https://www.fishermanswarehouse.com
Slay Nation held its Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Clear Lake. Fishing was amazing for the anglers that had found the early fall patterns. The weather was forecasted for winds and frosty mornings with a warming afternoon on day one, but day two, the weather was going to be cold and sustained winds throughout the entire day. The water temperature was 56 degrees in the morning then reached 60 in the afternoon.
Once the lines were out, Matthew Brannon won with a two-day total of 187.50”. His day one limit 94.75” was good for second place and his 92.75” was a fifth-place finish on day-two. Brannon fished on the north end of Clear Lake in two to three feet of water in a grass patch.
“There is not a whole lot of grass left on Clear Lake.” said Brannon, “When you find the grass you find the fish.”
“I anchored the kayak and caught fish after fish in one spot.” said Brannon, “There must have been a hundred fish in that small patch of grass.”
“The patch of grass was only about the size of my truck.” said Brannon, “On day-one, I caught 20 bass and on day-two I caught 15 bass out of the same patch of grass.”
“It was amazing!”
Brannon used the jack hammer chatter bait to account for most of his fish for both days. The morning was slow due to the frosty mornings but once it warmed up and the first fish bit, Brannon caught a fish on every other cast for the next two hours.
“Day two, I started off with a Texas Rigged Strike King Structure Bug in Falcon Craw.” said Brannon, “I would dead stick the Structure Bug to get bites early.”
Brannon’s bite only lasted until around 10 AM, he never culled after 10 AM on both days.
“It was brutal to watch the leader board once my bite stopped.” said Brannon, “I would watch other competitors submit fish and keep moving higher as the day went on.”
Brannon thanked the guys that shared the house for this event. Also, he thanked his wife for always being there, for her support and for keeping him positive and motivated. Brannon also thanked his sponsors AFTCO, Torqeedo, Kayak City, Dakota Lithium, and Hobie.
Max Lee placed second with 187.25” just .25” behind Brannon. Lee’s practice was on the south end of Clear Lake. He noticed that the water temperature was much warmer near the volcanic rock. Lee found an offshore rock pile that was holding fish. The rock pile was in 16-feet of water with a break that dropped into 20-feet of water.
“I saw some fish on an offshore rock pile but did not fish it.” said Lee, “Instead, I headed for some docks and caught a few small fish with a square bill.”
The rock pile Lee had found offshore was going to be a big player for his second-place finish. Lee saw schools of fish moving in the 8-to 10-foot of water near the volcanic rock. He caught a few on a jig and knew this was going to be his pattern for the tournament.
“I knew I could catch a 90” limit around the volcanic rock.” said Lee. “I was happy with what I had found.”
On day-two of practice, Lee found himself launching from a completely different location and going
“old school”.
“I forgot to charge my batteries for my trolling motor and electronics.” said Lee, “I just used a paddle and dragged a jig around on a hard bottom and caught around 90”.
The first day of the tournament, Lee launched from his day-one practice location and fished offshore.
“I put the jig in my hand and kept it there all day long.” said Lee, “I wanted to fish the offshore rock pile, but another competitor was there all day long.”
Lee would cast his jig on the edge of the rock piles to catch most of his fish on day-one. He did catch one on the top of the rock pile, but the majority was around the edge of the rock structure.
“On day one, I cranked two 19” fish at the end of the day on the offshore rock.” said Lee, “So on day-two, the wind was going to blow all day, so I cranked the high spot on that offshore rock pile.”
Lee tried to drop-shot but only caught smaller size fish around the rock structure. Lee used the Duo Realis G7 20A deep diver crank bait.
“I would burn the Duo Realis G7 on the top of the rock structure and let it veer off the edge.” said Lee, “I caught two 19” fish on that crank bait.”
“There was one sweet spot on the end of the rock pile that the fish would set up on.” said Lee, “I would make repetitive cast to that exact spot over and over to entice the fish to react.”
“The key to the location was to hit that last rock in 20-feet of water to get my bigger bites.” said Lee, “The last 30 minutes on day-two was when that rock played a huge roll with my second-place finish, with one minute left I caught another key fish.”
Lee thanked Joseph Tax for turning him on to the Duo Realis crank bait. Also, the entire crew competed at Clear Lake and for sticking it out and fishing this event and his travel partner Rober Yamamoto.
Chris Harris finished in third place with a two-day total of 185.50”. On both days of the tournament Harris fished on the same offshore structure in the south end of the lake.
“I fished in 13-to20-feet of water for both days.” said Harris, “I caught big fish on day-one on a drop-shot.”
“I had my limit by 8 AM.” said Harris, “My second biggest of the tournament was a 21” bass.”
“I caught one on a chatter bait by letting it flutter to the bottom but otherwise everything else came on a drop-shot.”
On day two, at 11 AM Harris only had four fish. He had a 19” on his board that found its way back into the lake before he could snap a picture.
“I had the board on my lap and measured the fish, it was 19”, but I failed to have my phone ready.” said Harris, “As I was reaching for my phone, the fish jumped off my board and landed in the lake before I could snap a picture.”
Harris’ fish that jumped off his board would have given him the win, but as all kayak anglers know and most have experienced, some fish just don’t want their picture taken. However, later in the day he fulfilled his limit.
“I made a rookie mistake and had the fish flop off my board.” said Harris, “It was a heart breaker.”
Harris was drop-shotting a 6” Robo worm in the MMIII to catch his fish. His chatter bait was the jack hammer clear water shad color paired with a spunk shad trailer.
Harris thanked his wife for coming out with him and being his pit crew leader.
Top Ten:
1. Matthew Brannon 187.50”
2. Max Lee 187.25”
3. Chris Harris 186.50”
4. Robert Yamamoto 185.50”
5. Eli Veregge 183.00”
6. David Oien 177.00”
7. Jesus Reyes 167.75”
8. Leonardo Torres 162.00”
9. Michael Lavoie 162.00”
10. David Morris 161.25”
Big Fish:
Chris Harris 21.25”
Advertising