Ron Himmelhaver wins! Josh Weist earns Angler of the Year w/ Josiah Bihary & Clay Carter winning Team of Year at Broodstock III in Clarksville, TN
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Clarksville, Tennessee area is filled with kayak fishing opportunity. With the mighty Cumberland River flowing right through the heart of Clarksville, Broodstock III gave anglers an incredible centerpiece for the season’s grand finale. From the Cumberland and its winding creeks and backwaters to the Red River up to the Kentucky border, the numerous fishable creeks and headwaters or Lake Barkley to the west, anglers had no shortage of diverse water to explore in search of Tennessee bass.
The 2026 Kayak Adventure Series (KAS) presented by GoPro began in “Tallabassee,” Florida, six months ago and it concluded with Broodstock III in Clarksville, TN. At each and every stop, anglers enjoyed America’s best fisheries, visited scenic towns and made memories with friends and family and many captured these moments via GoPro. The weather was good, too, and even when water was low anglers still found a way to catch big bags.
When the week was over, a new Angler of the Year and a new Team of the Year were crowned,
and another angler earned the coveted title of "Broodmaster," which is a title that only the winner of Broodstock can earn.
By the numbers
Angler's from 17 states traveled to Clarksville, TN, where they submitted 588 fish in the Individual & Team Divisions combined via the Realtree Fishing Realtime Leaderboard powered by TourneyX. Between the two divisions there were 100 total registrations and we can't thank the anglers enough for showing up at a time of year when school, hunting, football and so much else is going on.
The great turnout carried extra meaning as the kayak fishing community came together to honor one of our own, Robert Farnsworth, who unexpectedly passed away on the river the week before following a medical event. Robert was a river kayak fishing junkie like so many of us, and fittingly, his first-ever tournament was the inaugural Broodstock in nearby Bowling Green, KY, in 2024. He will be greatly missed.
We used this event to raise money for the sweet family he leaves behind. All together nearly $5000 was raised via our raffle and a huge thanks to Jeff & Paul of the Aggressively Average Anglers for contributing the vast majority of all the raffle items despite originally wanting to use some of the funds to support their non-profit that we also supported last season - Autism Anglers.
Opening Ceremonies
There cannot be a better view of the Cumberland River than the one from Liberty Park, and in particular the Liberty Park Grill, where before the event anglers gathered for check in, late registration, food, drinks and fellowship. Huge shout out to some of the KAS Sponsors and guests of honor who showed up to support this event - AJ from Newport, Bassmaster Kayak Series TD Steve Owens, Keith Stevenson from DHUKR, Jeff & Paul of Aggressively Average Anglers, and of course all three guys from Darkhorse Tackle - Zech, Josh and Ryan. The 1st 50 anglers who registered were treated to a $100 Angler Sponsor Welcome Bags as well.
Opening Ceremonies (Click here for full gallery page)
(photo credits to Jake Heppner, Drew Gregory)
The Bass U Brunch
Friday's Bass U Brunch was a huge hit, as the anglers and their friends or families enjoyed a catered breakfast at Pine Ridge Farm while listening to a very informative seminar by KAS Founder and Tournament Director, Drew Gregory. He's so busy running these events that we sometimes forget he's probably the most decorated speaker in terms of tournament accomplishemnts the Bass U Brunch has ever had as he's a 10-time winner at the national level, won Bassmaster Angler of the Year (2022), Hobie BOS AOY in 2020, and the Bassmaster Kayak Championship in 2024 and has never finished lower than 6th in Bassmaster AOY. From time to time, it's nice to learn a little from Drew and his unique shallow water power fishing strategy. The anglers got a "glimpse" on how he plans and prepares for a tournament from the moment it's announced, to the week before, all the way through practice and the tournament day/s. To come to a KAS event and not take advantage of the Bass U Brunch intel would be a big mistake, as this info helps you become a better angler for the rest of your kayak fishing days. As always KAS provides this free of charge, but of course accepts donations to help cover food, venue rentals and other costs associated with it.
Bass U Brunch (Click to view full gallery here) (photo credits to Alan Lockwood, Jake Heppner & Drew Gregory)
KASTKING Individual Angler Division
AFTCO's Afternoon Sesh - 2:00pm-6:30pm, Tournament Begins
While the Bass U Brunch is about learning and fellowship, AFTCO's Afternoon Sesh (Fri) is about putting some of that learning into on-water action. The Friday half day is unique to KAS and anglers continually express how much they enjoy the relaxed start to the event. They appreciate time on the water during a weekday to avoid big local crowds and the chance to fish the typically good afternoon and evening low light bite! Since KAS is a 5-fish limit total (between both days) it's also a very forgiving format for those that don't have a great Friday, be It just a poor decision or some big fish just got off.
