Chrenko Claims ‘Bronzeking’ title in St. Cloud

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Achigan's Mississippi Bronzequest was hosted by St. Cloud MN - Visit St. Cloud - and was the fifth stop of the 2025 Kayak Adventure Series presented by GoPro, and the Achigan brand’s focus on Smallmouth Bass fishing set the table for some epic numbers. As the weekend progressed, those numbers produced one incredible moment after another in an event that will be hard to top.

Indiana angler Josh Chrenko was responsible for one of those moments. With his limit of 100.5”, Josh won the fourth Crosskix Century Belt of the 2025 season. With two events to go, the Kayak Adventure Series has already produced more 100” limits than it did in all of 2024. Chalk that up as irrefutable evidence that the Series’ itinerary, with its focus on out-of-the-way fisheries, consistently brings anglers to outstanding fisheries. 

And this past weekend Minnesota was a factory of trophy Smallmouth Bass. Eight of the top ten finishers posted at least one Smallie of 20” or longer, three anglers had multiple 20” Smallies and there were fourteen Smallies of 20” or longer caught by the top fifteen. Iowa angler Benjamin Wagner had one of those bass, a 21” monster that won the Big Bass Bling trophy for the GoPro Big Bass.

In addition, at least twelve anglers raised their hands at the awards ceremony when Drew Gregory asked if anyone had caught their personal best in St. Cloud.

If you were on the hunt for big Smallies, the Mississippi Bronzequest was the place to be.

From when it started with the Welcome Dinner and Opening Ceremonies, through Bass U Brunch sessions and Friday afternoon Sesh, to where it ended with awards at Pioneer Place and the after-party, the fifth stop of the Kayak Adventure Series season was memorable and fun, combining competition and camaraderie as the series continues to attract new anglers.

And as always, the competition made for exciting finishes in the Z-Man Micro Finesse “Micro Bag” division, the KastKing Individual division and the Torqeedo Team Division. Along the way, anglers from fifteen different states also won a host of prizes, shook up the Nocqua Angler of the Year points race and went home with memories for a lifetime.

The KastKing Individual Angler Division

The Kayak Adventure Series accommodates every style of kayak fishing. And so it was great to see that Michael Thompson was paddling a Crescent Kayaks Ultra Lite rig on his way to the day one lead. The Minnesota angler landed 97” during the Afternoon Sesh, and his kicker was a 20.25” that he landed during the final hour of fishing.

A tight leaderboard opened an exciting race to catch or surpass Thompson during Saturday’s full day of fishing, with anglers like Josh Chrenko, Bryan Slaton and Zach Gibbons all near the 95” mark at the start of competition, and a host of others with bags over 90”.

What ensued was an all day back and forth as anglers continued to cull fish throughout the day. A total of twenty-eight competitors ended up landing limits of 90” or longer during the event on the Bronzequest. For perspective, a total of twenty-seven limits of 90” or better were landed in the four previous Kayak Adventure Series events combined.

When it was over, the smallest culls made a big difference. Michael Thompson was unable to improve much on his day one lead, and fell to second place. At the awards, the Minneapolis based angler told the crowd of how he fished from his Crescent Ultra-Lite:

“I was feeling pretty good [heading into day two]. I just needed three more inches to get to that magic 100 mark. I kept hitting the same spots I hit the day before, thinking ‘if I can get that many in five hours, I got all this time I should at least get a few more.’ I was catching fish like crazy but they were all an inch shorter. I’m just happy I was still able to cash a check.”

Thompson did so without a motor, a pedal drive of electronics on his kayak really proving that the KAS format and rules allows for anyone with any budget, who fishes any style, to truly have a shot at the top spot.

Michael Thompson in a Crescent Ultra Lite

Josh Chrenko took the win after several culls on Saturday. He shared a great story of how it happened with the crowd:

“I come up here because it’s my favorite place on earth….I just wanted to come up here and have fun. I fished all four days of pre-fishing…I live in Indiana, so it’s like a thirteen or fourteen hour drive. It’s not easy, but it’s addicting.

I had in my mind what I wanted to do on Friday and Saturday before I even came here. It’s probably a bit of confirmation bias, but I was like ‘this is lining up and this is what I want to do.’ I had this whole plan to go to this sneaky canoe launch, and get the drop on these guys. I knew there would be some people there, but I thought I could get a few miles ahead of some people. So I’m carrying my boat, I’m getting bit my fire ants, I’m drenched in sweat, I'm going down this hill and this due pops out and is like ‘you dirty dog.’ He’s got an Achigan shirt on, and I cannot believe there’s somebody else here.

