Top Baits: Broodstock III, Clarksville, Tennessee
By Marty Hughes
The Kayak Adventure Series held its final event of the season with plenty of opportunity for anglers to explore and search for both largemouth and smallmouth in their kayaks. The Clarksville, Tennessee area offers plenty of creek, river, or lake fishing with big fish roaming these waters. The following anglers "cracked the code" so to speak, with some very intriguing presentations! Let's see what they threw in this two day event.
Ron Himmelhaver of Tennessee took top honors in the Kayak Adventure Series Broodstock III in his home state. Using a 4” Crush City Mayor paddle tail on a 5/O Owner Flashy Swimmer, Himmelhaver put up an impressive 98.5 inches on his best five bass including a 22 inch monster which was the longest bass caught in the tournament. He paired his bait with a MeanMouth Custom 7’2” medium heavy rod combined with a Daiwa Tatula 6.3:1 reel spooled with 16 lb YoZuri T7 fluorocarbon line.
You can always count on Cole Lawrence from Illinois to be in the hunt for hardware when it comes to kayak fishing adventures! Finishing second in a top notch field of anglers, Lawrence threw a five inch ZMan “Swag” rigged with a top hook. He had this tied on to a Megabass Destroyer p5 Blade rod and a Shimano Metanium DC70 reel. Lawrence prefers the top hook when fishing for smallmouth for a few reasons. Lawrence mentioned, “They stay hooked better, it’s easier to remove the hook, and fishing around a lot of wood he didn’t get snagged up as much.
A great look at Lawrence’s ZMan “Swag” rigged with a top hook.
Holly Cittadino of Tennessee, is a kayak angler who competes under the name “TN Yak Girl.” Fishing from her Old Town AutoPilot 136, Cittadino finished in third place with an impressive 92.25 inches.
Cittadino started Day One strong with an 18” bass caught cranking in 6–8 feet of water. She added two more fish, including a 15.5” bass that she was never able to cull.
Exhausted heading into Day Two, Holly started shallow with a chatterbait before switching to a Texas rig as the day progressed. Most of her Day Two fish came on the Texas rig, ripping it through thick grass.
Here are Holly Cittadino’s baits and setups she used during the Kayak Adventure Series Broodstock III:
Rod and reel set ups
Vibrating Jig Setup
ROD: Waterloo 3.5 Mag 7’3” Medium, Extra Fast
REEl: Bates Salty Hundo 7.1:1 Gear Ratio
LINE: Sunline 14lb Fluorocarbon
BAIT: Brazalo Custom Lure Strutter 2.0 Bladed Jig (White)
Trailer: Z-man Chattershad (Pearl)
TACTIC: Ripping it through grass in shallow water
Medium Diving Crank
ROD: Googan Gold 6’9” Medium, Moderate
REEL: Shimano Curado DC 7.4:1 Gear Ratio
LINE: Sunline 14lb Fluorocarbon
BAIT: Berkley Money Badger 6.25
TACTIC: 6-8’ of water in sparse grass and grass edges
Texas Rig Worm
ROD: Hammer Rod 6’9” Heavy
REEL: Shimano Curado DC 7.4:1 Gear Ratio
LINE: Sunline 16lb Fluorocarbon
BAIT: Z-MAN FattyZ (California Craw)
HOOK: Gamakatsu 3/0 EWG
WEIGHT: 3/8 Tungsten un-pegged
TACTIC: Ripping through heavy grass in 6-8” of water
Josh Stewart of Tennessee who has an extensive history of top finishes in national events caught most of his fish on a green pumpkin ZMan Evo Tungsten with the same color Zako trailer. His longest bass came on a wacky rigged watermelon red Yamamoto Senko. He used a Fantasista 7'3” rod paired with Zenon reel and 20lb trilene fluorocarbon. His spinning rod was a 7' Fantasista with a Revo Rocket spinning reel spooled with 20lb Berkeley braid and a 12 lb Trilene leader.
