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Will Lambert Wins First Basstrail NCKAR State Angler of the Year Title

The North Carolina Kayak Angler Ranking [NCKAR] recognizes the accomplishments of the many anglers who fish North Carolina’s kayak bass fishing tournaments. As the number of clubs and competitors in the state continues to grow, Basstrail.com decided in 2023 to devise the NCKAR as a system that awards points and ranks tournament kayak anglers based on results. The end result: the inaugural edition of NCKAR was an exciting Basstrail NCKAR Angler of the Year points race between two of the best kayak bass anglers in the state of North Carolina: Austin Vang and Will Lambert.

Vang and Lambert put on a show for us all, and their numbers were other-worldly. In their combined top sixteen scores, they totaled

• Five first place finishes
• Six additional top three finishes
• Fifteen out of sixteen total finishes in the top five

Additionally, over the course of sixteen events that counted to their points total, Lambert and Vang earned NCKAR points while combining to compete across all four of North Carolina’s qualifying trails.

NCKAR also highlighted the great community of well-run kayak tournaments that hold competitions on North Carolina waters. NCKAR saw anglers compete across different trail series and clubs. The trend is reflected at the top of the standings, as every angler in spots one through eight earned points in more than one tournament trail (only Paul Roberts in ninth place, and Clay Lanier in tenth, posted points from a single club). Could an angler who fishes a single trail win the NCKAR title? Perhaps – Bryan Tsiolkas finished third overall by earning points in six of his seven finishes from a single club (CKA).

North Carolina’s kayak bass fishing community also attracted anglers from other states; of the nearly 150 anglers who competed, we counted at least five different states in the final rankings.

The numbers tell a lot of stories, but the most important one is that whether you fish with one club or several, you go up against a talented field of competitors in every single event. There is no such thing as an easy kayak fishing tournament in North Carolina. In the four trails included here, every cast counts.

Those four trails are where anglers sharpen their skills (in fact, three of the top five anglers in the NCKAR rankings won AOY titles in their clubs). As Austin Vang noted:

“I loved the points race. It showed me how consistent I can be, because I push myself to fish national tournaments too and represent the Carolinas. We have four great groups in North Carolina. The competition is really tough, but it makes us better anglers, too.”

Vang’s comments also underscore a remarkable accomplishment: Vang and Lambert are the only two anglers who earned qualifying points in at least eight events. No other angler in the top 10 earned points in more than seven tournaments. In fact, Vang earned points in a total of ten tournaments (he dropped two scores). He and Lambert were simply the best in the state.

Basstrail caught up with Lambert to get his perspective on a great year.

Lambert’s Season

For any angler who competes for a points title, highs and lows should be expected. Like a hitter who goes cold at the plate, a kayak angler must simply factor in a slump at some point.

Austin Vang had the early lead in the standings. By early May, he had earned points in five tournaments (no other angler had earned points in more than three).

By contrast, Lambert’s season started cold, but then a spectacular run that lasted from April through July began. During that time he had two fifth place finishes and two wins. While several other anglers appeared to have a chance at catching Austin Vang, Lambert’s steady pressure placed him at the head of the list to do so.

Here is how Lambert saw it:

“My first event was with Queen City at Lake Norman. Considering the first half of the tourney I was using a paddle to steer because my rudder cable was frozen and holding my rod in the water to keep from having ice build-up on the guides it went pretty well, finishing 21st out of 131. Fast forward a couple of months later Clay and Brooks Lanier had been tagged in the NCKAR post on Facebook by Basstrail and that was the first time I had seen the rankings. I thought it was a cool idea and thought maybe with enough luck I could get up there in the mix for 1st by the end of the season. I went on a run in June and July with a 1st in CCKF Tar River Reservoir, 3rd in CKA Randleman Lake, 1st in CCKF Raleigh Rumble, and 2nd in CKA Lake Mackintosh.”

And then the slump happened. Over the course of a four events in July and August, Lambert only managed to earn NCKAR points a single time (in a second place finish at a CKA event Mackintosh). Two outings were particularly costly. During CCKF tournaments on the Cape Fear River and Jordan Lake in July and August, he finished outside of the top 10. At that point, both a CCKF AOY title and an NCKAR AOY title seemed to be slipping out of reach.

