News

A look at the 2022 KBF Pro Series

A few events into the season, the KBF Pro Series has some people talking. Some think it’s the way forward while others have a more pessimistic view. But with a guaranteed $50,000 payout for first place in the Pro Series Championship, the KBF Pro Series is taking that big leap forward in 2022.

The original Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) Pro Series concept was introduced in 2019 and was cancelled in 2020 after the Covid outbreak caused a lot of problems across the country. With the uncertainty of how events would look as well as its seemingly slow start as a stand alone trail it was soon put on the back burner to the dismay of many.

Many people want the sport to take off to new levels of growth while some just want to create a level based playing field to reduce the perception of elite anglers being a shoe in to cash a check. There are also those that like it the way it is and don’t think breaking it up makes sense. Wherever you stand in those categories the fact is that Chad Hoover, founder of Kayak Bass Fishing has his own ideas and wants to bring the entire sport to the next level.

Qualification to fish the Pro Series

The original idea is to qualify for the Pro Series through the KBF Trail Series using the top anglers in the points standings. At the end of the year these anglers would have the opportunity to move over to the Pro side for the following year. However KBF decided to leave this open to all in 2022 after participation issues arose with geographical locations that haven’t had a lot of regional KBF Trail access.

In an interview with Chad he told Basstrail “After launching the Pro Series for 2022, we received feedback from numerous anglers that the qualification parameters weren’t favorable to competitors in the West and Northeast due to limited qualification opportunities prior to 2022. In addition, by not being previously qualified it also prevented those anglers from being competitive for the 2022 season and beyond and therefore excluded them indefinitely unless they traveled much more than anglers in other regions. So, we decided to open up the Pro Series for 2022 to provide a solid baseline for a more strict qualification process for 2023 and beyond.”

One of the benefits from being open to all is that anglers who want to see how they stack up verse an elite field of kayak anglers as Chad explains “We feel like given the opportunity to qualify throughout the 2022 season and to measure themselves against Pro Series competition will set the table for a more successful series moving forward.”

The two 1 day Trail series events on Saturday and Sunday are then combined for a 2 day Pro Series event. Common factors in what are seen as pro level events is how you fair over multiple days verse a one day event where an angler can just destroy an area with total disregard verse managing the spot(s) to maximize multiple day limits. Also, there are occasions where anglers simply get “lucky” and have a great day on the water that they likely wouldn’t be able to reproduce in a multiple day format. Future events could even be 3 or 4 day formats with cut lines and the top third cutting a check. As far fetched as some think that is, consider where the sport is now verse a couple years ago and you see this isn’t that unrealistic.

Pro Series 1: Kissimmee Chain, FL

Stop number one in 2022 was at the Kissimmee Chain in Florida where 45 anglers competed for a chance at the first champion titles of 2022. With both the Tenvitational as well as KBF Trail events running concurrently, the Pro Series didn’t look to be taking off. If you take a higher level view you can see that this wasn’t the case. In comparison to single event trails it may look like a low number of participants, but the quality of angler was present.

Included in that elite group of anglers was Jason Broach, which was a name I saw often previously but had not seen or heard much from in recent KBF events. Broach being a high level competitor in the sport, it was no surprise to see him in the top 3 on day 1. Broach was able to have a slightly better Day 2 accumulating a total 178.5” of Florida bass while other anglers had better or worse days showing just how important the multi-day event format can be.

Pro Series 2: Folsom Lake, CA

The buy in from California anglers was severely low with only 3 anglers signing up for the Pro Series and a total of 25 anglers for the event. With California trail events being relatively new to Kayak Bass Fishing, this is one of the areas Chad was speaking about, and it’s a new region that has great growth potential for KBF. However previously unknown anglers in 2021 came from this region, so numbers aside they deserve the respect and attention.

Utah angler Chris Spencer put up a total of 169” and swept Trail and Pro events putting him in the spotlight along with the Utah anglers who kicked the door down in 2021 - Caymen Rasmussen, and DEE ZEE THE TEN champion Cody Henley who both have already made their presence known in 2022 as contenders at any event they enter.

