Category: Carroll County 1000 Acres Recreational Lake

2020 BASS NATION JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Nick and Kyle had a great showing this year at the 2020 BASS Nation Junior National Championship on Carroll County. We had been to the championship 3 out of the last 4 years, and we really wanted to have a good finish.

During pre-fishing, we had found one really productive area, and had difficulty finding any other areas. We had a lot of luck throwing a small swimbait with different types of jig heads with spinners and without. During different conditions, one would work better then the other. With all the pressure, a 1/4oz. ballhead would be the most productive. Never have we fished a tournament without a baitcaster on the deck; we had 8 spinning rods on the deck during this tournament.

Day 1, we were able to get on our best spot. Kyle was able to catch a keeper on his second cast. But the next 30 minutes, we would only catch a couple of non-keepers. I was looking at the Humminbird 360, and noticed a ditch running along the bank out in 15 feet of water that had some really good brush and stickup along it. It was straight out from the spot Kyle had caught the 7 pounder during practices. So, I figured it may hold another big fish. Kyle threw out to the spot. Just as he started reeling, he got a bite. I knew right away it was going to be a big fish. As Kyle fought it to the boat, Nick was able to net the big fish. It would end up weighing 5 pounds 4 oz. Also, it would end up being big fish of the event. We would only be able to catch 4 keepers that day. With the one big fish, we were sitting in 2nd place with 7lbs 15oz. after day 1. Great start to the event.

Day 2 was very rough. We never could find a bite. Twins would catch about 7 non-keepers. Kyle did lose one big fish next to the boat, about 3 pounds, that would be costly. We zeroed for day 2, and ended the tournament in 14th place. Twins fished really hard that day, just wasn’t meant to be. It would be the twins’ last BASS youth tournament. I’m so proud of the boys. They had fished really hard all year trying to get back to the Championship. Then they were able to get to the championship, be in 2nd place after Day 1, and getting big bass of a BASS event. It is something they will always remember for the rest of their lives.

KYLE BIG CARROLL COUNTY BASS

Pre-fishing for BASS Nation Youth Championship on Carroll County. Kyle was able to catch a big bass over 7 lbs 9 oz. It would be his personal best largemouth.

Practices Day 1 on Carroll County 1000 Acres Recreational Lake

In May, the boys won the Kansas Youth Bass Nation Championship on Melvern. They earned the opportunity to represent Kansas at the BASS National Youth Championship in Tennessee on beautiful Carroll County 1000 Acres Recreational Lake. The first practice day was Saturday, June 28, but it was not an official practice day. The lake had been off limits for a month prior.

We decided to get to the lake early so we could fish anywhere on the lake before everyone else showed up. Our plan was to fish deep and to hit any spot the deep water is near the bank. It was a great first day.  We didn’t catch anything big, but we had a limit around 10lbs. We caught 7 fish over 15 inches. I figured this would work good in the tournament if you had 4 bass over 15 inches and one big fish. All the fish were on soft plastics rigged weightless or texas rigged. There was not one pattern working better then the other. The official practice day was on Sunday, June 29, and we hoped maybe would could find something more solid. We decided to try some different areas and expanded on something in the area we found fish. Being a small lake and being around 54 boats, it was going to be really hard to move around on 1000 acre lake. We fished a lot of 16 to 20 feet of water with a Carolina rig. It was the first time the boys had fished a Carolina rig.  They both caught about 6 fish in a hour off a couple of points. That is the best thing about going to this event; it makes you fish out of your comfort zone and try different techniques and baits. Sometimes when you fish the same lake and baits always, you don’t learn anything new. So, get out there and try a different lake or techniques. It will take a little time to catch fish, but you will become a better angler and catch more fish. If fishing was easy, everyone would be fishing. Next video and blog will be about how we did in the tournament.