Rupp Reels in Victory at The Great Midwestivus

For full photo galleries click visit the Great Midwestivus Photo Gallery Page.

Updated AOY Standings visit the AOY page

The 2025 Kayak Adventure Series presented by GoPro has seven stops, and the Great Midwestivus was the fourth – placing it right in the middle of the schedule. With three events before it and three to follow, the Great Midwestivus would set up anglers and teams for the late innings of summer. Think of it as advancing a runner to second base: you’re in the middle of the diamond and home plate is around the next corner.

Hosted by the Greater Springfield Partnership, The Great Midwestivus would literally be pivotal to how the KAS season and AOY race unfolds. Would Team Fish-I hold its lead in the Torqeedo team of the Year points race? Would anyone challenge the points leader (Ohio angler Adam Coleman) for the Nocqua Angler of the Year lead? The Buckeye State had already produced one Kayak Adventure Series Angler of the Year in 2024, when it was won by Ryan Parker. Would Coleman make it two in a row?

And what types of limits would the waters around greater Springfield, Ohio produce? Across three 2025 event weekends, no champion had won with a limit shorter than 95”. Would we see more Crosskix century Belts awarded, or would the numbers decline as the summer bite challenged anglers to find longer fish in deeper water? Names like Big Darby Creek, The Great Miami River, Kiser, Indian and Buck Creek Lake, to name a few, don’t exactly ring with the echoes of legend, but Kayak Adventure Series has a knack for finding little-known fisheries around cities like Springfield, OH, that deliver big hits for anglers!

The full recap video (below) tells much of the story, and shares some of the top highlights, but read on to get the full scoop on the entire Great Midwestivus event!

As with every Kayak Adventure Series weekend, there was a good deal of tail-gating before the game, too. Pre-tournament activities included fellowship, food and festivities at the Welcome Dinner and Opening Ceremonies, followed by the informative Bass U Brunch sessions that prime anglers for Friday competition.

Rus Snyders, Dustin Hoy & Drew Gregory had the rare opportunity to hold "on the water" seminars for the Bass U Brunch, thanks to an incredible venue in downtown Springfield, on Buck Creek. Anglers were taught about paddle strokes, boat positioning, kayak setup and how to re-enter a kayak once you've fallen out by 3 ACA Certified instructors before heading off to start their event at 3pm with Friday's "Afternoon Sesh."

At Opening Ceremonies, held at Mother Stewarts Brewing, Drew Gregory spoke with some of the anglers about the unique format now that KAS has been around for a while and angler's are starting to see the pros (or cons) of it. Robert Weiker had this to say about it.

“At first I wasn't so sure about the Friday afternoon, but now I love it because I can sit here (on Thurs) at Opening Ceremonies late, like I am now, hang out and have drinks because we don't have to get up early for anything tomorrow. Plus the fish get a little break and it gives us a unique opportunity to fish the afternoon bite, and on a weekday when there isn't as much local pressure. Ending on Saturday feels the same way too - no reason not to show up to the festivities and awards for more food, fellowship and drinks because I'll just drive home on Sunday. It's such a relaxed format for the angler, but still stout competition too.”

When the game was finally over on Saturday, competitors convened at the historic State Theater in downtown Springfield for a celebration of all the anglers who won awards in their respective divisions and the numerous bonus & contingency categories, which included...

·       "GoPro Big Bass"

·       Z-Man Micro Finesse “Micro Bag” division

·       Omnia “Tackle for Trash” prize

· "Omnia Pro" BONUS

·       "Day 2 Dark Horse" presented by Dark Horse Tackle for the angler who makes the biggest move from day one to day two.

·       The "NOCQUA Power Bonus" ($1000)

·   "Top NuCanoe Angler"

· Toyota BONUS BUCKS

· Crosskix BONUS    

Great Midwestivus by the Numbers

• Anglers from 12 states and 2 countries showed up (Thank you, Canada!)

• Posting 915 bass across the three KAS divisions.

• In sum, there were 146 registrations across all 3 Divisions - Kastking Individual division (81 anglers) and the Torqeedo 2-man team event (28 teams = 56 anglers) and the Z-MAN Micro-bag Division (10) - making the Great Midwestivus one the most highly attended event in KAS history.

• Numerous friends and family also attended the festivities, which is great to see given the premise of KAS is certainly as much about fellowship as it is fishing.

In the end, Springfield, Ohio drew a big crowd that delivered big hits and clutch performances, setting up the 2025 Kayak Adventure Series for an exciting late-inning finale.

