The South Boston Bass-A-Thon: An Epic Edition
- Hank Veggian
- 5 hours ago
- 23 min read
South Boston, Virginia sits on a bluff that overlooks the Dan River. From that same location, the town also looks over the upper Roanoke Watershed, one of the most diverse and productive fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic region.
It also may be one of the most overlooked fisheries. For perspective: the anglers who cashed checks at the South Boston Bass-A-Thon presented by GoPro landed their limits from six different bodies of water. After Bay Reservoir, the Dan River, Lake Mayo, the Staunton River, Lake Hyco and Briery Creek Reservoir each contributed at least one limit to the top eight spots.
And while there were no Crosskix Century Belts given out, six anglers crossed the 90” line and the leaderboard showcased both trophy Smallmouth Bass and Largemouth Bass. Anglers also caught a wild variety of species along the way, including Walleye, Pickerel, Striped Bass and some of the area’s famous giant Blue Catfish.
The South Boston Bass-A-Thon was also different in this way: I have covered every Kayak Adventure Series tournament since day one. I’ve heard the emotions in anglers’ voices, and told the tales of triumph and persistence. It’s been an honor.
But this time, instead of telling the story from the sidelines, I got to be a part of it, too.
I took a break from the national kayak trail fishing scene after the 2019 season. When I came back to it in 2023, I vowed that I would approach each event with fresh eyes. I would fish new water and welcome new friends. If I was going to wear myself out kayak fishing, I was going to learn something along the way.
Writing event recaps, angler profiles and press releases gave me an intimate view of the Kayak Adventure Series. And every time I spoke to an angler, I heard about how much they loved the format and the fellowship. In short, I couldn’t wait to fish an event. When I did, it was the South Boston Bass-A-Thon.
Originally, my team partner was set to be kayak fishing veteran Cory Dreyer, but when the plan fell through, I posted an ad on our CKA club page. To paraphrase, it said “Seeking teammate who is willing to learn, and also willing to teach.”
In the end, that teammate was Alex Sterling. The choice worked out beautifully. Alex and I had known each other for years but had not fished much together. By diving into the KAS experience with open eyes and open minds, we learned a lot by exploring an amazing fishery. In the end, Sterling won the Bass-A-Thon’s KastKing Individual Leaderboard and our "Jersey Strong" team earned a second place finish in the Torqeedo Team Division.
How did we do it? We focused on water we had never fished before, and especially water where tournaments had never even been held. We avoided history and dock talk and went into the Bass-A-Thon as if it were as far away as Minnesota (more about that state later…).
By approaching the Bass-A-Thon with fresh eyes and a sense of adventure, we learned from each other and we came to appreciate a fishery that is less than two hours from our homes.
This will be a different recap. I will take readers where anglers go – off the beaten track, into new water. I’ll follow a hunch. I will narrate the story of the South Boston Bass-A-Thon and I will also be a character in it. And I’ll tell it day by day, through a host of other characters I met along the way. It will have a river’s twists and turns, backwaters and eddies, and a whole lot of quotes.
I’ll do my best to immerse readers in the full tournament experience, from pre-fishing to photo ops and from local flavors to tackle shops.
That’s the beauty of KAS – every tournament really is an adventure.
April 18, 2025: Ramp Scouting
I first discovered South Boston, Virginia, about ten years ago. It happened at the front end of a longer trip through central Virginia. My phone stopped working and I was basically lost. Instead of throwing the phone into the Dan River, I stopped to have a look around. The early 20th century storefronts, the quaint factory town homes and the river views cooled me off. I had a cool drink and a warm snack. When I restarted my phone, it was working.
Occasionally, you just need to reboot.
I always promised myself I would go back to South Boston. So when I found out in late 2024 that the Kayak Adventure Series presented by GoPro, two goals were foremost in my mind. First, get to know the area. Second, don’t fish any water I had previously fished (mostly on Kerr Lake).
My teammate Alex Sterling joined me on Friday, April 18th, and we drove to South Boston. We stopped and walked along several areas of the Dan River as we headed downstream to Clarksville. We visited local tackle stores (there are several great ones) and we scouted ramps (more than I expected).