Pro Series 3: Lake Murray, SC

The Lake Murray event in South Carolina was the first mid-Atlantic region event that is a central location for many anglers in the country. Participation was up to 48 anglers, including local anglers from Palmetto State Kayak Bass Fishing Trail, Queen City Kayak Bass Fishing (QCKBF) and KBF AmBASSador club Carolina Kayak Anglers (CKA).

Local Jeremy Heath and Josh Stewart who has been the most consistent KBF angler finishing high up the leaderboards frequently throughout the years. QCKBF Angler of the Year Jeremy Heath took Trail Day 1 decisively as well as the Pro Series win with a total of 187.5” of Lake Murray toads in his very first KBF appearance. Stewart fought back hard taking the Trail Day 2 win but was short of being able to get his first Pro Series win.

Pro Series 4: Roosevelt, AZ

Roosevelt had a better draw for the West Coast, brining 55 anglers to the table with 15 anglers throwing their hat in the ring for the Pro Series. On Day 1, Quinlan Benavidez took the lead with 90.5” which was over 9” from the rest of the pack. Anthony Garcia lead Day 2 with 85.25” taking the Trail Day 2 event by about 7” but it wasn’t enough to put him over the top in the pro side giving the win to Benavidez who had 154.5”. DEE ZEE THE TEN champion Cody Henley was sitting in 3rd after Day 1 but wasn’t able to put together enough to catch Benavidez and ended the event in 5th.

Next Stop for the KBF Pro Series: Caddo Lake, LA

Pro Series Top 10

1	Jason Broach	1188 pts
2	Cody Henley	1182 pts
3	Gilbert Garcia	1170 pts
3	Anthony Garcia	1170 pts
5	Chis Spencer	1164 pts
6	Adam Petrone	1092 pts
7	David Fields	1074 pts
7	Casey Reed	1074 pts
7	Dusty Yakker	1074 pts
10	Jason Isaacs	1068 pts

*Total points as of March 23, 2022

---

Eric Nelson
Professional Kayak Bass Angler

Biography

I was born in Southeastern Massachusetts, where I began fishing for bass when I was in my early teenage years, graduating to competitive bass tournaments in my late 20’s. I moved to North Carolina in 2015 and found the passion for bass fishing from a kayak, and quickly became involved in both the local and national kayak bass tournament scenes. My fishing skills have allowed me to qualify for almost every major event since joining the clubs, be it at a club, state and even national level.

Being a professional in the online web development and design field for publications, I have always used my skills to help promote the clubs and the sport as a whole in my spare time.  I have been a part of the club directors for Cape Cod Bass, and now for Carolina Kayak Anglers, one of the larger kayak clubs in the country. I am also a part of the national KBF tournament advisory board.

The Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) format has allowed me to travel across the United States, fishing against the best fisherman in the country. Now with the KBF Pro format, and the merging with the FLW organization, I am looking forward to where this adventure takes me in the future.

Highlights

Total Career Earnings - $3,250

Competition Highlights
Inaugural FLW / KBF Cup Championship Qualified 2019 - Hot Springs, AK
KBF National Championship Qualified 2020 - Lake Guntersville, AL
KBF Challenge Championship 2018 - Toledo Bend, LA
2019 KBF National Championship - 57th overall out of 462 anglers - Shreveport, LA
KBF Regional Trail Championship Qualified 2019 - Lake Wheeler, AL
KBF National Trail Championship Qualified 2019 - La Crosse, WI
2nd Place 2018 KBF National Trail - High Rock Lake, NC
2nd Place 2019 - Plastic Pirates - Randleman Lake, NC
11th Place - 2019 KBF Southeastern Region Trail - Santee Cooper Lakes, SC
13th Place - 2019 KBF Southeastern Region Trail - Chickamauga Lake, TN
46th Place 2019 FLW / KBF Cup Qualifier - Nickajack Lake, TN
2nd Place - Plastic Pirates - Randleman Lake 2019
1st Place - Cape Cod Bass,  2002 - Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
1st Place - Cape Cod Bass, 2008 - Glenn Charlie Pond, MA