Fish Stories

The Big Three: Part III - Bassmaster

In this third installment to the national kayak scene I take on the Bassmaster Kayak Series. I was able to fish the inaugural event back in 2021 in Pell City, AL on Logan Martin. Since then I haven’t been able to get my schedule lined up to fish another one until this spring at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, SC. Hartwell being a thorn in my side, I was determined to have a good event.

Bassmaster Kayak Series

Who doesn’t know who and what Bassmaster is? No need to explain too much as far as that goes because if you are following any competitive bass fishing format you know who they are. Being the longest running and most well known competitive bass fishing organization in the world it goes without saying that its entry into the kayak bass fishing scene was very exciting. A lot of anglers have seen this as being the legitimacy benchmark that was needed for the sport. I would argue the sport’s legitimacy was already solidified and being the fastest growing sector in the fishing economy didn't hurt the move. Although there was an introduction with FLW previously with Kayak Bass Fishing pushing for the collaboration, Bassmaster’s commitment appeared to be stronger and stand alone making it more likely for success.

The series has headed up in 2023 by Steve Owens, who has been a champion of the BASS Nation kayak series in Georgia. Owens has been a strong BASS Nation Kayak Series proponent, working hard in Georgia to run and promote events to qualify anglers for the big championship event.

The format of the series is 2 days, which is the competitive angler preference in most cases. Similar to Hobie BOS, the format requires consistency over multiple days to have a clear champion of the event. Trolling motors are allowed in Bassmaster events. The events are run through and supported by TourneyX, the Catch-Photo-Release app created by Dwayne Walley.

In 2022, Bassmaster added the Kayak Series Angler of the Year points chase which was missing in the beginning. This was a strange thing to not have in any competitive bass fishing series, and with Dakota Lithium Batteries stepping up and sponsoring the AOY race it was added. Dakota has since increased their Bassmaster sponsorship by also committing to the sponsoring of the Elite Angler of the Year in 2024. Always nice to see that Dakota made sure the kayak anglers were taken care of first. (Whether that is the reason and accurate or not I won’t investigate, I’ll just be content to believe that's the case)

Bassmaster also requires a mandatory Friday night check in with board verification and Captain’s Meeting. Luckily for this event, mother nature was fairly kind and no cancelation was necessary. The next meetup being Sunday for the weekend’s awards.

The fishing experience

Hartwell tweeted me very well for the weekend with some fun sight fishing on day one that was only disappointing that the check cashing fish came off late in the day. This left me with only 4 fish which wasn’t going to cut it against some top anglers and local sticks. The wind and boat traffic had made my back up spots complete junk. I was however able to find a more protected area and caught a descent bass and dropped the 20” 5th fish which would have been a solid limit.

Day 2 I went a completely different route and decided to hunt for pre and post spawn bass, while keeping an eye out for spawners in a different area of the lake. I was able to get a limit by mid morning and was greeted by the media boat while upgrading with a descent cull. Sadly they weren’t there looking for me but instead asked if I knew where Cody Milton was, after taking some photos of the action I had going on. Similar to Cody, I showed up at the ramp for the first time ever with no idea what I would fine. Cody landed on a pile of bigger fish than I did and had a more successful day. I however was unable to get the same size bass I had on day 1, I was at least able to put together a fun day 2 with an OK limit. A giant I did see in the area, but she saw me first apparently and was not going to play my game.

Conclusion 

All together it was a great time competing against some national level sticks as well as folks I know from the local scenes in North Carolina clubs including Carolina Kayak Anglers, Queen City Kayak Bass Fishing, Central Carolina Kayak Anglers and Foothills Kayak Anglers. April was a busy one in the region with all three national trails making their stops in South Carolina as well as with the local club events in between. If you haven't fished the Carolinas from March through April, you're missing out on some amazing days on the water. Next year, I suggest everyone put these events on your list and experience all the national series. Although I put a pro / con list together for each of them they are all excellent and make great ways to spend weekends with like minded anglers on amazing fisheries across the country.

Pros:

• Bassmaster has a high-end value associated with it
• Multiple Day event format to award the highest consistent angler
• High potential of angler promotion with the Bassmaster and BASS Nation reach (see cons)
• Professional media handling with talented writers, photographers and designers
• $5,000 Angler of the Year prize

Cons:

• Minimum buy in high at $250 per event plus fees and multiple memberships
• Non-winning anglers get limited coverage if any, photos don’t have angler names (which could help)
• Angler of the Year points based on 3 of only 5 events
• Championship has lack luster coverage during Classic

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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