Alex and I have Jersey roots and when we popped into the first tackle shop, on the causeway leading into Clarksville, Va., I was talking to the clerk when Alex walked up to to make a purchase at the register. I asked him “Do you hear that accent?” Alex was puzzled. “There is no accent.” I turned and asked the man “Where are you from?” His name was Al and he replied “New Jersey.”
Fishing is a sensory experience. You use your eyes to see, your ears to hear, your hands to touch. If you fish for long enough, you’ll wish your nose had an “off” button.
We were listening to the place, and learning. We had a long chat with Al, sharing stories about our roots and our shared passion for fishing. We spoke with employees at Occoneechee State Park and drove down secondary roads to look at distant fingers of Kerr Lake/Buggs Island.
Alex picked the ramps and I drove. Strategy and tactics: he made the calls and I ran the plays. We saw kayaks everywhere. When we saw a fishing kayak, we stopped and put an event flyer on it. Why not? We were like kayak fishing missionaries, and we were on a mission.
April 23rd, 2025 Pre-Fishing Day One
And then we started fishing.
Alex fished Briery Creek and then checked out Nutbush on Kerr Lake. He told me his results at Briery were positive. “It’s a submerged forest of trees holding green monsters” he would later say. “Adam [Coleman] and Nate Hall would show that.”
From what I heard, I knew that Briery would not suit my style. Alex is strong with electronics, while I fish like a fly fisherman: I read the water and cast to what my eyes see. I rarely look down at my little old Lowrance unit. When the Bass-A-Thon weekend ended, our combined strengths and strong communication would make the difference.
We agreed that After Bay Reservoir would be next.
April 25th and April 28th, 2025 Pre-Fishing Days Two and Three
After Bay Reservoir - Neither one of us had ever fished it despite the fact that it is directly below Hyco Lake, where local trails sometimes hold tournaments. I originally assumed it was closed to the public. Boy was I wrong.
I arrive at the launch at noon. Some crappie fisherman are coming off the water. A bass fisherman in a jon boat tells me the brim bite is hot. Also, the power company is raising/fixing the dam so they lowered the lake level. The water barely touches the boat ramp.
A vegetation I don’t recognize is growing in the lake. I asked Dave Hart about it (Dave would place 8th overall, fishing next door at Hyco). “I don’t know what it is called. It’s tall and has a narrow stalk, and the fish love it.”
With the lake down, that mystery grass was growing along the banks and on flats and sandbars. On the hills and points that should be underwater (the lake must be down at least ten feet), there is more growth. In my mind, my first impression was “this won’t go well.”
To the contrary, I catch a fast limit - in broad daylight, and from clear, shallow water no less. And I land it all on topwater lures. The After Bay bass are aggressive and unafraid of sunlight. Go figure.
Alex follows up a few days later. He fishes a different area of the lake. He tells the same story. Also, the lake suits both of our styles. We agree that our plan will begin at After Bay: we will catch limits there in the Friday Afternoon Sesh, then switch to other water and try for big culls on Saturday.
April 30th, 2025: Pre-Fishing Day Four
Kayak Adventure Series allows anglers to pre-fish any four days within a two-week window. We scouted without fishing one day then each of us fished separately for two days. We shared information, discussed the “mood” of the lakes, and ruled out Kerr Lake. We would focus entirely on new water – and I still had one spot left to check.
We are working hard. We have scouted three new areas in the past week. And in three days of practice to date, Alex and I have each caught limits in the 70” to 75” range. That’s a good place to start, but those are not the kinds of limits that send you home with aKetch trophy.
While scouting ramps, Alex had noticed some small state-managed ramps along the Dan River tributaries. I determined that one ramp was worth a second look. I also determined that it would need a good clean up for the Omnia Tackle for Trash prize giveaway when the tournament began.
I headed downstream and turned into a cut. There was a bass boat there, to the right, so I went to the left. Within minutes, I landed a 16” bass. On to the next spot!
I found schooling bass, bass on structure, bass along rocks and bass in creek channels. They were on brush, too, and harassing brim beds. There were bass everywhere.
I saw the boater again. He was leaving a spot while I was heading in. He missed a few back there.
Now I had a decision to make: should I start at After Bay Reservoir, or fish the river? We talked it over: Alex would fish the Afternoon Sesh at After Bay and I would fish the river. Then on Friday we would reset.
