By: Tom Hins
In 2015 I discovered the world of Oklahoma Kayak Anglers. I quickly made friends with members like Brent Wilson, Danny Bowen, Avery Metcalf, Jonathan Queen and other individuals. Having been a person who fished for table fare I hardly fished for bass before this. It has been a learning curve for me. The first year of tournaments I do not think I even submitted one scorable fish, but I was hooked on the competition aspect of these tourneys. After that first season over the winter I watched more bass fishing shows and videos on the internet about bass fishing where my wife would walk by and say oh let me guess another fishing show.
The next year I started to catch some bass and started to feel I was at least respectable turning in scorable bass. In 2019 I finally cashed in a tournament with a 3rd place finish. Then came 2020 and Covid - 19 and two major projects at work, I have not fished most of the tournaments this year, in fact it has kept me from getting out to fish much at all. Before this year my personal best was an 18.25 inch bass. Having that said, when it came to this year, I decided why should I spend the money on the big bass entry every tournament. I see all these accomplished tourney fishermen constantly turning in very nice bass.
Along comes the Lake McMurtry tournament, a lake I have never seen. I decided I should have at least one day off and sign up on Friday. I go to Walmart, purchase 3 new plastic containers and go through my tackle. Over the years I have accumulated about twenty boxes of lures. I fill the new containers, one with crankbaits, one with jigs and chatterbaits, one with topwater. I take those and load up my box of ned rig and spinnerbaits. I watch the captain’s meeting and Avery says, do not forget to sign up for the big bass, you don’t want to be that person that catches a 23-inch bass and not win the money. Having already entered and knowing I didn’t select big bass I went back into the tourney x application, but it does not allow you to sign up for big bass after you entered. At least I did not see a way to do it. The next morning, I get up at 3:15 am and hook up my trailer and head to Lake McMurtry. What a beautiful day it is. I am about the last one to leave the west ramp that morning. It was 10 am and I had not caught a fish. My first fish is on a chatterbait, a respectable 18.25-inch. I continue to fish and get back in an area where the boats can’t get to, I catch my second fish a 15-inch fish on a spinnerbait and a few minutes later my line breaks and that spinnerbait is gone. I leave that area and get back to another area where it is all trees. I throw a different spinnerbait a few times and then bam! A big swirl and the fight was on. Having so many limbs between me and this bass, she wraps my 8 pound line around one of the limbs. Nervous I get to the limb, reach down, and break off the limb so I can get my line unwrapped. After some tense moments and my heart beating like I just drank 5 red bulls, it is the nicest bass I have ever caught. I get my board and measure it, 20.5-inches. Wow! Now Avery’s words run through my head again and again. I submit my catch and hope I can catch two more knowing I didn’t enter the big bass. The next two hours are not productive, and I head back to the ramp. At the meeting I discover I would have had the biggest bass, making me miss out on the prize of $490 and a Dobyn’s Fury rod.
As I drive home, I figure I have been in an average of seven OKA tournaments a year. That means I would only have to catch a big bass once every 7 years to break even. Will you ever catch the big bass? Will I ever catch another big bass? We don’t know that but I know I will not miss signing up for the big bass again. You never know when that biggun might hit your presentation.
To sum up my five years of fishing Oklahoma Kayak Anglers I thank God for meeting all the people I have met, each fish I have caught, and the thrill of the competition. I have had a real enjoyable time. Kind of like the Master Card motto -There are some things money cannot buy but fishing the OKA Anglers Tournament = Priceless.
Editors Note: Tom Hins was announced as the winner of Big Bass Lake McMurtrys awards at the Smokey Pokey and immediately said that he had not paid into Big Bass. The issue was quickly resolved. Make sure to always pay into Big Bass! Thank you Tom for your honesty and integrity.
Lesson learned! Big bass side pot is the same price as a decent crankbait. I've never won big bass in an OKA event, but I buy in every time.
ReplyDeleteOnly 1 BB in 7 years? I like that...
ReplyDeleteNice post, Tom - and nice fish!
ReplyDelete