Josiah Bihary (middle) started things off catching the first bass of the event, a 17.75 inch largemouth he punched up through some insane thick vegetation. By the end of the day it was Tennessee Angler, Josh Stewart (left), who took home an extra $250 by claiming the "Friday Leader Bonus" by landing 87.50 inches of largemouth bass. John Dalton held second and Cole Lawrence was in third place. Perennial hammer Tim Perkins had fourth place, while Ron Himmelhaver was in the fifth spot with a limit of an even 80”.
The Clarksville area was already living up to its reputation and three trophy-sized bass over 20 inches were posted to the leaderboard - two 20.25 inch smallmouth, by Cole Lawrence and Ryan Buckler, and one largemouth at the last minute by Tim Perkins. Perkins' fish actually won him a Guardian Angel light kit by being the "last bass" of the evening. Stewart may have been leading the event with largemouth, but the leaderboard had loads of big smallmouth right there as well which would make for sure an exciting battle between angler's targeting each species on Saturday.
Send it Saturday presented by SMITH Optics - 6:30am-3:00pm
Launch time was 6:15am, with "lines in" beginning at 6:30am. Many anglers decided to just "run it back" and do whatever they did on Friday again, while others were saving a different section of lake, river or creek to target "fresh fish."
Cole Lawrence jumped to the early lead on Saturday morning, increasing his limit to 89” in the early hours. Stewart remained in second while Bryan Slaton displaced Himmelhaver to take over the fifth spot. Lawrence continued to distance himself from the pack as his limit climbed to 93.50” by mid-morning. Only thirty minutes after reaching 93.50”, Lawrence culled again to stake out the top spot with 95.25”.
Anglers were out there at work, paddling creeks and floating rivers, or working the lake bite. One of those anglers was Ron Himmelhaver, who jumped from sixth place to second at mid-morning, courtesy of some culls that brought his limit to 90.50.” Himmelhaver remained in second while other anglers clawed their way up the standings. Among them, Tim Perkins worked his way up to third place at mid-day while both Josh Wiest and John Dalton added to their limits to round out the top five.
It was a hot late summer day, and the bite seemed to wane a bit at mid-day - but not for Ron Himmelhaver. The Tennessee angler was working a good bite, and it all came together
with a late run where he surged up the leaderboard with a 21 and 22 inch largemouth. That lunker also won Himmelhaver the coveted Booyah Big Bass!
Those two kickers combined with a 19.75 surged Himmelhaver up to 98.5 inches! Other anglers also crossed the 90” mark, among them Holly Cittadino and Josh Stewart, but none caught either Lawrence in second place or Himmelhaver who, at 98.50, came very close to earning the rare Chinook Century Belt. It's a feat hard enough to do on it's own, but throw in the incredible difficult conditions with the heat and low water at an event most thought would be won with 93-94 inches, and there's no doubt that Himmelhaver earned the title of "Broodmaster!"
Josh Wiest finished in 7th place, but was equally as big a winner as Himmerlhaver, because he earned the title of 2026 KAS KastKing Angler of the Year. He was the definition of consistency, which is what the awards is meant to honor. He finished up with 283.86 points out of a possible 300, barely squeaking by Cole Lawrence who finished 2nd in AOY (and this event) with 282.01 and Jordan Lovejoy with 280.96 points. Aside from Wiest's 7th at Broodstock he placed 2nd a the Juniata Regatta and 13th at Bronzequest.
Click here for full KastKing Individual Standings Click here for full KastKing Angler of the Year Standings
Click here to watch the full Awards Ceremony
The event paid out 15 anglers in cash, and thanks to Guardian Angel Devices the next 10 anglers (16-25th) also received their "micro series" light kit, which Is a $200 value!
Omnia Fishing's "On the Water" Gallery (Click to view full gallery) (photo credits to KAS Production Crew & Angler Uploaded Content)
"From the Air" Gallery (Click to view full gallery)
(photo credits to KAS Production Team)
TOYO TIRES Team Division
Team tournament fishing requires that two anglers strategize and work together to build a solid game plan that helps them not just as a team, but also as individuals as well. The Toyo Tires Team Division pairs the best 5 bass from each of the two team anglers for a combined 10 bass total.
Clarksville’s varied fisheries provided opportunity for team competitors to fish any type of water, and
the teams fanned out to take advantage of that opportunity during the Friday afternoon Sesh. By the
end of the day, the 2024 KAS Team of the Year held the lead, as the OG Riverchamps posted a combined155.5”. Teammates Tim Perkins and Lance Coley remain a threat more than one and a half decades after their debut (in the River Bassin’ Series), and the other teams had their work cut out for them.
Elsewhere on the scoreboard, Team Stewjinks (Josh Stewart & Bill Jenkins) held second place with 150.75”, while Jordan Lovejoy and Josh Wiest of team "Tall & Small" held third at the end of Friday’s fishing. Tall & Small launched with a vengeance on Saturday morning and quickly took over the top spot as they increased their total bag to 158”. They wouldn’t look back. At mid-morning, they had increased their total to 161” and continued to hold the lead at noon with 167”.