After four days of travel around the lake, we had yet to see another Kayak Adventure Series angler pre-fishing in any of our areas. That meant one of two things: we were in the wrong spots or we were in the right spots.
May 1st, 2025 Check-In at the Factory Street Brewing Company
Feel Free Kayaks donated the boat for the Autism Anglers raffle, and a large contingent of the Feel Free team turned out for the event. It looked like all of them were there, actually. When I walked in, I saw nothing but Feel Free green and happy faces. I recognized a few of them, including John Rapp, Jerry Spradling and Rick Garavaglia. One was not yet there: Elvis Lee.
Remember when I mentioned the drive from Minnesota? Lee left when I was pre-fishing yesterday, and had just arrived in South Boston. He had his family with him and his son Oliver would be competing in the Finman High School Division. They were tired, had never fished the area, and were about to make quite an impression……
In the meantime, Director of Fun Drew Gregory has the microphone. He’s telling us to check out the “Yard Sale” table where anglers can sell gear at KAS events. Bill from NOCQUA is explaining their product line to some anglers (more about one of those products below) and Wade from YakAttack is handing out their new stickers.
After saying hello to the Feel Free team I head over to see more of my friends. Carolina Kayak Anglers [CKA] is the longest running kayak bass fishing club in North Carolina and about one dozen CKA anglers are present. We love to travel; win or lose, we always have a good time.
From what I gather, everyone has a plan. Some anglers will be at Briery Creek. Reigning Kayak Adventure Series Angler of the Year Ryan Parker will be on one of the rivers. A few guys even mention Buggs Island/Kerr Lake. I don’t hear much about After Bay……
As we leave the brewery, Ryan Parker tells me “We’ll just fish, and we will finish where we finish.” In the lot, CKA angler Drew Blair tells me “I feel like I can get bigger bites at Hyco. There’s more variety, with rip rap, docks, lay downs and steep bank lines. I’ll probably weed through a bunch of 14” bass, too.”
In the lot, Paris Reelfest champion Adam Coleman says “I brought everything except for what I needed.”
Translation: everyone is ready to start fishing…
May 2nd, 2025: Bass U Brunch and Afternoon Sesh
No more work meetings or spreadsheets, no e-mails, no concrete to cut, no holes to drill and no work phones blowing up with calls. It’s tournament day: good times, open water and big bites.
I was rested and ready for my first ever Kayak Adventure Series weekend in South Boston, Virginia.
Maybe too rested, because I arrived late to the Bass U Brunch. I missed Drew Gregory’s seminar on developing a tournament day strategy and I walked in as Jake Heppner finished his discussion of using GoPro cameras to film fishing trips.
Jake told me afterwards: “We discussed how to optimize recording with GoPro cameras. It included tips to avoid over-heating, bad resolution, etc. We also discussed the advantages of using different types of camera mounts. There were some great questions about differences between 1080 to 4k resolution, and different editing techniques, too.”
Tyler Bean added “We talked about drones, too. The big thing to know is to follow FAA regulations that distinguish between hobbyists and professional drone operators.”
I turned around and saw Lance Coley, who was in town from Alabama. I asked if he would be fishing with his long-time teammate Tim Perkins, who is the other half of the "O.G. river Champs" team. Sadly, Tim could not make it. And then Lance said something that summed up the free-wheeling spirit of the Kayak Adventure Series: “Drew Gregory hooked me up with an angler and we made a team.”
That’s what I love to hear: fishing with strangers on strange water, and just having fun.
I check in with Bill Rigler who runs Sales and Marketing for Nocqua Adventure Gear. I have been using their batteries since 2016, and I love the Nocqua Powerbank, too. He has something to show me, and places a backpack on the table.
“This is ‘The Traveler.’ It six-in-one configuration. For example, it’s a regular backpack with extra back padding, but it converts to a duffel bag, like this. In another configuration, it’s also a break-out bag, and here you can carry drinks and snacks in the insulated pockets.” he walks me through the bag, which is like a Swiss Army knife for travelers. “It’s a limited edition – we only made one thousand of them,” he concludes.
