News

Garcia Wins USA Kayak Fishing Qualifier at Lake Murray

Forty anglers from nearly one dozen states travelled to Lake Murray, South Carolina to fish the USA Kayak Fishing Team Qualifier powered by Dakota Lithium Batteries on April 27-28^th, 2024. Competitors came from across the Carolinas, from Georgia and Tennessee, Florida, West Virginia and Louisiana, all for a chance to earn one of the six available team spots on America’s national kayak fishing team.

Capital City Lake Murray welcomed them to the captains meeting on Friday evening, where competitors reviewed rules, asked questions and were provided with their tournament identifiers. The following morning, Lake Murray itself greeted them with beautiful late spring weather and a tough bite as two days of bass fishing began on one of the southeast’s premier fisheries.

At lines out on day one, roughly one quarter of the field of anglers had caught a limit of five bass. California angler Anthony Garcia led the way with a wake bait. Nick Huddleston, Josh Stewart, Jamie Broad, Jake Suvak and Deamen Henderson occupied the remaining team spots after Garcia. With another half dozen or so anglers within striking distance, Sunday’s bite would test angler’s abilities as well as their patience.

For example, Florida angler Eric Samuels and North Carolina angler Jared Stanley both had stellar days on Sunday, posting strong limits. But they were playing catch up in the hope that a few anglers would fall out of contention. A few did, but not far enough. In the meantime, other anglers seized the chance. One of them was Dakota Lithium angler Rus Snyders, who posted a big limit of 91” to jump into fourth place overall.

When it was over, Anthony Garcia finished in first place overall, joining fellow California angler Damian Thao on the USA Kayak Fishing Team. Huddleston, Snyders, Henderson, Stewart and Suvak rounded out the anglers who qualified to represent our country in the sport of kayak fishing.

What does that mean?

First, Rus Snyders, Damian Thao and Cody Milton will travel to Italy this summer to represent the United States of America at the FIPSed World Championship. They were the top three anglers from the previous championship, so they earned their trip at that 2023 tournament in Cookeville, TN.

Second, the USA Kayak Fishing Team will return to Lake Murray on September 27-28 to compete in the Pan-American Championship. There they will face other kayak fishing teams from across the Americas. The top anglers from that event will then proceed to represent the United States in Spain at the 2025 FIPSed World Championship.

Also in 2025, a new round of team qualifying will take place, according to team manager Richard Penny.

Click here to see final standings from the qualifier at Lake Murray.

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Hank Veggian is a multi-species freshwater kayak angler. He is a member of the Jackson Kayak Fishing Team, Ketch Products Fishing Team and Get Outdoors Pedal and Paddle Pro Staff. His writings on fishing have been published in numerous magazines. He has written for the KBF and KAS websites, and is a former KFL angler.