The KastKing Individual Angler Division

KAS anglers wasted no time posting fish during Friday’s afternoon sesh (3-8pm). By early evening, the Realtree Fishing Realtime leaderboard on TourneyX lit up with familiar KAS names as Ohio regulars like Robert Weiker, Chris Anderson and others filled out the top spots, all of them holding limits of 80” or better. AOY Leader Adam Coleman would end Friday's session in 2nd, tied with national angler Abby Abbondanza at 86 inches. However, it was Dayton's own Bryan Slaton that held first place, with 88.25” as the evening bite concluded, setting up the action for a frantic all-day marathon on Saturday….

Bryan Slaton with a big Friday of over 88 inches.

Anderson would advance from fourth to second in the early morning on Saturday, while Dylan Rupp jumped to the lead with a limit for 91.25”, a two-inch advantage. Having culled, Slaton held steady in third, while Paris Reelfest champion Adam Coleman moved into fifth place behind Jarrod Kalinowski. With Weiker in sixth, it was all Ohio anglers at the top of the leaderboard.

But the competition quickly intensified, and by mid-morning only two of those anglers (Rupp and Kalinowski) remained in the top six of the field, and the top five all had posted 90” or better. But there was also a bottleneck, as Eric Tracy, Josh Nickell, Justin Perdue and Jarrod Kalinowski were all within a mere .75” of one another. Would anyone break the logjam and challenge Rupp, who had 95.25”?

Before it was over, three new anglers would displace three others in the top five, as Adam Coleman, Collin Lamkin and Rus Snyder would join Rupp and Tracy in the top five. Despite a late charge, Coleman would finish second overall, adding a second place finish to a first place finish in his NOCQUA Angler of the Year points standings.

Rupp closed out the win, as his limit of 95.25” held on for victory.

“I decided to move and it ended up being in the right spot. I was fishing a bladed jig, a Z-Man Evo. I was fishing reeds; [the fish] were relating to reeds next to current. First thing off in the morning, I caught them on a Jacob Wheeler color spinnerbait, but I ended up breaking that off, so I put on the Evo. That’s what did it for me.”

Rupp won the Nocqua Powerboost bonus and Coleman won both the Omnia bonus as well as the Crosskix prize. In all, Rupp took home $7500.

As noted above, Coleman’s second place finish strengthened his position in the NOCQUA Angler of the Year race. His impressive outing at the Great Midwestivus will replace his fourth place finish at the South Boston Bass-A-Thon. However, Rus Snyders will also climb in the standings courtesy of his fourth place finish in Ohio.

As the Angler of the Year race tightens up heading into the final three events, will another Kastking Individual event champion move up to challenge Coleman in the coming events? South Boston Bass-A-Thon champion Alex Sterling and Ocalapalooza champ Darrell Harrelson are two obvious candidates, while  Elvis Lee, the second place finisher at that same event, cannot be ruled out – the next tournament is the Mississippi Bronzequest, and will be held on his home field. And of course, the River Rat Dylan Rupp also moves into contention with the win at Great Midwestivus.

Torqeedo Team Division

Led by Robert Weiker’s 81.75”, Team RCO posted a first-place bag of 154” on Friday, with Dustin Hoy anchoring a strong early start for their team. Several teams posted better than 100” on the day, including the Bronzeback Bozos. Current Smith Optics Team of the Year leaders team FISH-I posted 65.75”, placing them in 8th at the end of Friday’s sesh. With a KAS record 28 teams registered, Saturday set up to be as competitive as any team event in series history!

The Great Midwestivus would add some twists to the SMITH Optics Team of the Year [TMOY] race. It all began with a wild start to Saturday. The Bronzeback Bozos featuring Dylan Rupp and Travis Myers increased their total from 139.25” to 177.25” in the early going and had taken over the top spot by 8 a.m. In the meantime, several other tems came charging up the leaderboard. team Creek Crawlers posted 172.75”, team Millertech/KBF posted 168.25” and team RCO kept posting, holding fourth with 161.25”.

By mid-morning, those teams still constituted the top four, but they all had increased their limits. Bronzeback Bozos held first overall with 181.25”. And then something really wild occurred as team Dink Removal Services climbed into third place with 171.75” and team Snyders/Baker moved into sixth place with 164.25” just before noon.

When it was over, only 7.5” separated second place from ninth place, and places three through five were tied with 176” each. What are the odds of that?

Creek Crawlers finished second overall with 176.75”, while Dink Removal Services won the tie-breaker over team Snyders/Baker by virtue of a tie-breaker.  Ryan Parker was the 2024 Kayak Adventure Series Angler of the Year, and he and his Creek Crawlers teammate Bryan Slaton shared information to take second place and $1,000 each.

