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OKA State Championship Recap: Business As Usual For Ray

Whether in life or sports each year and each season seem to have a common theme, or a common narrative that holds true throughout the duration of said life or season. This also holds true in the OKA trail season and the OKA State Championship at Lake Texoma. Jason Ray an angler from Wanette, Oklahoma who now resides in Stillwater won the OKA Angler of the Year title by consistently placing in the top of the leaderboard throughout the season. Ray did so by making late day culls, catching kicker bass in dramatic fashion, or methodically catching 5 bass throughout the tournament day and passing early day leaders by lines out. Rays State Championship winning performance encapsulates his AOY season to a tee. Here is how it happened.

" Going into the state championship I wasn’t expecting much knowing that I had never bass fished the lake and hadn’t even seen it in the last 20 years. I already had AOY and was thinking state would be just a good weekend hanging out with friends and fishing. I looked on google earth and could tell instantly this isn’t my kind of lake and had heard that it was very low so that really didn’t make me feel good about the tourney. I chose to go to Alberta creek because I remember going there about 20 years about with my family striper fishing and my cousin told me there was some good bass in that cove."

" I started the morning throwing topwater like I always do for about 15 min then giving up on it like I always do and moved on to start fishing rock bluffs with a shakey head. I didn’t get a bite until 9:30AM and it was with a football jig behind a dock she was the 20”. After catching the first fish I didn’t have another bite until 2:07PM when I ran by a dock and pitched my football jig it got hung up and had to pedal over to get it unstuck when I did that I noticed a huge transition of depth and a lot of trees that were thrown in by the dock owner so I decided to throw a ned, since I didn’t want to retie my jig. I threw a smelt color ned and got hammered first throw but they didn’t take it so I decided to tie on a micro finesse jig with a grey and white skirt and added the ned as a trailer that’s when I got hammered by a 17.5” and from 2:07 to 2:14 I caught 6 fish in that tiny area. I decided to leave that area and save it for the next day since I had a good limit of 81.75 I knew it had to be close to the top and was excited when I found out I had finished number 1 day 1. Starting day 2 I didn’t waste my time going to anywhere else in the cove I went right to that dock and started fishing by 8:30 I had a limit and continued to call throughout the rest of the day. At the end of day 2 I had caught 33 fish in that small area. I had a blast fishing with everyone and getting to sit around and talk fishing."

The Oklahoma Kayak Anglers would like to thank the Do Drop Inn RV Resort in Calera, OK for their hospitality, and accommodations throughout the weekend. The OKA would also like to thank tourneytag for sponsoring the season and State Championship by providing anglers with great merchandise and prizes. Additional sponsors the OKA is indebted to is John Faulkner of Cast Lure for sponsoring the OKA for many seasons and continuing to grow this sport in Oklahoma. Flambeau Outdoors for also contributing to a great 2020 season. 



Place Winners: 

1st Place: Jason Ray - 160.75" - $2,064

2nd Place: Tou Vue - 146.50" - $1,032

3rd Place: Jason Thomas -  136" - $619

4th Place: Rusty Helms - 133.75" -  $412

Big Bass: Charles Anderson - 21" - $480 & Dobyns Rod





Group Photo



State Champion


Sportsman of the Year


Angler of the Year

Dibbons Door prize


Hanging out



Charles Andersons Big Bass
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