Author: Jason Young

Place	AOY Pts	Name	Fish 1	Fish 2	Fish 3	River Monster	Total Bass
1	100	Ivan France	14.25	14.5	17		45.75
2	99	Dwight Martin	15.5	15.25	14.25	19.25 Catfish	45
3	98	Mike Densel	15.75	15.25	13.25	21.5 Walleye	44.25
4	97	Aidan Darlington	13	13.75	15	16 Drum	41.75
5	96	Justin Long	14.25	13.5	13.5		41.25
6	95	Nick Matthews	10.75	13.75	14		38.5
7	94	John Howard	12.5	14	11.5		38
8	93	Kyle Hammond	11.25	12	11	28.5 Pike	34.25
9	92	Nathan Pickering	8.5	14.75	9.25		32.5
10	91	Matt Gibson	14.75	14.5		18.75 Drum	29.25
11	90	Tommy Ginder	13	11.25			24.25
12	89	Jason Young	9.5	13.5			23
13	88	Tyler Bailey	8.75	13			21.75
14	87	Steven Bailey	9.25	12.25			21.5
15	86	Chris Cook	15.5				15.5
16	85	Jon Stoops	15			18.5 Drum	15
17	84	Nick Swan	14.25				14.25
18	83	Joe Armstrong	14			19 Drum	14
19	82	Brandon Smith	12.5				12.5
20	81	Jeremiah Thompson	10.25				10.25
21	80	James Olekszyk	7.25			16.75 Drum	7.25
22		Mike Matthews				24.5 Flathead	0
23		Andrew Piesyk Jr				23.5 Pike	0

Overall (Combined best 3):

Place	AOY Pts	Name	Fish 1	Fish 2	Fish 3	Total
1	100	Joe Gentry	19.5	19	18	56.5
2	99	Tyler Bailey	17	17	18.25	52.25
3	98	Tyler Perdue	18.25	16	17	51.25
4	97	Tommy Ginder	17	16.5	16.75	50.25
5	96	Steven Bailey	15.75	15.75	18.5	50
6	95	Michael Lehmann	17.5	16	16.5	50
7	94	Justin Long	16.75	16.25	16	49
8	93	Aidan Darlington	15	17.25	16.5	48.75
9	92	Patrick Sheehan	12.75	20.5	13.75	47
10	91	Brent Blackwell	15.75	15.5	15.25	46.5
11	90	Shane Schmidt	16.5	15.25	14.5	46.25
12	89	Josh Chrenko	16.75	14.5	14.25	45.5
13	88	Connor Clark	15.75	15.75	14	45.5
14	87	Matthew Phillips	13.5	16.25	14.5	44.25
15	86	Alan Reed	16.5	14.25	13.25	44
16	85	Christian Vaughan	15.25	14.25	14.5	44
17	84	Matt Gibson	13.25	13.5	15	41.75
18	83	Veronica Reed	14.75	13.5	12.75	41
19	82	Brandon Waite	15.5	13	12.25	40.75
20	81	Scott Noel	12.25	13.5	14.5	40.25
21	80	Pat Taylor	12.75	15.75	10.75	39.25
22	79	Nathan Pickering	11.5	11.25	16.25	39
23	78	Joames Donlan	11	14	14	39
24	77	Aaron Wilson	13	14	12	39
25	76	Kyle Hammond	13.5	11.5	13	38
26	75	Shawn Mickelson	15.5	11.75	10.25	37.5
27	74	Dwight Martin	9.75	8.5	19	37.25
28	73	Andrew Piesyk	12.75	14.5	9.75	37
29	72	Nick Wagner	12	14	11	37
30	71	Jason Young	11.75	12	12.25	36
31	70	Kyle Polk	11.75	11.75	12	35.5
32	69	Nick Toby	15.25	15.25	0	30.5
33	68	Brenen Mosley	13.75	14.75	0	28.5
34	67	Nick Matthews	9.25	17.25	0	26.5
35	66	Jack Harford	15.25	10.25	0	25.5
36	65	Greg Alfrey	13.5	10.25	0	23.75
37	64	David Oliver	16.5	0	0	16.5
38	63	Brian Crossen	15	0	0	15
39	62	Tom Silvey	13.5	0	0	13.5
40	61	Kim Lange	13.25	0	0	13.25
41	60	Chris Cook	12.5	0	0	12.5
42	59	Rich Allen	12	0	0	12
43	58	Michael Matthews	11	0	0	11

Smallmouth Division:

Place	Name	Fish 1	Fish 2	Fish 3	Total
1	Tyler Perdue	18.25	16	17	51.25
2	Patrick Sheehan	12.75	20.5	13.75	47
3	Brent Blackwell	15.75	15.5	15.25	46.5
4	Josh Chrenko	16.75	14.5	14.25	45.5
5	Connor Clark	15.75	15.75	14	45.5
6	Aidan Darlington	10.25	17.25	16.5	44
7	Christian Vaughan	15.25	14.25	14.5	44
8	Pat Taylor	12.75	15.75	10.75	39.25
9	Nathan Pickering	11.5	11.25	16.25	39
10	Aaron Wilson	13	14	12	39
11	Kyle Hammond	13.5	11.5	13	38
12	Kyle Polk	11.75	11.75	12	35.5
13	Nick Matthews	9.25	17.25	0	26.5
14	Jack Harford	15.25	10.25	0	25.5
15	Shawn Mickelson	10.25	11.75	0	22
16	Tom Silvey	13.5	0	0	13.5
17	Michael Matthews	11	0	0	11

Largemouth Division:

Place	Name	Fish 1	Fish 2	Fish 3	Total
1	Joe Gentry	19.5	19	18	56.5
2	Tyler Bailey	17	17	18.25	52.25
3	Tommy Ginder	17	16.5	16.75	50.25
4	Steven Bailey	15.75	15.75	18.5	50
5	Michael Lehmann	17.5	16	16.5	50
6	Justin Long	16.75	16.25	16	49
7	Shane Schmidt	16.5	15.25	14.5	46.25
8	Matthew Phillips	13.5	16.25	14.5	44.25
9	Alan Reed	16.5	14.25	13.25	44
10	Matt Gibson	13.25	13.5	15	41.75
11	Veronica Reed	14.75	13.5	12.75	41
12	Brandon Waite	15.5	13	12.25	40.75
13	Scott Noel	12.25	13.5	14.5	40.25
14	Joames Donlan	11	14	14	39
15	Dwight Martin	9.75	8.5	19	37.25
16	Andrew Piesyk	12.75	14.5	9.75	37
17	Nick Wagner	12	14	11	37
18	Jason Young	11.75	12	12.25	36
19	Nick Toby	15.25	15.25	0	30.5
20	Brenen Mosley	13.75	14.75	0	28.5
21	Aidan Darlington	15	13	0	28
22	Shawn Mickelson	15.5	9.25	0	24.75
23	Greg Alfrey	13.5	10.25	0	23.75
24	David Oliver	16.5	0	0	16.5
25	Brian Crossen	15	0	0	15
26	Kim Lange	13.25	0	0	13.25
27	Chris Cook	12.5	0	0	12.5
28	Rich Allen	12	0	0	12

If there was any doubt about the growing popularity of kayak fishing in Indiana, the turnout for the opener of the Indiana Kayak Anglers tournament season certainly laid those doubts to rest.  On Saturday, April 23rd, 60 anglers showed up at Geist Lake Marina to take on each other and the lake in search of their 3 biggest bass.

Geist Lake is well-known for producing big bags at weigh-ins, so the excitement was high for big lengths at check-in for this event.  The fish didn’t exactly cooperate, but some impressive fish were caught.  26 anglers had 3 fish limits and a total of 111 fish were checked in at the end of the day.  The tournament paid out $1,665 in prize money and added $120 to the Angler of the Year prize pot.  

Jack McLaren of Centennial, Colorado bested the entire field with a total length of 48” (15.75”, 16.5”, 15.75”). Jack caught most of his fish swimming a jig with rattle and Paca Chunk targeting large rock and brush shallow where some form of overhead cover existed.  For his success, Jack took home $552 cash plus an awesome prize package provided by Wildcat Creek Outfitters of Zionsville, which included a new Temple Fork Outfitters rod, a Jackson Kayak tackle box, an assortment of tackle, and a $100 gift certificate.  He also took home a beautiful custom trophy made by Gentry’s Wildlife Studio.

Nathan Pickering of Noblesville followed in 2nd place with a total length of 46.5” (16”, 15.5”, 15”).  Nathan spent a few hours of his day trying to locate fish on the main lake with no success, but finally started catching fish once he moved into the coves and started sight-fishing with soft plastics.  Nathan’s 2nd place finish netted him $345 cash plus a Wildcat Creek Outfitters prize package consisting of a new Temple Fork Outfitters rod, a Jackson Kayak tackle box, an assortment of tackle, and a $50 gift certificate.  Nathan also took home a $50 gift certificate to Sun Valley Sports for being the highest finisher in a Hobie kayak.

