SW Kayak League Results
1st Place - Inman
Regulars in the Topwater SW Kayak League might start groaning when the little black Volkswagon Golf with the Old Town Sportsman 106 PDL kayak on top arrives at the ramp for a Sunday afternoon tournament. Having fished just three of the six kayak bass tournaments around Southwest Michigan, Inman, of Grand Rapids, has won all three of them.
Inman topped the 12-boat field at Diamond Lake on Sunday with 73.25 inches of largemouth caught on a Senko and a white Z-Man Chatterbait Custom with a Hog Farmer Spunk Shad trailer. He targeted patches of weeds on flats in Diamond’s super clear water. He received $180 for the win and $30 for the 16.75-inch fish that was Ketch Big Bass.
In second was Russell E. Wilson with 71.25 inches. Wilson, of Schoolcraft, also targeted weed clumps, catching fish with a M. Pierce Lures Stink-O and a 3.3-inch Keitech Swimbait. He won $80.
BassCrack Jigs’ Flash Underspin
Fishing his first SW Kayak League contest and taking third was Tim DeSmit of Twin Lake. The reigning Michigan Kayak Trail State Champion and Angler of the Year also found fish around isolated weed beds. He caught all of them on a BassCrack Jigs’ Flash Underspin and won $45.
Diamond was the sixth stop on the Topwater Series’ SW Kayak League’s fall schedule, with three more to go. Next up is Paradise Lake on Sunday, October 23, noon to 4 p.m. Entry fee is $35, with $5 of it going to an Angler of the Year pot, and the rest paid back at every tournament. The contests are open to anyone with a kayak, a cell phone and a Ketch measuring board.
The catch-photo-release format requires anglers to take a picture of their catch and submit it through the free Topwater Tracker app to the topwaterseries.com website. That site tallies the standings in real time.
For more information, check out the website and the Topwater Nation Facebook page.