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Yak-A-Bass kayak circuit is the oldest and the largest kayak tournament circuit on the West Coast. With an average of over 100 anglers per tournament, to win a Yak-A-Bass tournament is extremely difficult to achieve; however, to win the prestigious title of Angler of the Year (AOY) in the Yak-A-Bass tournament circuit is one of the greatest achievements for a West Coast angler. With great consistency and determination, Greg Blanchard wins the TOC title for the 2023 season.
Yak-A-Bass has 8 tournaments with one drop with the worst finish. This year the first tournament of the year was at Lake Oroville. Blanchard used a jig to finish in 4th place.
“AOY is not something I try to get at the beginning of the year.” said Blanchard, “It is never a goal to start the season.”
“This year the fishing was extremely tough to get a limit.” said Blanchard, “It was a grind all year long for me.”
The next event was at Lake Folsom. “I caught 5 keepers all day long on a spinnerbait.” said Blanchard, “A very stingy tough tournament.” However, the five fish were good enough for a 3rd place finish.
The third event was at Tulloch where Blanchard finished in 5th place. “After the three events, I felt that I might have a chance at AOY.” said Blanchard, “I was leading AOY.”
The fourth event was at McClure, “Once again it was a tough, tough event.” said Blanchard, “A limit went a long way.” There Blanchard dipped a little and finished in 11th place but still a sold finish.
The fifth event was at the famous California Delta but this year the river was fishing much different and the larger fish just were hard to find for the majority of anglers.
“The Delta was incredibly tough this past year with catching bigger limits and big fish.” said Blanchard, “I still salvaged a decent score by placing in 12th place.” “I had several anglers nipping on my heals after this tournament.” Blanchard said, “At this point I was still in the hunt for AOY.”
The two anglers that were trying to dethrone Blanchard were Brandon Miller and Pua Yang both sticks to be worried about for the AOY race. After the Delta event, Brandon Miller was in the lead for AOY by a small margin, thus dethroning Blanchard.
The sixth event was at Lake New Melones. This is where one fish had made a huge difference with Blanchard winning AOY.
“The most important fish all year came to me first fish in the morning.” Blanchard said, “I caught a 20” bass on topwater, this was the key fish of the year that made the difference.”
The lake was giving up small fish to almost every angler but to catch a 20” fish was a game changer for improving one’s overall finish. Blanchard finished in 4th place, grasping the AOY points race once again. Blanchard finished in 4th place at Melones.
The biggest tournament of the year was the next event. The West Coast Championship (WCC) and the Chris Laird Memorial in conjunction with the Yak-A-Bass event was held next at the California Delta. This event was the 7th event where Pua Yang dominated the event and won everything, WCC, Chris Laird and the Yak-A-Bass events. Blanchard slipped up and finished in 20th place. Blanchard opened the door for both Pua Yang and Brannon Miller after the Delta event. Yang was only 2 points behind Blanchard and Miller was just 10 points, it was anyone's chance to win AOY. There was only one event left and it was the Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Lake Berryessa which was a two-day event.
“After the third event at Lake Tulloch, everything was about AOY.” said Blanchard, “I had a decent amount of pressure leading up the last event at Lake Berryessa.”
“With the caliber of anglers fishing these kayak tournaments, to achieve AOY is just going to get tougher each year.” said Blanchard, “With Pua Yang winning the last two events back-to-back, he had a ton of momentum coming into the last event.”
Knowing this definitely escalated the pressure on Blanchard. He practiced before the off limits and then both Thursday and Friday, the official practice days.
“I knew Pua would do well on this last event.” Blanchard said, “I have a lot of confidence with him.”
Blanchard found some fish that were school up and reloading in one specific location. This same location is where second place Max Lee was fishing as well. This location had a grass flat that the fish were using to feed on bait fish. Sunday morning compared to the day before, Blanchard had a hard time sleeping and woke up at 4 AM thinking about the fish in the grass bed.
On the last day of the last tournament of the year, this would decide who would be AOY for 2023. It came down to one magical spot that was shared by two anglers. Blanchard used a crank bait to entice the bass out of the grass. Blanchard would rip this lure out of the grass to reach his limit by 9 AM on Sunday. He had his limit on a very stingy tough bite, the pressure was releasing, and the emotions were escalating. Blanchard would find the right fish to clench the 2023 Angler of the Year.
Blanchard thanked Yak-A-Bass that runs the best kayak bass tournaments on the West Coat, one of the biggest in the country. Easly attracts the best anglers on the West. Blanchard said, “Personally, one of the most difficult trails that I have fished (I've fished many trails back east and, in our country) it is very diverse, one can fish very shallow and extremely deep as deep as 60 to 70 feet of water.” A big shout out to Yak-A-Bass for putting on such great events. A big shout out to the Dark Horse Crew, a crew that we stay up way too late drinking and hanging with each other. We have been fishing 4-5 years together, they are a great support group, it’s a great support system. A big shout out to the crew for all their support and the great times spent away from their families. It is amazing to see how much the kayak community has evolved in such a short time. It’s incredible! A big shout out to everyone in the kayak community.
“It feels incredibly fortunate to be Angler of the Year.” said Blanchard, “Being at the right place at the right time, we need that luck, and I got it this year.”
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