So I shared that launch. On Day One, I fished a tributary, and it was clear. I was doing a lot of junk fishing…These fish change a lot. Like today, there were three different phases of bites. Today, I could not buy a bite for a while. I caught 30-40 early on a buzzbait. later, I saw that Drew rolls up with his big crown hat, and I’m like he is going to want to get the drone out and I haven’t caught a fish in an hour. I only culled one fish to that point, and it was like a quarter-inch cull. I was down in the dumps, and I’m like ‘I really need to catch a fish here.’

He gets the drone out, starts flying it, and I’m like ‘if he’s gonna be drone filming me, I might as well throw the [Achigan] Munchee. I throw it for like nine minutes, and he’s like “I’ll let you fish up to that tree…Sure enough, I throw it there and it got crushed. It was a roller coaster, like most tournaments are.”

The Munchee bait, which Chrenko designed, resulted in his best fish of the tournament – and led the way to his first Kayak Adventure Series victory.

Torqeedo Team Division

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Once again, the Torqeedo team Division delivered excitement as a large field of teams battled it out for prizes and more. For the fourth consecutive tournament, Kayak Adventure Series hosted more than 20 teams, with Achigan’s Bronzequest delivering a total of twenty four two-angler teams.

Team River Rats jumped to the early lead in the Friday Afternoon Sesh, posting a 91.75” total before the half-way mark. Team SmAll-in or Nothing held second place, while team Iowa held the third post early on.

Backwater and side channels of the Mississippi held impressive smallies too

River Rats improved to a total length of 156.75” by the end of the day, good enough for 8^th place overall, as the standings became dynamic. At the end of the day, the top four teams had all posted 170” or better, with Team Creek Crawlers posting 184.50” for the lead and Team Ripping Lips LLC right behind them at 182”. Saturday was set up for a great battle.

In the early going on Saturday, Creek Crawlers culled by .25”, but Cover water or Die Trying crossed the 180” mark and jumped into second place. Not to be outdone, Team Go with the Flow posted 180.75”, so that the top four spots were all within 4” of each other. And they were only getting started. 

In the late morning, Team SmAll-in or Nothing took the lead with 189.25”, as Creek Crawlers moved into second with 187.50. The top five teams all had posted 183” or better. Approaching mid-day, Creek Crawlers closed the gap by with a big cull that tied them with the leader, Team SmAll-in or Nothing, at 189.25. Not to be outdone, team Wetboi crossed the 180” mark, setting up a nail biter as six teams battled it out for the top spot.

In the end, Team Creek Crawlers prevailed - Ryan Parker & Bryan Slaton. 2024 Kayak Adventure Series Angler of the Year Ryan Parker culled with a 19.50” in the late morning to move the team into first place. Parker and his teammate Bryan Slaton each had 95” or better, proving once again that team work wins this division.

At the awards, the top three teams explained their approach. Team Go with the Flow, consisting of Indiana anglers Tyler Atwell and Andy Knott, took third place with 188.25”. They told the crowd that they landed their fish on bladed jigs, floating the river together – sometimes in opposite directions from one another.

Team Smalln or Nothin, consisting of Michael Thompson and Jeff Nerison, captured second place using jigs of the more conventional variety. Nrison told the audience that Thomspon had pre-fished the previous Saturday, finding a good bite. Thomspon followe dup by explaining that he fished a “Strike King Structure Jig (1/2 ounce) tipped with a Zman Hella Craw.”

Ohio Team Creek Crawler took home first place Ketch trophies with a total limit of 190.5”. Ryan Parker told the folks in the Pioneer Place Theater that “We did one long fourteen and one half mile float on Thursday to explore new water, but Bryan and I fish differently. I like to cover a bunch of water and he is better than anybody at grinding in one spot.” His key to success was a Dark Horse Tackle swim jig.

Slaton said that his approach was more methodical. “For some reason I like to post up, and in the spot I found they were re-loading. It obviously ended up being enough.”

With their win, Creek Crawlers have displaced team Snyders/Baker at the top of the Farwide Team of the Year Race. With two events remaining, that points race is set up for a fantastic finish.

Z-Man Micro Finesse “Micro-Bag” Tournament

The exciting race between the teams in the Torqeedo team Division carried over to the Z-MAN Micro-Bag division, where anglers compete to land the five smallest bass (minimum length is 9.75”).

On Friday, Logan Dupuy posted 35.25” during the Afternoon Sesh. It began to look like it was over before it began, but then legendary Nebraska angler Marty Hughes made things interesting.

