SW Kayak League Report
Dave Mull - 1st Place
Pre-fishing didn’t go particularly well for Kalamazoo’s Dave Mull, preparing for Sunday afternoon’s Topwater SW Kayak League tournament on Fish Lake. From noon to 5 p.m. he only caught four small largemouths, each on a different lure.
Sunday October 30, he managed nine bites in four hours, all on a Z-Man Finesse ShadZ on a 1/10-ounce Tungsten Ned Head from Motley Fishing. The three “right” bites all came from a sharp turn in the breakline, where the depth plunged from 6 to 17 feet of water.
Z-Man Finesse ShadZ on a 1/10-ounce Tungsten Ned Head from Motley Fishing
“I didn’t have a bite for the first hour, throwing a wide variety of lures, but finally caught a couple small ones on the Finesse ShadZ in The Deal color,” Mull said. “Like Friday, they were on the top edge of the break. Two and a half hours in, I had four smallish fish, between 9 and 13 inches when I got to what basically was a corner on the break. It was in an area where an old timer on Friday told me he catches lots of bluegills. In 20 minutes, swimming the ShadZ, I had a 16, a 15.75 and a 15, which gave me 72 inches for the top five. Then I broke off my only ShadZ in The Deal and didn’t catch any more scoreables.”
But 72 inches was enough for the win. Close behind was John Hopson in second with 69.25 inches, followed by Hopson’s dad, Kevin, who had 61.75 inches.
Both Hopsons fished shallow flats, mostly within casting distance of shore. John caught his fish with a propeller-head swimbait jig and small boot-tail soft plastic. The elder Hopson caught his fish on a BassCrack Jigs rubber-skirted Ned Jig with a brown, home-made, flat-tail soft plastic worm.
Mull won $110; John Hopson won $58 and Kevin Hopson won a $10 gift card from Mainstream Tackle & Outdoors in Galesburg, plus $30 for big bass, a 16 incher.
One tournament remains on the SW Kayak League schedule, Sunday from noon to 4 on Gravel Lake. The tournament will decide who wins Angler of the year, which with 620 points, is Kevin Hopson’s to lose. Behind him is Steve Boekhout with 595 points and Mull with 575. Boekhout could win if he finishes four places ahead of Hopson.
The final tournament is open to anyone with $35, a Ketch measuring board, a cell phone and a kayak. Check out topwaterseries.com for more information.
Standings