The Mountain State Kayak Anglers held their second tournament of the 2023 season on May 13^th, 2023. The eligible waters were Elk Fork Lake, O’Brien Lake, and Woodrum lake in Jackson County.  Much like last week’s WVKA Jackson County tournament, spring is in full swing with bass in all stages of the spawn. The weather conditions were ideal yet again which led to another slugfest in Jackson County!

Jonathan Carte of Charleston, WV was your winner with a 4 fish limit of 75.25” anchored by a 20.25” largemouth. Carte recalled that he elected to fish Elk Fork Lake and started off throwing a frog with no luck. He then “switched to a Black and Blue Mag FattyZ made by Z-man targeting structure.” 

This technique and strategy lead him to catch 15 keepers before his bite shut off. An epic comeback win for Carte as he had to miss the Jackson County tournament last weekend due to doctor’s orders from some time spent in the hospital. Way to bounce back Jonathan Carte!

In second place with a 4 fish limit of 74.75” and two 19” class fish was well respected local and national kayak tournament angler, Tim Isaacs. Isaacs fished O’Brien Lake and was able to produce his fish by “fishing several spots that I’ve caught good fish on while making my way to the dam.” 

Isaacs lost several quality fish which dampened his day until he “caught an 18.5 and 16.75 that lifted my spirit.” Isaacs caught over 30 fish this day on his Texas rig after having no luck on a buzzbait and jig early.

In third place was Storm Carver of Bickmore, WV with a four bass limit of 70.75”. Storm fished on Elk Fork Lake and accredited his success to a popper and a FattyZ worm made by Z-man. Storm recalled that he started his day throwing a buzzbait with no luck and then switched to a popper which he “would cast out by cover and pop a few times with long pauses.” 

After his topwater bite died off, Storm switched to flipping the FattyZ worm near grass and found the bite again allowing him to make several culls and round out his bag despite losing some bigger sized fish.

The fourth-place finisher was Chris Giffin of Parkersburg, WV who finished with a 70.25” four bass limit. Chris went to O’Brien (one of his usual haunts) and started the day strong with a 17.5” on a frog. After his frog bite slowed down, Chris then switched to a 5” “deadstick” worm in light green pumpkin color that he pours for himself and his customers at Flatline Tackle Company. He was able to use this worm to fill his limit and even cull a few times. Chris said that he had a crazy day because he had to get in the lake to untangle one of his bass from a brush pile and he even had to stop fishing 2 hours early at 1pm when he dropped his phone in the water.Rounding out the paid finishers in fifth place was Bill Mitchell of Alderson, WV with a four bass limit of 69.25”, despite starting his day by getting stuck on a tree stump.  Mitchell started his day strong with an 18” largemouth that gave a big blow up on his black buzzbait. After the buzzbait bite slowed down, Mitchell then “switched to a texas rigged 4” green pumpkin worm from Nitro baits that I won as a door prize last season.” That worm coupled with a senko helped him round out his limit.

Joey Johnson was the big bass winner with a 22.25” giant worth $138.Landon Morris was the winner of the Wilderness Systems Recon kayak as a door prize that was passed down from Coy Lehman at the 2022 Best of the Best and Brian McClung at the AEP tournament.The next kayak bass fishing tournaments in WV are:

-Upper Mud Lake on May 20^th, 2023 with SWVKA (South West Virginia Kayak Anglers)

-The Greenbrier River on June 10, 2023 with MSKA (Mountain State Kayak Anglers)