I watch the company’s video later that day. It even has a waterproof bag and an attachment for the Nocqua Powerbank….
I decide I want some time alone before I head to the ramp. I buy a ginger ale and hang out on the couch, enjoying the view from the Factory Street windows. I remember what Emily from Downtown South Boston told me earlier in the morning: “The owners of the [Factory Street] brewing company are Jeff and Lisa. They re-invested in the community, and y’all fit in so well that we are all so happy to have you kayak anglers here to see what we are about.”
The air is cool, the couch is cozy and you can feel the history in the building. All across America, we are reinventing old waterfront towns, and all across America you see kayakers in those places. Kayak Adventure Series has lived up to its promise of introducing anglers to overlooked fisheries and towns. And the towns love to have us.
In fact, I heard it from the Duchess of South Boston herself.
Jean is a retired instructor of elocution. She worked on Broadway, so Emily tells me, and she runs the town - unofficially. I met Jean as I parked the previous night. She came walking through the lot and in a perfect Eliza Doolittle voice, she asked me “For what reason might all of these kayaks have come to town?”
Intrigued, I stopped to chat. “We are having a tournament.” She glanced at me approvingly, turned to the river and said “Welcome to South Boston.”
The memory and the present moment blur together in the room. Doors close, chairs move. Or is that a fish? I’m nodding off. A nap won’t hurt – unless I miss launch time….
I pop off the couch. What time is it? The calm before the storm concludes.
Over the next few hours, a literal storm will run me off the river, Tyler Bean will take the day one lead on the Realtree Fishing Realtime leaderboard on TourneyX with 90.50 inches in the 4 hours on Friday. After Bay would also deliver on the potential we suspected, but not for me. Alex Sterling will figure out a unique bite there on his way to jumping Tyler and a few others for a hard-fought win by Saturday's "lines out" time.
But for me, first, I have a ramp to clean up.
I park and retrieve my AFTCO trash bag. It’s time to work for the Omnia Tackle for Trash prize. I pick up pizza boxes, napkins and bottles. I pick up a broken fork, a straw and some aluminum foil. A used plastic worm goes in the bag, too, along with a rusted old bolt. Ironically, I find a new dustpan near the ramp. Who brings a dustpan to go fishing, then leaves it behind as trash?
I launch at 2:30 and proceed to my spot. My plan: start at the furthest point and work my way back.
The bite has changed. I lose a good fish early. The bass I catch are smaller overall. I have three small keepers and start heading back upstream. A laydown has my attention. When my Rebel Pop-R comes past it, a 17.25” performs a wrestling move on it. Launching itself from the top rope, it comes down on the bait from the sky. It jumps and somersaults, then tail walks. So much for a changed bite.
When I finished pre-fishing two days before the Afternoon Sesh, a van came in hot along the gravel road. Its windows were down and its hackles were up. My first thought was “This guy is in a hurry to rob me.”
‘You goin’ or comin’?” asks the man from his work truck.
“Goin’” I replied. There’s a pause. he knows I'm a stranger, but he can’t figure out the distance.
“What was it you caught?”
“Some bass. Wasn’t much.”
“Well, dang,” he says. “We got into them Spots down the other end. They were goin’ crazy. They’s mean when you catch ‘em, and mean when you put ‘em back!”
I had a good laugh. The old man was right. The fish I just landed must have been one of his. But I need to get off the water now because I hear thunder.
I lose thirty minutes to a passing storm but my hide is intact. I land a 16” keeper on the way back to the ramp, load out and drive to our campground.
That’s when Alex Sterling tells me he had a strong Afternoon Sesh at After Bay Reservoir. We enjoy a campfire meal prepared by angler Josh McKinney and make a plan: we will fish After Bay together in the morning. If the bite dies, I will go back to the river.
Alex would later tell me: “After Bay has an abundance of big willing fish, if you make adjustments.” Adjustments. What an understatement. And I think someone just got a new nickname.
I take a look at the standings on the KastKing Individual Division. Shortly after lines out, Tyler bean holds first place with 90.50”. He is followed by Arlie Minton, Troy Wines, Brian Falbe and Garriett Chavis.
