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2023 to kick off in Florida

Posted on Jan 20, 2023 at 09:21 am by BT

The 2023 national trail season is about to kick off in Polk County, Florida where Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) will be holding the first national trail event of the year. The Florida swing begins the journey for a tournament angler who has had a couple of months to put together some goals and strategies to achieve them. Kicking off the fishing season early in the warmer states and moving North throughout the year making adjustments to typical fishing strategies can be an exciting challenge with big bass rewards.

Basstrail was able to talk to pro kayak anglers Jody Queen, 2022 KBF Challenge Series Angler of the Year Derek Brundle and 2022 Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year Drew Gregory to get some insight for how they are starting their season, and what’s driving them in 2023 as they head to Florida for the KBF Polk County Trail event at the end of the month

Eye on the Prize

Setting a goal is a common off season task for any sport and the kayak bass fishing angler is no exception. Angler goals vary significantly and sometimes have nothing to do with what happens on the water, as we’ll see here.

Z-Man pro Jody Queen keeps the goal simple, however monumental of a challenge they may be. Being an angler that has achieved numerous titles throughout the years, challenging himself against the best is high on his list. “Qualify for The Ten and the TOC” Jody immediately replied when asked. When pressed to why Jody responded “The caliber of the competitors… The Ten has the angler of the year and the top 10 in points from the whole KBF season and usually the NC winner and the TOC has the top 50 from the Hobie BOS season. I want to compete against the best because it makes me a better angler.”

Nucanoe pro Derek Brundle had a tough 2022 with a family health situation which kept a lot of his event travel limited. “My priority goal for 2023 is to fish more events than 2022. Last year was tough only making a few events.”

Crescent pro Drew Gregory is coming off a stellar 2022 which ended with the Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year title capping it off. “2022 will be hard to beat and I’m still worn out from the season!” Drew said. “So, I honestly don’t have any tournament goals at the moment due to so many moving parts in my life… young family, working on several other cool side projects, and designing new kayaks with Crescent. I’ll just take it event by event and see where the year leads!”

It all starts in Florida

Most national bass tournament trails whether its glitter boats or plastic begin in Florida. Florida bass are in the midst of the spawn as other parts of the county are frozen with snow covered ramps. Florida bass are their own animal in many respects as well as the fisheries themselves. Most anglers accustomed to glacial lakes and man made reservoirs have to shift tactics in many cases to adapt to Florida fishing.

With Derek Brundle being in the frozen Northeast he is thinking about the pads and grass as he explained what presentation comes to mind when heading to the tannic waters of Florida’s Kissimmee region “Punching!!! Can’t wait to find some mats and drop some tungsten bombs on ‘em!!” In regards to how that fits his normal fishing style Derek explained “I like to power fish and there’s plenty of that in Florida.”

Drew Gregory has some excitement for another way to get at those Florida giants, topwater. “I probably think about a frog more than anything when I get to Florida because it’s such “froggy” looking water everywhere you turn and it’s a proven big bass technique.”

In regards to whether or not Florida fit his style Drew explained “Even though I haven’t had great results in Florida compared to other parts of the country I do feel it’s in my wheelhouse but I just need to execute and not overthink it too much this year.” Drew continued explaining his skillsets in gator country “Because it has so much “kayak only” water which is why I fell in love with kayak fishing to begin with and what I enjoy exploring in a competitive situation as well.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time in Florida and have been lucky enough to become familiar with a lot of lakes and rivers there. From Central Florida around Stick Marsh to the panhandle where I lived for a few years. That familiarity definitely puts it on my list as some of my favorite fisheries.” Jody Queen explained. And when asked about his go to Florida arsenal, it included his favorite Z-Man baits of course “Without a doubt I try to find that Z-man Jackhammer bite. It’s not always there but when it is.. it’s money. But I’m always throwing that Mag FattyZ.”

Adjusting to patterns at a slew of top bass fisheries in the country, we will keep up with these and other top anglers in 2023 to see how they are adjusting to meet the conditions and fisheries.

Whats next?

The trails set the schedules in general to hit lakes at prime fishing times which generally are the pre to post spawn times until Summer is in full melt your kayak mode by July. The Southeastern states will see most of the early tournament action and push North from there as the weather turns more favorable for both the fishing and the angler.

The Hobie Bass Open Series (Hobie BOS) will also kick off in Florida at the Harris chain of lakes. Anglers are already signing up as soon as they opened registration on January 19th. Surprisingly anglers have yet to max out the 225 angler cap which was expected after last years sell out start.

The Bassmaster Kayak Series will be kick off a little further North at Lake Guntersville on March 4th where the bass should be heading into the pre-spawn stage making for a great event.