Japanese pro Kenta Kimura has been fishing American tournaments for over a decade for the chance to compete in the Bassmaster Classic and this year, his dream will come true. He just began his third season on the Elite Series and was able to qualify for this year's Bassmaster Classic in Tennessee after winning a Bassmaster Open on the James River in Virginia last year. He's excited to fish this huge tournament and happy to be competing on the Tennessee River and connected with Fort Loudon and Tellico Lakes.
Looking for redemption in Tennessee
When Kimura began his Elite Series career in 2021, the first tournament on the schedule was on these waters in Knoxville. He had a solid first day, ending the day in 29th, and then blanked the second day to end up 68th eventually. He badly wants another chance at the fishery.
"I started that event by fishing for smallmouth that I found," he said. "They moved on me, and I never caught on the second day. That's how the smallmouth are there, but I know you will need to have some to compete in this event because there are some big smallmouth in there."
Kimura believes smallmouth may be a significant player in this event because of the current conditions. "The water is lower and clear and that could take out some of the backwater areas where a lot of largemouth live," he said. "It's hard to say, though, because everything is about controlling water levels on the Tennessee River because there is a nuclear plant down the river on Lake Chickamauga. It will all depend on how much rain we get."
Rain is in the forecast for practice and Kimura is closely watching the weather because of the water levels. "We are supposed to get a lot of rain, but it may not be until the tournament starts," he said. "It could be a week where everything changes each day of the tournament. That will make us adjust and do something different every day to catch fish."
Plans for crankbaits
In addition to being a professional angler, Kimura is a well-known lure designer, having designed many baits for Deps. As soon as he qualified for this Classic through his win last April, he got to work on developing a lure for this event. It's part of the Evoke lineup and called the Evoke Flat and will be available soon.
"I knew that flat-sided baits would be key in this event because of the time of year and made this bait just for the Classic in Knoxville," he said. "I love balsa baits for the action, but this one is injected and made of plastic but with a balsa action. The problem with balsa baits is you have to buy $500 worth of baits to find one or two good ones. These are more consistent and fish just like balsa, but you know it is going to run correctly and they will also cast much better than a light wooden bait."
If the water gets muddy, he plans to mix in others in the Evoke lineup, including the Evoke 2.0, a square bill bait he'll use to deflect off rocks and wood.
"It also has a great action like balsa, but it's more durable," he said. "My lures are tools for me, and I don't have to worry about them getting damaged after cranking hard into cover. That's another problem with balsa baits; they don't take the abuse. All of the Evoke baits have been built to have the right action based on the hook sizes, but you can also adjust them by changing hooks and retrieve speeds to dial into what the fish want and they'll withstand the abuse of hard cranking."
The Evoke lineup also has some bigger profiled crankbaits and there's a chance he will work in the 3.0 or 4.0 sizes. "The fish on the Tennessee River can get really picky if they are feeding on bigger baitfish and that can be all they'll eat," he shared. "If they are chasing big shad, a bigger crankbait will be the way to go.
While cranking is his first thought, Kimura says he may also mix in some finesse tactics and will keep an open mind. "It may be finesse, or it could even be a large swimbait," he said. "It's hard to say what the primary pattern will be because the conditions will change throughout the week. "
A lifelong dream is about to come true for Kenta Kimura as he will be fishing his first Bassmaster Classic. It's on a fishery he has been to and his main goal this week is to keep an open mind and fish the conditions because he thinks that will be his best chance to win the event.
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