Saturday, May 3
Sleeping on the ground gets harder as you get older. I left my good tent pad at home, so it was a long night. Somehow, I woke up refreshed. Alex, who had been next door in his tent, was loaded up and ready. Our neighbor Josh followed along.
A golden sunrise lit After Bay like postcard. I felt like I was in an old Western movie, all dry brush and geology. I half expected a cowboy to pass along the bank, driving cattle through a desert canyon, like the “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”
When I start casting, the bass start biting. I think I caught fifty bass over the course of the next three hours. When it was over, I had culled most of my small fish from the Afternoon Sesh. When I checked the leaderboard, we were tied for first in the Torqeedo Team Division. The other team consisted of my CKA co-directors, Brian Falbe and Eric Nelson.
After two and a half hours of fishing, Tyler Bean still holds the overall lead. But now Rick Garavaglia, Adam Coleman are moving up the leaderboard, followed by Alex Sterling and Dave Hart. The bite is changing.
And not in a good way, at least not for me. The wind picks up and my bite vanishes. So I make an intuitive decision: return to the river. I load up. In the meantime, Alex is making his adjustments. And he starts posting big culls while I am driving down the highway.
When I re-launch, Team Bait & Switch, composed of Adam Coleman and Nate Hall, has blown past us. They have a 6” lead.
Nonetheless, we keep fishing. You have to grind out the final hours. With the leaderboard down, I add a small cull and Alex adds a few bigger ones. Maybe we have a chance to catch them. And then... the chance presented itself to me.
It happens to every angler at some point. You hook into a giant bass at a critical moment in the day. If you land that fish, you might walk away the champ – or in this case, champs.
Director of Fun Drew Gregory had called me to say he would fly his drone and record me fishing the river.
I went into a cut and ran my Pop-R around some flooded brush. There was a swirl, but the fish missed. I paused. I twitched. Another swirl, and I set the hook. This was the cull we needed. I had a 15.75” bass to replace and this was at least a 22” bass. 6 plus inches would go a long way.
The video footage is beautiful. It’s also tragic. The fish surges in the shallow water. I see its back heave. It starts swimming – I can’t turn the fish because it’s too heavy. Moments later, the lure is in the air. I fall back in my seat. The drone flies away.
It hurt, and that’s the life of a tournament angler; but if the hitter takes you out of the park, you have to throw a strike with the next pitch.
I fish until lines out, landing a few more small bass. After loading out, I headed to the Prizery in Downtown South Boston for the closing ceremony and the awards. I was tired, I smelled bad and I felt good. I knew I had left it all on the water, as every other angler had.
Closing Ceremony Festival and Awards
Every plot has its twists and turns. The best ones are those that leave the impression that there was never any doubt they would happen but also surprise you in the same instant.
Alex and I enjoyed some delicious smash burgers and chatted on the lawn across from the Prizery. Ron Singletary, a fellow CKA angler, joined us. Days before, he had posted on my Facebook fishing profile: “I just want to catch a limit at the tournament.”
It turns out that he caught a limit, and then some. But it wasn’t his longest fish that mattered most in the end. As the next two hours unfolded, from the food through the awards, the amazing stories just kept coming.
First, a close call and a story of heroism by a first responder. North Carolina angler Jeremy Hicks set out to fish Kerr Lake for the Bass-A-Thon, but didn’t make it far before his kayak was flipped by a combination of waves and passing boats. He was wearing his pfd when he hit the water, and it saved his life. A passing Sheriff’s Deputy stopped his car when he noticed Jeremy struggling near the end of a swim that started five hundred yards from shore. The deputy helped him reach shore. While reading his post on Facebook we were all reminded of how Jeremy recently came to help when Alex Sterling spilled at a tournament in North Carolina.
This all happened in the foyer of the Prizery as we sat around a restored tobacco press. Anglers in the hallway discussed their tournaments. I stepped outside for a breath of air. Jeremy’s story shook me. Talking with local hammer Troy Wines in the lot, he told me that he caught Walleye all day. I started to think “If Troy didn’t bring in a big limit, me and Alex might have a chance at a check in the team division. But I sure would like to catch some Walleye soon.”
Back inside. Staff, with Emily in charge, were setting up for the guests. We all had fresh drinks in hand as soon as the concessions opened.
