Tyson Peterson of Lexington, Ky., rode out high seas and a stubborn challenge from a talented field of kayak anglers to secure a wire-to-wire win at the 2018 Hobie Bass Open on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. His winning total was 121.75 inches.
Editor’s note: See more photos from the Hobie Bass Open.
“Being the first to win the Hobie Bass Open twice and returning to the Hobie Worlds is amazing,” said Peterson who took home a $5,000 winner’s purse from the event, sponsored by Hobie Cat and the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Unlike Day 1 when feeding bass were lighting up his graph, action started slowly for Peterson on Sunday. He and Nick McBride, who sat second on the leaderboard going into the day, opted to fish a 100-yard stretch of ledge on a secondary creek channel.
“The wind was out of the north,” said McBride, who took two 15-inchers in the first hour, the only two he would post for the day. “We had current taking us out of the mouth of the channel and wind blowing us back in, so it was really tough to control your boat.”
Peterson’s bite was longer in coming. Ripples from Saturday’s benign breezes turned into 3-foot rollers with accelerating morning winds.
Peterson had buoyed his hopes of a return trip to the Hobie Fishing World Championship early in the event with a record-setting Day 1 total of 62.5 inches. The slow early bite coupled with worsening conditions found him second-guessing his decisions.
“We were hoping to take our fish early, and then just fish for one big fish the rest of the day,” said Peterson, who credited his Hobie Pro Angler 14 for its performance in the unruly waters. “We were a little nervous when the wind picked up. We didn’t have a Plan B. All of our cards were down on that one spot. I started thinking about other options. But then I calmed down and caught fish…I had two 18-inchers and a 20-1/2 by 9:30. From then, I picked up a fish or so every couple of hours.”
He shelved the 12-inch worm and the 1/2-ounce football jigs that had taken fish from that same ledge on Saturday and committed to a 3/4-ounce jig.
“I knew it was going to be a grind, so I just threw the jig and creature the rest of the day,” said Peterson. “I caught all my fish on the (Strike King) Structure Head jig, trailed with a creature bait.”
First to repeat
Peterson, who won the tournament on the same waters in 2015, is the first repeat winner in the event’s five-year history. He and runner-up Joe Komyati (117 inches) qualified for the 2019 Hobie Fishing World Championship as the tournament’s top two finishers.
Due to high water conditions, the Tennessee Valley Authority continued high water discharge rates through the Kentucky Lake Dam during much of the tournament. Lake levels were significantly lower at the start of Day 2.
“TVA was pulling the heck out of it,” said Peterson. “That’s why I think we had such success on the secondary ledges. There might have been too much flow on the main ledges…It looked to me like the shad spawn was going on, too. That could have had an effect.”
Peterson had culled his way through 20-plus-inch fish early on Day 1, hoping to preserve enough of that ledge bite to reach similar numbers on Day 2.
“I stopped fishing at 10:30 a.m. and left my fish alone,” said Peterson. “I actually saw fish reloading on the structure on my graph. It was amazing. I hadn’t witnessed that before.”
Crash course
Joe Komyati’s second place finish came in only his second kayak bass tournament. Komyati, from Raleigh, N.C., credited a friend’s crash course in ledge fishing and advanced electronics for getting him ready to compete.
“I caught fish Thursday, and Friday. Then I found another spot that looked good, caught four there and left,” said Komyati. “They became my #1 and #2 spots for the tournament. On Day 1, I caught 25 fish from Spot #1 by 8:30. Then I caught bigger fish at my second spot and culled my whole limit.”
He went straight to his secondary spot on Day 2, but his fish were gone. He combed a 300-yard radius of the spot, hoping to find the retreat locations of his Day 1 fish.
“I took two on a point, then got six or seven more from another location,” said Komyati, who said he got help in protecting his spot from a neighborly kayak competitor who refused to allow an intruding boat angler to encroach. “On the second cast, I got a 20.5-inch fish. I was off the water by 11 a.m.”