Led by Dylan “MidwestRiverRat” Rupp, the Bronzeback Bozos took the top spot, the big pay day and the first place Ketch trophy.

Rupp and his teammate Jason Myers won $1500 each. Rupp told the crowd that he made a gut call and went to a different location on Saturday, and as a result he and Myers culled fish and managed to take the win. Myers thanked Drew Gregory and Kayak Adventure Series “for bringing this event to Ohio.”

The Torqeedo Team Division at the Great Midwestivus will likely shake up the 2025 team of the Year race. Team Fish-I did not improve their place in the standings, finishing in nineteenth place overall. That was due in part to the fact that Jason Isaacs flipped his kayak and lost his phone, so that the team could not compete in full on Saturday. We are glad Jason is safe, and sure that Tim and Jason Isaacs will be back with a vengeance at the next event!

Millertech/KBF and Team RCO will both rise in the standings, while team Snyders/Baker, currently in fourth overall, will get a nice bump from their fourth-place finish. With three events remaining, there is still time for another team to make a big move, and the team of the Year race remains wide open even as it becomes more competitive.

Expect big changes when the new Smith Optics Team of the Year standings go up on the Kayak Adventure Series website!

Z-Man Micro Finesse “Micro-Bag” Tournament

On a weekend when no other angler could find a fish smaller than 9.75”, North Carolina’s Ronald Singletary won the Z-Man Micro-Bag Division at South Boston’s Bass-A-Thon with a single 7.5” bag.

Carrying on the tradition, Tennessee angler John Dalton won the Z-Man Micro-Bag Division at the Great Midwestivus by posting not just the only bass under 9.75”, but the only limit of bass under 9.75” each.  Averaging just over 7.25” per bass, Dalton’s limit of 35.75” won the top prize.

Dalton also won the Micro-Bag Division at Ocalapalooza in February, as well as the first ever Z-Man finesse event at 2024’s inaugural Shoaliepalooza.

With three micro-bag wins under his belt, Dalton has emerged as the top micro-bass angler in Kayak Adventure Series history.

Dalton told the crowd that he caught a lot of Rock Bass on Friday, and also lost a 6.25” that jumped off the board. “I probably caught fifty fish total, including crappie, and bluegill,” he said. He caught his bass on Bobby Garland lures, a Pradco Outdoors brand.

Be sure to check out John’s Youtube Channel at Creek Fishing Adventures!

Rus Snyders also won the micro-bass award and the micro-belt with a 6.5” bass. He landed it on a Ned Rig.

GoPro Big Bass Bling Award

Josh Nickell took home the top prize with a 21” Largemouth Bass, beating Ed Schemine’s big bass by three-quarters of an inch.

Nickell told the awards crowd that he “started throwing a bigger bait. I watched the fish come up from about twenty feet and come up and inhale my glide bait.”

Nickell also landed a 20.25” , fishing his homewaters on Alan Creek. For the win, Nickell won a GoPro camera, too.

Top High School Angler presented by Finman Fishing

The Finman High School Division produced another great turnout, with another great finish. Tristan Lee took third place with 53.50 inches. Second place went to Josiah Bihary, who landed 55.25”.

Minnesota angler Oliver Lee won first place with 85.25”. It was the second consecutive event in which Lee cashed a check. He told the crowd he caught the fish “near the weeds, on a bladed jig.”

Looking Ahead

The 2025 Kayak Adventure Series began with southern events in Florida and Texas, then fished its third stop with a mid-Atlantic swing in Virginia. Two midwestern states form the literal centerpieces of the early summer schedule, with Ohio’s Midwestivus in the bag and Minnesota on deck. After that, it’s on to the two Pennsylvania events to close the season.

But before the Keystone State, get ready for the Mississippi Bronzequest hosted by St. Cloud, Minnesota!

Raffle Kayak for Autism

Great Midwestivus anglers were able to raise nearly $1000 for Autism via the Bonafide Kayak RVR 119 raffle. Proceeds go to the Autism Anglers organization and help provide fishing gear for autistic children to get them involved in such a great past time. Thanks so much to all who contributed to the raffle!

Additional Info

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

Special Thanks to the Greater Springfield Partnership for hosting the Great Midwestivus.

To watch the awards ceremony, click here.

Click here to learn more about GoPro cameras.

Click here for complete Kastking Individual Event standings from the Great Midwestivus.

Click here for complete Torqeedo Team Event standings from the Great Midwestivus.

Click here for complete Micro Bag Event standings from the Great Midwestivus.

© 2025 Kayak Adventure Series. All Rights Reserved. First published June 16, 2025.