Drew announced the doors would open in a few minutes. I had melted down the wall into an exhausted puddle on the floor. I slowly gathered myself. These are the times when the week hits you like a bass blowing up on a bait.
Ronald Singletary was nearby. We filed into the beautifully restored theater and warmed our seats. I don’t know why, but there was a light around him. He looked happy, too. He was about to get happier.
Drew Gregory thanked the Kayak Adventure Series sponsors and the town of South Boston, and we all applauded. First up, the Z-Man Micro-bag division.
Micro-Bag Division Presented by Z-MAN Micro Finesse baits - (Full Micro Standings)
No limits were caught. Multiple anglers only scored one fish. The shortest would win. And that fish was a 7.5” bass submitted by Mr. Ronald Singletary. The guy who was worried about catching a limit cashed a check with his smallest bass. If that’s not a plot twist, my name is Charles Dickens.
The Finman High School Division kept the plot moving.
Finman High School Division
Wally Baker took second place with 49”. He told the story of his biggest bass, an 18.75”:
“The first day, I was getting mad because I couldn’t catch fish. I throw spinnerbaits when I get mad, so I threw it really deep, and it got heavy and I got it [the big bass].”
As if Wally’s “fishing angry” story wasn’t good enough, Oliver Lee won the division with 64” that included another giant bass.
Oliver veered off away from his dad Elvis (more on his day later) and then a few minutes later called over to his dad to let him know he caught one. Well, it wasn't just "any" bass, it tied for the GoPro Big Bass of the event and helped earn him the win in the High School & Youth Division. To see two father and son duos bond at an event like this, and do so well, really shows what the Kayak Adventure Series is all about.
South Carolina angler Jake Suvak tied that fish and earned the GoPro Big Bass with a 22” tank of a greenback. Like me, Jake was followed by the KAS drone. And like me, Jake made a few bad casts before his big bite.
“I got hung up on back to back casts. The drone flew away, and on the next cast I hooked it [the 22” bass] while I was yo-yoing a chatterbait through the stumps.”
Unlike me, Jake brought his big bite to the net. And with that fish he tied for Big bass with the young man whose father drove the family from Minnesota to Southern Virginia. Oliver and his dad Elvis had not even pre-fished the Dan River. As dad told the crowd, he chose it because it looked like places they fish back home. As Oliver described it:
“It was a creek opening, and I think there was a bed there. I caught it [the bass] on a bladed jig.”
Oliver hoisted the trophy and he left the stage with his proud dad. But there was another plot twist waiting in the wings, and it would include Mr. Elvis Lee.
Torqeedo Team Division (Full TourneyX Leaderboard)
Eric Nelson and Brian Falbe had fished Lake Mayo, and their “CKA Directors Cut” team took home third place with 168.5”. They politely booed me when Alex and I went onstage to claim second place with 176.75”. I’ll remember that, guys.
Nate Hall and Adam Coleman of Team Bait and Switch won first place. Each angler landed 93.75”, for a total of 187.5”. Maybe that big bass I missed would not have helped much after all. It would have had to have been a 27” Largemouth Bass to have delivered us the win. In my mind, it was that big.
Again, to note the strength of the local watersheds: the fish caught by the top three teams came from four different bodies of water and what makes the KAS format and strategy so appealing.
KastKing Individual Division (Full TourneyX Leaderboard)
As I noted this article started many years ago, six different parts of the upper Roanoke watershed contributed to the top eight limits in the KastKing Individual Division. The first was Lake Hyco, which was fished by North Carolina’s Dave Hart. Hart landed 88.75” there that included a 21.50 that he caught from a bed while using a Z-Man Evo Tungsten chatterbait.
Next up was another North Carolina angler, Garriett Chavis. He fished Lake Mayo, as did Will Lambert, who finished with 90.5”. Next up, in fifth and fourth place, respectively, were Nate Hall and Adam Coleman. Coleman won the tie breaker with a 21.75” bass – it beat Hall’s longest by one quarter of an inch. Hall won the Day 2 Dark Horse prize presented by Dark Horse Tackle for being the angler who makes the biggest jump from day one to day two.
The Day One leader was Georgia angler Tyler Bean, who finished third overall with 94.25”, landing his personal best Smallmouth along the way. It was 20.75”. He fished the Staunton River.
