The popularity of kayak bass fishing just seems to keep growing every year. And just like with any other style of bass fishing, the technology continues to advance, the strategies and techniques continue to improve, and the sport’s best competitors rise to the top.
Why Was the Victory Announcement Delayed?
With at two-day total of ten bass measuring 180.50 inches, Drew Gregory wins the 2024 Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship. Interestingly, Gregory had a little over a full day after competition ended to confirm that he had won. The tournament organizers decided it would be best to get the kayak competitors in front of the huge crowds at the day one weigh-in of the Bassmaster Classic at the BOK Center in Tulsa, for the big reveal.
Gregory, a 44-year-old resident of Kent, Ohio, said, “There’s a lot of anxiety waiting more than 24 hours to know if you’ve won or not,” Gregory said. “I didn’t sleep too well last night. Some people told me I was ahead when the (TourneyX results page) was turned off (on Bassmaster.com) an hour before Day 2 ended. But you still don’t know. I’ve been in tournaments before where the guy who wins didn’t have phone service and couldn’t enter his fish. So, he goes from looking like he has nothing to being the winner.
“I was hoping it didn’t happen like that here, and when it didn’t, it was a big relief. It’s just a great rush of excitement.”
Details of the Tournament Days
As reported on Bassmaster.com: After close finishes in previous championships, Gregory closed the deal on Tenkiller. He caught 90 inches on Wednesday, which was good enough for fourth place. He fished a slough on the northern end of Tenkiller with a Z-Man CrossEyeZ Power Finesse Jig and a Z-Man Pro CrawZ trailer in the green pumpkin color. His catch came early, and some key late upgrades got him within 2.75 inches of Day 1 leader Guillermo Gonzalez, who led Day 1 with 92.75 inches.
“By the time I left that slough, I had five fish, all of them over 16 inches,” Gregory said. “One of those was a 19 3/4-inch fish, and it was still early. So, I felt pretty good from the start.”
Gregory was strong again on Day 2, starting with a 22-inch largemouth that was the Big Bass of the Tournament and good for an additional $500.
“Catching the fish of the tournament early is a great feeling,” he said. “I started in that same slough for it, but as I made my way up the slough, the water was getting more clear, more shallow, and I got worried again. I caught a couple of spotted bass to get me to four fish, and the fifth came on a Bass Mafia Daingerous Swimbait.
“I threw it against a log in the river and she hammered it,” he said, speaking about the 21.25-inch smallmouth that completed his Day 2 limit.
How Serious Is Kayak Bass Fishing?
Gregory collected $25,000, part of a $56,350 total cash purse split among the Top 16 anglers in the tournament. In all, 164 competitors representing 30 states and Canada took part. They qualified by either placing in the Top 5 from any Bassmaster Kayak Series tournament in 2023, by finishing among the Top 50 in the 2023 Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year points race or by placing in the top 10% of B.A.S.S. Nation state kayak championships. The field also included last year’s champion, Tennessee’s Rus Snyders.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE CHAMP RUNNING DOWN DETAILS OF HIS KAYAK AND WINNING STRATEGY
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