Team OG RiverChamps can never be discounted, however, and they made a push to come within 6” of the lead at mid-day. The Toyo Tires team event became a slugfest between the two teams, as they traded culls for the remainder of the event. In the end, team Tall & Small prevailed with a total of 175”, while Team OG RiverChamps finished second with 171.75. Stewjinks would ultimately finish in third place.
Finishing 4th at this event was team Buckeye Bassin' Boys, Josiah Bihary and Clayton Carter. However, their solid finish earned them the 2026 Torqeedo Team of the Year honors! A season full of ups and downs for the Buckeye Bassin' Boys, where seemingly at each event one of them would have a "decent" event but the other would pick the team up with a great finish which helped buoy the team's finish.
The "buckeye state" duo was leading TMOY heading into the event and finished the season with 280.81 points out of a possible 300. They began the season with a 3rd place at Great Midwestivus II, then had a down event at the New River (which was eventually kicked out), but back on top with a 4th place at the Juniata Regatta and a 6th in Wisconsin. Their 4th at Broodstock really sealed the deal even though technically it only increased their score by fractions. It was more about just being better than any team that was trailing them, and to that it was mission accomplished!
REBEL "Live Flex" Micro-Bag Division
While Holly Cittadino represented women KAS anglers well with a third place finish in the Kastking Individual standings, April Chitwood took home the first place hardware in the Rebel Live-Flex Micro-Bag Division with an impressive 27.75 inch total which beat 2nd place, Geoff Luckett, by over 8 inches. For her $25 entry she took home $200 In the winner take all division which saw 8 anglers compete.
Click here for full Micro-Bag Standings
New Primal "Next Up" Division (under 21)
Josiah Bihary not only took home the Team of the Year title, but the final "Next Up" trophy as well. In a tough season-long battle between several other top "Next Up" anglers such as Jordan Lovejoy, Jimmy Eintwistle, Owen Miller and of course the talented Lee brothers (Oliver & Tristan) it was great to see young friendly KAS rivalries starting to develop. Josiah took home the trophy and a brand new Yak Rods spinning rod valued at $250! Thanks YakRods!
Full Awards Gallery (Link to full gallery here)
Raffle Motor by Newport
To end the show, KAS always raffles off a big ticket item such as a kayak or motor. Typically the funds go towards our season long charity, however this year as mentioned before we donated the proceeds to Robert Farnsowrth's family after his sudden passing. We can't thank Newport enough for donating their flagship motor, an NK 300, which helped us raise nearly $5000 for the family! Also, again a huge thanks to AJ from Newport for coming to the event and supporting Newport anglers as a one man "service crew" that helped several anglers stay in full working order for the event.
The winner of the motor was Chase Carlock, long time supporter of KAS who also has a great YouTube channel and podcast with his wife Calah Carlock that you should definitely go follow called Southwest Indiana Outdoors.
BONUSES PROGRAMS
AFTCO Bank Bag Cleanup
Huge shout out to the many anglers who took an AFTCO Bank Bag and helped clean up the access points, boat ramps, and rivers and lakes themselves. The anglers received a $25 to AFTCO.com for their efforts!
"Angler's Cut" Presented by GoPro Best GoPro "cut" from the previous event (Northwoods Bronzequest) receives $500 cash, a brand new GoPro Hero 13 black plus a GoPro Premium Plus Subscription for 1 year. Clayton Carter was the winner and you can see why given his emotion during his PB smallmouth catch in Wisconsin.
"Unhooked" presented by DHUKR
Lose a fish in practice or the tournament? Win $500 if you own a DHUKR tool! If not, you'll win a DHUKR, and that's what Matt Newcom did at the Northwoods Bronzequest where when he got this great GoPro shot of him "barely" missing this big smallmouth as it almost landed in the net. Ouch, that hurts, and as we always like to say "Only a DHUKR should have a hook come out that easy!"
Crosskix Cross-Country Prize - Two anglers who drove the most miles to attend receive a new pair of Crosskix!
New Angler New Kix - Two random first time KAS Anglers receive a new pair of Crosskix.
First & Last Light Bass presented by Guardian Angel
Huge thanks to Pine Ridge Farm again for being a great lodging and venue partner. Aside from hosting the Bass U Brunch, and housing numerous KAS anglers they also hosted those who got ACA certified Sun-Tuesday after the event, which is what KAS had been raising money for all season to supply those scholarships to the anglers. We highly recommend this venue whether you're into hunting, archery, clay shooting, or just needing a spot for a family reunion or wedding.
Looking Ahead
That's a wrap for the 2026 season. The "loose" 2027 schedule was shown at the awards, but many exact locations are still TBD, and even some dates could change but it will all be finalized no later than the first week of November, if not sooner. So stay tuned to the KAS Instagram and Facebook page or group for more info!
Additional Info
For more information about the Kayak Adventure Series presented by Go Pro, visit: https://www.kayakadventureseries.com/
Click here to learn more about Go Pro cameras.
© 2026 Kayak Adventure Series. All Rights Reserved. First published June 22, 2026.
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