History maker, record breaker
The Hobie Bass Open is a Catch/Photo/Release event with scores based on the best cumulative length drawn from three-fish daily limits. This year’s tourney was peppered with interesting highlights and side stories.
Kristine Fischer became the first female to place in the top five. Her 114.75 inch total earned her third place and $2,000.
Fischer re-launched at mid-day on Day 1 after an empty morning. She “found an unassuming spot with a brush pile on it” alive with bass in the afternoon.
“I didn’t have a fish until after noon but ended up with 56.75 inches for the day,” said Fischer. “On Day 2, I started at the spot where I had caught my fish, but, with the wind and rollers on the water, I had to find a different position to reach them.”
She located the school and landed three 18-plus-inch fish amid a mix of 17-inchers. A Missile Baits D Stroyer on a 1/2-ounce Gene Larew Biffle Hardhead jig led the way to her historic third place finish.
Cincinnati area angler Eric Siddiqi saw his Hobie Bass Open one-day length limit record topped by leader, Tyson Peterson on Day 1. He managed to register a 22-inch largemouth but only two keepers on Day 1 after a frustrating day of ledge jockeying.
“I went back to the same spot today, but…no boats!” said Siddiqi. “But I had no bites either until about 10:30 when fish started showing on the back side.”
A Carolina rig tailed with a Missile Baits D Stroyer netted him more than a dozen fish over 18 inches in length, including largemouth of 22 and 22.25 inches. His 65-inch total recaptured the one-day tournament record.
“I joked with Tyson (Peterson) that at least I let him have my record for one day!” said Siddiqi.
Defending champion Jay Wallen, also from Lexington, Ky., earned a sixth place finish with a 105.25-inch total.
His Day 1 strategy found him working near grass beds with topwater baits and moving out to ledges to capitalize on the deep water structure bite later in the day. “The topwater bite was on fire early yesterday, but it was not on fire today,” said Wallen, who returned to the ledges to fill out his three-fish limit on Sunday. “You win some. You lose some.”
Cranking ‘em up
Perennial contender Ron Champion (110 inches) bounced back from a frustrating Day 1 to notch another top five finish with a 110-inch total and fifth place. While slow coaxing bass with bottom-hugging baits proved to be the ticket for most of the top contenders, Champion powered his last two fish to bite with deep-diving crankbaits.
“I caught my 19- and 18-inch fish with five minutes to go,” said Champion. “I was fishing deep pockets in the ledges with a Strike King (Pro Model) 6XD, just casting, trying to cover water on my way in when I got the 19-incher. I broke the crankbait off on the next cast, so I took a rod with an 8XD tied on and promptly hooked the 18-incher.”
Fourth place finisher Anthony Shingler (114.5 inches) had made an 11th hour decision to fish the tournament. He employed several techniques to amass his limits. He got most of his fish Saturday on a dropshot rig before switching to a Carolina rig to negotiate the turbulence on the ledges.
“But I caught a topwater fish, too, fishing the lure in 2-foot rollers!” he added.
Joshua Stewart, Drew Russell, Guillermo Gonzalez and Joe Meno filled out the Top 10.
Other notes
Cole Kleffman won the youth division. His 19-inch smallmouth was one of the largest recorded during the event.
Matt Scotch, from Ft. Worth, Texas, captured the overall Big Fish crown with a 22.5-inch largemouth, edging out Sunday’s biggest catch, Eric Siddiqi’s 22.25-inch fish, for top honors.
On to the Worlds
Hobie will announce the site of the Eight Hobie Fishing World Championship later this year.
Tyson Peterson is looking forward to his return to the event, which pits top anglers from around the world on waters few of them have fished.
“The Hobie Worlds are amazing,” said Peterson. “You pick up so much from other anglers and from fishing new waters and species.”
Does the new champ have a preferred location?
“Australia would be cool,” said Peterson. “But fishing the Worlds itself is enough. The destination doesn’t matter.”
