CKA Anglers in 2017 KBF Open& Trail Events
This is the last of three posts reviewing CKA anglers in national competition. The first post reviewed CKA results at the National Championship, while the second reviewed on line Challenge tournaments. Where the National Championship is currently the largest and potentially most lucrative tournament event in the country, and the on-line events are longer yet pay out less, the Open and Trail events are intermediate between them: they pay out more, tend to be large regional events and also earn more AOY points for KBF Members.
CKA anglers represented North Carolina at a high level in Trail and Open events in 2017. Two of our regular anglers – Jamie Denison and Rick Rowland – spent the entire season in the top 5 of the KBF AOY race, with Rick Rowland holding the number 1 spot for the majority of the season. This was largely due to their participation and performance in Open and Trail events. Additionally, many other CKA regulars traveled to Trail and Open events. This post lists the most notable results of the season.
Before proceeding, CKA staff thanks everyone who represented North Carolina in these events. It was a great year for CKA anglers on the national competition circuit, and it was fun to follow events and see the results.
First, the Open events. With a guaranteed payout of $10,000, both KBF members and non-members may compete in these events. Held on large, well-known lakes, there are only a handful of Open events every season (there were only 2 in 2017, but there will be 6 in 2018), but they are very well attended, with hundreds of anglers participating for prizes and points.
The best finishes by CKA anglers were as follows:
| o Rick Rowland 1st place | o KBF Open, Kentucky Lake |
| o Cory Dreyer 3rd place | o KBF Open, Kentucky Lake |
| o Austin Vang 13th place | o KBF Open, Kentucky Lake |
| o Cory Dreyer 13th Place | o KBF Open, Toledo Bend |
| o Shelly Efird 16th place | o KBF Open, Kentucky Lake |
In the other category, the KBF Trail Events, CKA anglers fished often, traveling long distances to compete on a regular basis. We only included top 10 finishes in the list below due to the large attendance of CKA anglers in Trail events. Note that the Chickamauga and New River events listed below reflect results for two separate Trail events that were held at each of those water bodies at different times.
| o Rick Rowland 1st place | o Falls Lake |
| o Rick Rowland 1st place | o Smith Mountain |
| o PC Hawj 1st place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Buster Swisher 2nd place | o Lake Randleman |
| o PC Hawj 2nd place | o Falls Lake |
| o Calvin Keller 3rd place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Matt Hawj 3rd place | o Falls Lake |
| o Marcus Smith 4th place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Rick Rowland 4th Place | o Santee Cooper |
| o Jamie Denison 4th place | o Chickamauga |
| o Austin Vang 4th place | o Falls Lake |
| o Austin Vang 5th place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Shelly Efird 5th Place | o Falls Lake |
| o Aaron Trexler 6th place | o New River |
| o Matt Hawj 6th place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Tony Uselman 6th place | o Falls Lake |
| o Matt Dunn 7th place | o Falls Lake |
| o Melvin Yang 7th place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Mitch Rhodes 8th place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Jamie Denison 9th Place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Brandon Jessup 9th Place | o Smith Mountain |
| o Brandon Jessup 9th Place | o Falls Lake |
| o Rick Rowland 9th place | o New River |
| o Rick Rowland 10th place | o Chickamauga |
| o Shaun Applegate 10th place | o Lake Randleman |
| o Bob Dainton 10th place | o Falls Lake |
