Skip to main content

Recap: Hendricks Wins KBF at D' Arbonne

I left work Thursday evening and got to the hotel around 2 A.M. I had Friday to prefish and due to Hurricane Laura, all the local hotels were either out of power or were fully booked by power line crews. So, I was forced to stay about a 45 minute drive away. Needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of time to prefish, so I had to make the most out of time. I first wanted to try and establish a pattern and then, if possible, try and find an area to fish. I had a few places that I wanted to check out, but due to time constraints, was not able to hit all those spots. I was able to figure out a pattern relating to baitfish but was not able to find a good area that I liked. Thankfully, when loading up my kayak at the ramp, I was able to talk to a local fisherman. I asked him about some of the other areas that I was looking at and with his help was able to lock in my starting spot for Saturday.

Saturday morning, I ended up launching at a spot that I didn’t prefish. We could launch at 6 A.M. and fishing started at 6:30. Because I didn’t know this spot, I decided to stick close to the ramp and wait until it got lighter for better visibility. While sitting there waiting until lines in, I saw and heard several fish busting on top. I knew topwater was going to be in play for the first part of the day. My starting spot ended up being a small creek that opened up into a main channel that had some “cheese” built up and it just looked froggy.

  • 6:50- Working the frog across the top and a 18” crushes it for my first fish.
  • 6:56- 2 casts later, I get blown up by a 16.5”.
  • 7:20- Still working the frog, I get a blow up but the fish missed. I immediately follow up with a senko and catch a 13”.

This is a two-day event, so I decide to leave this area for Sunday and continue to explore the area and look for a few more productive areas. I look for some more “froggy” areas but never find anything that set up like the first area. But my gut was telling me to stick to the topwater, so I tie on a sexy shad popper. I miss a few small bites as I continue to fish trough the channels and then I come up to a grass flat and I start throwing the popper along the outside edge.

  • 10:29- A 13.75” smokes the popper. I fish through this area but don’t get any more bites. As I am leaving, I see a big cloud of mud kick up from the bottom and a wake behind a fish as it swims off. Not sure if it is a bass, but make a mental note to hit this spot on Sunday.

I continue to fish my way out to the main lake throwing other crankbaits, but don’t get any bites. Finally, I get to where the channel opens into the main lake and find several grass flats. I work my way along the grass lines with the popper, and have a few short strikes and hook up with two bass before they jump and spit the hook. I tell myself to just stick to the popper and not pick up another rod.

  • 1:28- I make a cast towards the grass line and make one twitch of the rod when a 15” bass blows up on the popper.
  • 1:44- I catch a 13.25” to upgrade from my 13”. Again, caught on the popper.

I ended the day catching 6 measurable fish and 3 shorts. And had roughly 6 fish that either got off or missed the bait. I ended Saturday feeling very confident that I have figured out a lure and an area that was producing some good fish. At the end of the day I had a 3” lead going into Sunday. Sunday morning, I start back where I got the frog bites, and catch an 11”. So, I move on to get out to the main lake - to the grass lines.

  • 7:05- On my way through the channels, I see a laydown that I just can’t pass up. I make a cast working the popper along the outside of the limbs when a 15” hits.
  • 7:49- I get to the first grass flat where I had scared up a fish the day before. This time I am more cautious of my boat positioning as I work the popper along the grass line, and a 19.5” jumps completely out of the water attacking the popper.
  • 9:47- I throw the popper along the grass line and I can see a fish waking behind the lure, so I twitch it another time when a 14.75” erupts on the lure.
  • 10:35- I am fishing the popper along the grass and a fish rolls but misses, I follow up with a senko and catch a 12”.

I make another pitch with the senko along the grass line and feel a tick. I hook into a giant that breaks me off. At this point, I check the leaderboard and know that I just need one more fish to seal the win, so I go back to the popper. I end up missing 3 more bites.

  • 12:19- I see a school of fish busting on the surface so I make a cast with the popper, but don’t have any takers. I switch to a 3.25 swimbait and reel it across the top of the grass flat. I see a fish follow it all the way to the kayak, and give it one quick twitch. The 15.75” swirls on the bait. I finally have fish #5.

I switched back to the popper to end the day, but never get any upgrades. I ended Sunday catching 5 measurable fish and 2 shorts and missed 4 fish. Overall, it was a tough weekend down in the bayou. I am very blessed to walk away with the win.



Ryan Hendricks



19.50" Bass


18" Bass



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lakes and Regions of Oklahoma

If you have ever traveled more than 2 hours to fish in the state of Oklahoma chances are you have crossed through, in, and out of several distinct regions of this great state. Oklahoma has 10 ecological regions that include: The Gypsum Hills, Wichita Mountains, Red Bed Plains, Sandstone Hills, Arbuckle Mountains, Red River Plains, Ouachita Mountains, and the Ozark Plateau. Each one of the ecological regions have different climates, annual rainfalls, soil, and landscapes that can and do effect the way we fish lakes in each region. Oklahoma has 52 major lakes that are 1,000 acres or more in size. Additionally, there are over 3,000 lakes and ponds that are 10 acres or greater in size, containing a total of 1,049 square miles of water and 10,384 miles of shoreline. Moreover, these waters are separated into Watershed Planning Regions. These regions are as follows: Panhandle, West Central, Southwest, Beaver - Cache, Central, Lower Washita, Blue - Boggy, Eufaula, Lower Arkansas, Grand, Midd...

Integrity Always Wins

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 3 rd  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 ...

2021 OKA POWER Rankings, AOY, NOY and Much More

The 2021 OKA season is upon us and if you thought the 2020 trail events were a big deal just wait until you see what we got going on in 2021! As normal the OKA trail will crisscross the great regions of this state with a large pool of talented anglers in tow. Last season the OKA came out with its inaugural Power Rankings listing the top 15 anglers who are on the rise for the upcoming season. With the record attendance of 2020 the OKA has decided to expand the PWR Rankings to the top 25. These 25 anglers are expected to fill the top of leaderboards, challenge for AOY, SPOY, KBF, and BASS Qualifications throughout the OKA trail season.  The top 25 will be at the bottom of this article but before you scroll past make sure to check out what else we have going on for 2021!  AOY Champion Jason Ray Angler of the Year Competitors top 5 finishes will be compiled and the angler with the highest score will be the 2021 Angler of the Year Champion. The AOY Champ will receive: $1,000 paymen...