX
Jul 8	Mississippi River	WI
Oct 7	TBD	TBD

(Updated with quotes from AJ Mcwhorter 12/29/2022)