Matt Gibson of Carmel finished in 3rd place despite also having a total length of 46.5” (15.75”, 15.5”, 15.25”).  The tie was broken by comparing the biggest fish of each of the tying anglers.  Matt targeted areas where the lily pads were just starting to break the surface using crankbaits and swim jigs.  He stated that the swim jigs were more productive.  Matt took home $276 plus a Wildcat Creek Outfitters prize pack consisting of a Jackson Kayak tackle box, an assortment of tackle, and a $25 gift certificate.

In 4th place was Justin Long of Frankfort with 46” (16”, 15.75”, 14.25”).  Justin’s success came from Senkos and tubes caught around 2 docks at the entrance of a cove with spawning bass and baitfish.  Justin took home $138 cash for his efforts.

Wrapping up the top 5 prize-winning places was Dwight Martin of New Castle.  Dwight’s total of 46” (15.5”, 15.5”, 15”) came in a late day flurry of feeding using a spinnerbait over the tops of weed growth.  Dwight left Geist Marina with $69 in winnings.

A 20” beast was caught by Joe Armstrong of Fort Wayne to take big bass honors and $285 cash.  Joe’s fish bested the next biggest bass in the event by nearly 3”.  Joe stated that the fish slammed a BBZ1 6″ Perch colored swimbait right at the boat late in the day.

In addition to the prizes awarded to our winners, many great sponsors provided some prizes that were raffled off at the end of the event.  Manley Rods donated a new Gold Series rod, YakAttack donated several lengths of GearTrac and a couple of RotoGrip paddle holder, Sun Valley Sports donated 2 gift certificates, Backwater Paddle Company donated an Assault hand paddle, and Chumdaddy Baits provided a bag of hand-poured plastic baits to each of the participants.

For full results of the event and more information about kayak fishing in Indiana, visit indianakayakanglers.com.

Place	Name	Fish 1	Fish 2	Fish 3	Total	AOY Points
1	Jack McLaren	15.75	16.5	15.75	48	100
2	Nathan Pickering	16	15.5	15	46.5	99
3	Matt Gibson	15.75	15.5	15.25	46.5	98
4	Justin Long	16	15.75	14.25	46	97
5	Dwight Martin	15.5	15.5	15	46	96
6	Mike Miller	14	16	15.75	45.75	95
7	Jason Young	17.25	14.5	13	44.75	94
8	Brandon Waite	14.25	14.5	15.5	44.25	93
9	Aidan Darlington	15	14.75	14.5	44.25	92
10	Andrew Piesyk Jr	14.75	14.75	14.75	44.25	91
11	Ian Schuh	15.25	14.25	14.5	44	90
12	Kyle Walden	15.5	12.75	15.25	43.5	89
13	Nick Matthews	14.25	14.5	14.75	43.5	88
14	Connor Clark	14	15	13.5	42.5	87
15	Anthony Burris	14.5	14	14	42.5	86
16	Chris Cook	13.75	15	13.5	42.25	85
17	Josh Brink	14.5	14.5	12.25	41.25	84
18	Tommy Ginder	14.5	13.25	13.25	41	83
19	Joe Gentry	14	13	12.5	39.5	82
20	Brian Crossen	14	12.75	12	38.75	81
21	Jim Donlan	14.5	14.5	8.5	37.5	80
22	Shane Schmidt	11.25	11.5	13.5	36.25	79
23	Brendan Mosley	10	11.5	14	35.5	78
24	Joe Armstrong	13.5	20		33.5	77
25	Todd Voreis	8.25	10.75	13.25	32.25	76
26	Zach Livengood	10.25	9.25	12	31.5	75
27	Jeremiah Thompson	12.25	9.75	8.75	30.75	74
28	Michael Sturgill	13	15.25		28.25	73
29	Joel Walter	14.75	13.25		28	72
30	Tyler Perdue	14	14		28	71
31	Brett Meyer	11.5	15.75		27.25	70
32	Christiaan Kratz	13	13		26	69
33	Larry Sawyer	10.5	14.75		25.25	68
34	Mike Densel	9.5	14		23.5	67
35	Dustin Foster	9.5	12.5		22	66
36	Paul Van Hyfte	7.75	14		21.75	65
37	Alex Smallman	16			16	64
38	Mike Matthews	14.75			14.75	63
39	Brent Blackwell	14.5			14.5	62
40	Scott Noel	12.25			12.25	61
41	Joe Wulitich	12			12	60
41	Sean Hayes	12			12	60
41	Bryce Patty	12			12	60
44	Matthew Phillips	11.75			11.75	57
45	Andrew Piesyk Sr	10.5			10.5	56
46	Tyler Bailey	10.25			10.25	55
47	Chuck Jones	10			10	54
48	Michelle Junkman	9.25			9.25	53
49	Cody Wetli	8			8	52