John Dalton of Tennessee who is well known for his creek fishing adventures on YouTube (@Creekfishingadventures) and it was only fitting that he kayaked over 17 miles in a small creek for this tournament. And that was just one way! Dalton mentioned, “I had to fish fast and keep moving, dragging the Old Town 120 powered by the Epropulsion KLite 750 which helped me motor through some slack water at the end of the trip.” His plan was to fish fast, throwing the ZMan Swag and Bass Mafia Daingerous five inch swimbaits. He said, “Halfway through the day I switched to the six inch size swimbaits to try to get the bigger than 18 inch smallmouth and to stop catching so many 16-17 inch fish.” This plan worked well for Dalton as he landed a 19” and 18.5” smallmouth on the six inch bait. He said, “I broke off the biggest one of the day which was easily a 20 incher. That definitely hurt but I had an incredible day overall.”
Joe Cittadino of West Tennessee used two baits in his 6th place finish at Broodstock. He used a ⅜ oz Jackall Super Break Blade vibrating jig with a Kaesu ISANA fluke as a trailer, catching some early morning fish in a backwater area off the main lake. Once that bite died late morning, He moved to a grass flat in 3-4’ of water and ripped a Luckycraft LV500 Lipless crankbait through the grass which rounded out his limit of 90.25 inches. And on a side note: Could this be the first national top ten husband/wife finish in kayak fishing? Joe’s baits and setups are listed below:
Vibrating Jig setup:
Rod: Daiwa Steez 6’10” Medium Heavy, Regular
Reel: Daiwa Steez 8.1:1 Gear Ratio
Line: Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon 14lb.
Bait: Jackall Break Blade 3/8oz with a Kaesu ISANA trailer
Tactic: Targeted grass clumps and pad edges in a 1-1.5 foot of water where fish had pushed bait in this backwater area. Cittadino mentioned, “They wanted it moving as fast as I could reel it.”
Lipless Crank setup:
Rod Daiwa Steez 7’2” Heavy, Fast
Reel: Daiwa Tatula Elite P/F 7.1:1 Gear Ratio
Line Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon 16lb.
Bait: Luckycraft LV500
Tactic: Ripped/Burned the bait through grass in 3-4’ of water.
Josh Weist of Ohio finished in the Top 10 with a nice 90 inches on his best five bass. He fished
the Harpeth on day 2. He mentioned, "The fish were setting up in very particular water. It had to be really skinny, about 10-15 feet bank to bank with heavy current." Weist targeted seams and laydowns in these areas that were the ticket for his success. He caught a 20.75" on a white Whopper Plopper 90. Weist went on to say, "The topwater bite was key for the first few hours of the day. As the bite slowed I followed that up with a Bass Dope compact pill head jig “Willy Falcon” color I got from Dark Horse Tackle. I paired it with a big red craw trailer my buddy Toby Foster gave me in Wisconsin. Thanks Toby!!" He wanted something big that would get down quickly in the current and this was the key for Weist. He mentioned, "That was my one two punch for the day, was able to scrape up 90 inches" He threw the plopper on a 7’3” MH Lews LFS rod, Shimano SLX DC 8.2-1, with 30# braid. The Bass dope Jig was rigged on a 7’Shimano MH, Daiwa Tatula 100HSL 7.1-1, (Thanks Parker!) and 30# braid. Weist followed up by mentioning the KAS, "Great event! Looking forward to next year!"
Josiah Bihary of Ohio caught his big largemouth on Friday punching lily pads with a Crush City Bronco Bug in green pumpkin/blue on a 4/0 flipping hook with a pegged one 1 oz weight. He threw this bait on a Kastking Sparticus II 7’6” H casting rod paired with a 13 Fishing Inception G2 reel spooled with 50 lb braid. Bihary mentioned, “The largemouth bite was a grind. I mentally understood that I had to have more patience than anyone out there, adjusting my bait every few casts, wiping sweat away, and dealing with all the little things over and over again in that heat.” When he got a bite, Bihary said, “It would be fast and furious, and I needed to be focused and read to set the hook to land the fish.” His patience and punching skills paid off with three big fish on Day 1 that anchored his bag for the tournament and earning a Top 10 finish.
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