Lambert said:

“That run really helped propel me up the ranking and put me in contention with Mr. Austin “Hammertime” Vang, Hank [Veggian], Bryan [Tsiolkas] Brooks [Lanier], and others. After the highs that that period brought, I went through a tough patch late July into August where I just couldn’t figure the fish out. I made some bad decisions and lost some fish. Ended up only catching one fish per event through 3 events in CCKF Jordan and Cape Fear and also CKA Tuckertown. Something to always remember “Fishing is a humbler” and I got humbled really quick for sure.”

And then Lambert found his swing as the autumn temperatures began to appear. Like a slugger who gets hot ahead of the playoffs, Lambert placed third at CCKF Hyco and won the CKA Gate City Classic. That strong finish was enough to put him in first place for the NCKAR standings and made him runner up in the CCKF AOY race.

And although the events did not count for the NCKAR title, it should be noted he won the CKA Tournament of Champions and placed fourth in the multi-state Battle on the Border. In short, Lambert finished his season with two victories, a third place finish and a fourth place finish.

“I knew if I wanted a shot to win NCKAR AOY I had to perform well at the last few points event for CCKF and CKA. I put a lot of effort into fishing CCKF Hyco event because not only was it 1 of 2 points event left for Basstrail AOY but also CCKF AOY battling against Mr. Hank Veggian. In the end I finished 3rd at Hyco and Hank ended up winning AOY by 4 points. So close but it wasn’t meant to be. Congrats Hank again on a great season and the AOY title! The final points event couldn’t have fallen at a better place for me with CKA in the Gate City Classic. I knew I had a chance at finishing well and was hoping to hold off Hank and Bryan Tsiolkas from gaining points on me. I fished at Lake Mackintosh. I couldn’t have asked for a better start catching a 21” and a 19.25”. I slowly grind out the day ending it with the Str8-up mounts big bass of the year with a 23.25 and managed to win the event and get much needed points for NCKAR. Congratulations to Bryan on back to back AOY titles in CKA!!!”

And then Lambert stopped fishing. Vang gained ground in his absence. He won the FKA event on Lake Norman in early October, and then scored a tenth place finish in the final qualifying event of the year (QC Yadkin II). Vang cut into Lambert’s lead, but Lambert survived Vang’s final charge.

Lambert said:

“After that event it was out of my hands and just had to sit back and watch Austin. Austin went on to win the Foothills event at Norman and won AOY with them as well. Congratulations, man! 2023 was by far my best year in kayak bass fishing. Thank you to Basstrail putting together this points system. Looking forward to what 2024 holds!!”

For his victory, Lambert earned a custom Ketch trophy, engraved to represent his accomplishment in the Basstrail NCKAR title race, the first ever to recognize a champion across the kayak tournament trails that compete in the state.

Looking Ahead

And with every new year, new anglers will come into the state’s booming kayak tournament scene. We asked runner-up Austin Vang for his perspective, and he remembered his first tournament:

“My first tournament was at Randleman with CKA. Maybe it was 2016. I think I caught two fish. I started local, and that’s the best thing to do. You fish your lakes, then get away from your waters and branch out. As you fish new lakes and join a club, you grow and get better.”

Vang won the North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation tournament in 2022, and he represented North Carolina in the Bassmaster Kayak Series at the Bassmaster Classic (in 2023). Every angler starts somewhere, so find the club near you that you want to fish, and get ready for 2024.

The Basstrail NCKAR title race will resume in 2024. The four clubs included in it will fish complete qualifying schedules. Of the four, three of those schedules have been released (see additional info below for more details).

Additional Info

View the complete NCKAR 2023 final standings

Austin Vang is sponsored by Omnia Fishing, Risen Son Custom lures, True South Lures, and Outdoor Supply Company.

North Carolina Kayak Trails

The schedules of three of the four trails are linked below, in alphabetical order. Foothills Kayak Anglers is not listed because their schedule was not available at the date of publication. Follow their Faceboook page for updates! Note also that several new trails will also begin in 2024. While they will not yet be included in the NCKAR rankings, your support will help them grow, so please follow Down East Kayak Anglers (DEKA), Mountain Motor Kayak Anglers (MMKA) and Port City Kayak Anglers (PCKA) on social media

The Carolina Kayak Anglers (CKA) 2024 schedule can be found here on Fishing Chaos

The Central Carolina Kayak Fishing Schedule can be found on their Facebook page (not yet on their website).

The Queen City KBF Schedule can be found on their website

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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.