Hyco, Briery Creek, Mayo and the Staunton. Next up were After Bay Reservoir and the Dan River.
Elvis Lee returned to the stage while Alex Sterling sat in the Kayak Kushion hot seat. Lee explained how he and his son had fished the river, alternating between slack water and faster current, catching Largemouth Bass from the former and Smallmouth Bass from the latter. Having never fished the Dan River, Lee posted a limit of 94.75” that included both bass species.
Sterling, who fished at After Bay, won with a total of 95.5”. It happened on the day that Jeremy, the angler who helped save Alex’s boat two months earlier, was himself saved by a Sheriff’s Deputy.
It also happened at the end of a long two weeks over which me and Alex had discussed various strategies, made plans and went fishing. The previous night, when I told Alex I thought we had a chance at a check, he said “The money isn’t important.” He repeated the statement onstage when Drew Gregory announced him as the winner of the South Boston Bass-A-Thon and $4000 (+ $500 for team & products via the bonuses) richer.
He's right. The process was more important. It was our communication and camaraderie. It was our driving and preparation, the planning and daydreaming, the strategy and tactics.
Sterling’s adjustment was simple: when the bass stopped chasing surface baits, he started fishing a swim jig.
He told the crowd at the Prizery:
“I made the right adjustments at the right time. When the wind came in heavy, I switched over to a little underspin swim jig and taking them out on saddles.”
Gregory had given a seminar at the Bass U Brunch on Friday morning about "Tournament Strategy." He would later comment about Sterling's win and strategy saying, "After Bay may not 'normally' compete against some of the other strong fisheries in the area, but After Bay drawn down 10ft, allowing less water for the bass to hide, plus making it look not as scenic which deterred other anglers leaving it all to Alex...well, that right there is a well thought out tournament strategy and exactly the kind of thought process I tried my best to communicate at the brunch."
The top finishers won additional prizes. Alex took home the Omnia PRO Contingency, while Elvis Lee had won the Nocqua Power Bonus, including the “Traveler Backpack” that Bill Rigler had walked me through the previous day. Adam Coleman won the Crosskix bonus and, as mentioned earlier, Nate Hall won the Day 2 Dark Horse award. Tyler Bean earned the NuCanoe bonus ($500 gift card) for the top placing NuCanoe owner. Oh yes, and I won the Tackle for Trash award for cleaning up my ramp. Like I said – we put in the work. KAS also awarded Zach Assad a winner In the Tackle for Trash category. He earned an Aftco Gift Card as well as Omnia cash filling an entire truck bed full of trash!
Finally, it was time for one last plot twist.
The Autism Anglers raffle. The kayak, provided by Feel Free, was in the lobby. One hundred and eighty tickets had been sold. I won’t summarize the moving speech we heard from Steve Baker, an angler who has a son with autism, and what the charity means to him. You can watch it on the video in the link below.
I will say however that the random number generator pulled the number one hundred and eighty, the final ticket sold. The winning ticket was bought by Emily from Downtown South Boston organization, with whom I had talked the previous day at the Bass U Brunch, and who had worked so hard to get the concessions up and running so we all had fresh drinks.
When she told the crowd that she has an autistic child, the last of our energy exploded in one big cheer. It was the perfect finish to a perfect event.
p.s. If you’ve read this far, I am grateful. It was a long weekend and it deserved a long recap. There were amazing people from all over the country, unforgettable catches and memories that will stay with us for years.
Kayak Adventure Series is doing something special by bringing kayak fishing events to historic towns and venues. We are being reminded that our fisheries are plentiful and worthy of attention and protection. We are celebrating our sport and bringing it to new audiences.
And best of all, our fishing kayaks are taking us on a new adventure at every event.
Looking Ahead
Next up, the Kayak Adventure Series will hold The Great Midwestivus in Springfield, Ohio on June 13-14!
Additional Info
For more information about the Kayak Adventure Series presented by Go Pro, visit: https://www.kayakadventureseries.com/
To watch the awards ceremony, click here.
Click here to learn more about Go Pro cameras.
© 2025 Kayak Adventure Series. All Rights Reserved. First published May 6, 2025.
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