Early Saturday, Indaina’s Justin Kivett posted 42.25”, and then “KayakJak” Marty Hughes jumped into the lead with a bag of 34.50”. Dupuy would now have to cull downwards to well under 7” per bass to retake the lead, as Hughes “decreased” his limit by another .50” in the late morning.

While anglers Arlie Minton and randy Wagner crossed the 40” line to challenge the top spots, Hughes continued to cull. But Dupuy was also busy culling, and while Hughes managed a late cull to reach 33.75”, Dupuy had two big culls as he landed back-to-back 6” Smallies in the final minutes. Dupuy took the lead – and the win – with a total length of 31.50”.

Dupuy told the crowd at the awards that his key to success was “a small jig with a Z-Man craw” from the Z-Man line of micro finesse baits.

The Z-Man Micro-Bag Division has increased in popularity year-over-year, and in the 2025 season as well. With sixteen anglers competing, the win sent Dupuy home with a four hundred dollar prize purse, the FinMan trophy and a Z-Man micro-belt.

Top High School Angler presented by FinMan Fishing

Logan Dupuy also placed second in this category, which promotes youth angling. He was bested here by Oliver Lee, who took the stage for his second victory of the season in this division (the other being at the South Boston Bass-A-Thon).

lee told the audience that he caught his fish on a “bladed jig, by wood and rock.” In addition to the trophy, he also won gift cards from YakAttack and Dark Horse Tackle.

Day Two Dark Horse

The Day Two Dark Horse prize presented by Dark Horse Tackle is for the angler who makes the biggest move from day one to day two. On Saturday, it was Andrew Rasmusson who moved up from zero to 89”.

GoPro Big Bass Bling Award

As noted above, Benjamin Wagner from Iowa won the Big Bass prize, which included a GoPro 13 Black camera. As he told the crowd:

“I was fishing a lot of rapids [with an] old school Mepps spinner…I was running a bank and saw a gentleman fishing the area above it yesterday, and there was a little creek. I was like “that’s probably cold water coming out of there…I cast in there and I thought I was hooked over the log I casted across, and he came out and I got him in the net.” Wagner said the water where he caught the fish was in water “no more than a foot” deep.

The Smallmouth was Wagner’s personal best.

Autism Anglers Charity Raffle

Presented by Crescent Kayaks, the popular raffle raises money for autism awareness and to help introduce autistic children to the sport of fishing.

Bass U Brunch

As always, the Bass U Brunch started with food and ended with great seminars that offered great advice and information to attending anglers. Josh Chrenko of Achigan and the Smallie Talk podcast discussed 5 ways to get that "kicker" bite. Clearly he knew what he was talking about as the winner of the Bronzequest. Later, Rich Lindgren of Hellabass capped off the seminars at the Green Mill Restaurant with detailed rigging tips and tricks for northern fisheries.

Thanks to

Thanks to St. Cloud Toyota for stopping by and handing out some swag and showing off that nice new Tundra! Anglers driving a 5 year old or newer Toyota qualify for the Toyota BONUS BUCKS program where they can earn extra cash for their top finishes!

Also big thanks to Clearwater Outfitting for hanging out with us and supporting kayak fishing in the St. Cloud area. If you ever need anything while you're in the area it's definitely worth the time to stop by.

Lastly, appreciate the incredible Pioneer Place on 5th Theater for having us. Couldn't have asked for a better more historic venue. From their full bars on all 3 levels, to the food, the secret speakeasy downstairs to the history...truly, thank you for having us.

Looking Ahead

The 2025 Kayak Adventure Series has had memorable stops in the south (Florida and Texas) the mid-Atlantic (Virginia) and the Midwest (Ohio and Minnesota). Now it will turn to the northeast, where the annual points races will be decided in the Keystone State. First, we will visit the great Susquehanna River, on August 8-9. Get signed up for even more Smallmouth action!

Additional Info

For more information about the Kayak Adventure Series presented by Go Pro, visit: https://www.kayakadventureseries.com/

Special Thanks to Visit Greater St. Cloud for hosting the Bronzequest.

Additional thanks to Slay Nation Minnesota, Minnesota Kayak Series and Clearwater Outfitters.

To see the tribute to Dan of Clearwater Outfitters, watch the opening of the awards ceremony in the link below.

To watch the awards ceremony, click here.

Click here to learn more about Go Pro cameras.

Click here for complete Kastking Individual Event standings from the Mississippi Bronzequest.

Click here for complete Torqeedo Team Event standings from the Mississippi Bronzequest.

Click here for complete Micro Bag Event standings from the Mississippi Bronzequest.

© 2025 Kayak Adventure Series. All Rights Reserved. First published July 15, 2025.