SW Kayak League Report
Russell E. Wilson of Schoolcraft, Mich. outdistanced seven other contestants who fished the Topwater SW Kayak League event last weekend on Klinger Lake.
M. Pierce Custom Lures Stink CrawDealing with intermittent rain and strong winds, Wilson switched between a wacky-rigged, 5-inch Stink-O and a Gika-rigged 4-inch Stink Craw, both from Michigan-based M. Pierce Custom Lures. Wilson sorted through more than 20 bass and ultimately submitted 75.25 inches.
M. Pierce Custom Lures 5“I mainly used the Stink-O in green pumpkin with black flake under docks and on isolated weed patches in 5 to 6 feet of water,” Wilson said. Many of his keepers came from the Klinger Lake Marina and west end of the lake. He won $130 for first place and $30 for his 16-inch big bass.
In second with 66.25 inches was Steve Boekhout of Fremont, Ind. He said he started out strong, catching a limit in less than an hour after the noon start-time by burning and pausing a 6th Sense squarebill crankbait outside of sandy flats and next to weedlines. He upgraded a couple of fish alternating between a Lucky Craft Ghost Minnow jerkbait ad a wacky-rigged Zoom Zlinky soft plastic stickbait.
“I fished those over sharp drop-offs,” he said. He won $65.
Taking third and a $10 gift card from Mainstream Tackle & Outdoors in Galesburg was Dave Mull of Kalamazoo, who tallied 63.5 inches. Mull caught five keepers in 4 to 6 feet of water on a split-shot Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Finesse Worm in the Dirt color. He upgraded once near the end of the tournament with a Gika-rigged 2 1/2-inch tube.
The fourth stop for the SW Kayak League is Fisher Lake near Three Rivers, Sunday, Oct. 2. The tournaments are open to anyone with a kayak and a Ketch measuring board and cost $35 to enter, featuring 100% payback, with $5 of each entry going toward the top three Angler of the Year finishers, based on 7 of 9 tournaments.
Sign-up deadline for the tournaments is 10 a.m. the day of the contest. Tournaments run from noon to 4 p.m.
For more information, check out topwaterseries.com or the Topwater Series and Topwater Nation Facebook pages.