kayak

Kayak: Top Baits from Caddo/Bistineau

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Written by
Marty Hughes

A true fisherman’s paradise can be found near Shreveport, Louisiana with Caddo Lake and Bisteneau where the final event of the Bassmaster Kayak Series was held this fall.  The weather was very stable with sunny days and cooler nights.  The bite was strong for many of the 194 anglers who participated. These lakes are well known for producing big catches in shallow swamp-style waters.  The fishing kayak is a perfect platform for these venues and the beautiful scenery provides even more reason to make this a bucket list destination for any angler. 

The results from this tournament were staggering, to say the least!  Ten anglers were over 190 inches in the two-day event.  Two bass were turned in that were 22.75 inches by West Virginia’s Jody Queen and Ohio’s Eric Siddiqi.  Gene Jensen of Georgia came out on top with 198.5 inches nearly achieving the 200 mark. Not far behind was Texan Matt Scotch who put 198 inches of bass for second place. Third was Abby Abbondanza with 197 inches.  Let’s see what baits brought success to the top 10 anglers below!  

Gene Jensen

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Gene Jensen of Georgia used the Nichols Lures Pulsator spinnerbait to take top honors at Caddo/Bistineau. His rod was a KastKing Speed Demon Pro 7’6” Swimbait. The reel was a KastKing MegaJaws 7.2:1 with 17 lb. Seaguar AbrazX line. 
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Matt Scotch

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Texas hammer Matt Scotch threw an Accent spinnerbait and Xcite 3.8 Shadnasty trailer on a Dobyns XP684C 6’8” rod and Shimano Bantam reel with 17 lb. line.
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Abby Abbondanza

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Abby Abbondanza of Pennsylvania used one rod and one bait the entire tournament on a 7’4” Med/Hvy CK Chattergrass rod with a Shimano DC Curado spooled with 20 lb. Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon line.
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The bait was a ZMan ⅜ oz. EVO Tungsten in the color of Bama Craw with a ZMan Razor Shadz trailer in the color “The Deal”. He ran the waters with his 12.5 Native Titan X. His net was a Bubba 4’ carbon graphite to get a little longer reach to land his fish. His Zpro lithium 100ah battery kept him going both days on one single charge. 

Jody Queen

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Jody Queen, a kayak fishing legend out of West Virginia used the ZMan Fishing Products EVO Elite Tungsten ⅜ oz. Bama Craw Chatterbait with a ZMan DieZel MinnowZ in a “Bloody Mary Sunday” color. His rod was a Cashion Kayak Series 7’4” Chattergrass rod that related perfectly to his presentation. The reel was a Lews Tournament Pro. 
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Guillermo Gonzalez

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On Day 1, a little bit of breeze made for a fantastic spinnerbait bite for Guillermo Gonzalez of Texas. He threw a custom made ⅜ oz. double willow blade bait. In calm, shallow water he was waking it while in deeper water with a little bit of wind, he would run it low and slow. 
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Day 2 was very different. The glass calm water made it difficult for Guillermo to get the spinnerbait going so he locked a Buckeye Lures THUMP Jig in his hands with a Yamamoto Baits Flappin hog trailer and crept it around trees and any cover he could find in key areas he fished. 
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Jason Willis

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Hailing from Southwest Louisiana, kayak angler Jason Willis caught all of his fish using a black and blue 5-inch Yamamoto Senko. He Texas rigged the bait with a 3/16th oz. 6th Sense Fishing tungsten weight and a 5/0 Gamakatsu Superline Offset Round Bend hook.
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He paired this lure with a Daiwa Tatula SV reel spooled with 15 lb. Berkley fluorocarbon on a 7’ Impulse medium heavy casting rod. He targeted the edges of wind-blown vegetation in 3 feet of water that consisted of a mix of different types of grass and sparse lily pads. 

Duayne Dwyer

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Duayne Dwyer of Florida threw the Brett’s craw in the early morning then moved to a Golden Shiner Jackhammer midmorning.  In the mid-afternoon, he threw a War Eagle SpinnerBait along with a Zoom Magnum Speed Worm and finished the day with a Booyah hollow body frog filled with glass beads on floating grass. His equipment for the bladed jig was a Tatula Elite chatterbait rod with 17 lb. PLine fluorocarbon. His speed worm rod was a Tatula XT. His reels for both setups were Lews reels with a 6:8.1 ratio. 
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His spinnerbait setup is a little different. He used an Enigma glass rod with 15 lb. fluorocarbon with an 8.3:1 Lews reel. The hollow body frog was thrown with a 13Fishing rod with 65 lb. braid on an 8:3.1 Lews reel. The frog bite was crucial for Dwyer to catch fish in the afternoon on Day 2.

Garrett Wade

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Garret Wade of Alabama had success with his ⅜ oz. white Jackhammer slow rolled around trees and large isolated stumps.
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His rod of choice was a Temple Fork Outfitters Option series 7’4” medium heavy. He used Seaguar Tatsu 17 lb on his Shimano SLX casting reel.

Breck Hotard

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The main baits for Breck Hotard of Louisiana were a ZMan project Z Chatterbait with a ZMan Razor Shad. His rod was a 13Fishing medium heavy with Seaguar Invisix 20 lb. fluorocarbon spooled on a KastKing reel. He used this combo to catch a few keepers early on Sunday morning.
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He also used a Big Bite Baits “Trick Stick” when the bite slowed down. He would alternate between a wacky style and a Neko rig. He culled several bass during the tournament with this setup. His rod was a Diawa Tatula 7’2” and a 3000 series KastKing spinning reel paired with 30 lb. J8 braid and a Trokar hook.
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When quickly covering water, he would pull out his Diawa skipping rod equipped with a ¾ Beastcoast jig and a Yamamoto trailer.  He would pitch the jig to the base of stumps and let it roll off. 
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Clint Pippen

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Clint Pippen from Mississippi used a white ZMan Evo ½ oz. Chatterbait with a white Strike King Rage Tail grub as the trailer.  He fished it slowly in a 6-8 foot deep channel around standing timber.
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A Strike King wake bait was also used in the same area casting close to wood cover. He used bigger hooks on the wake bait and stick-on lead weights to get it to dive a little deeper on a slow retrieve.  He was catching highly pressured fish in a one-mile stretch of a channel.

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