Introduction
The second half of CKA’s 10th anniversary season features familiar lakes and summer bites. As the Randleman event approached to start the back half of the schedule, the news was that the lake’s bite was great (and an 11 pounder caught in early June only fed the anticipation). With Randleman returning to the Gate City Classic list of lakes (and Mackintosh, too), it was time to return to the lake where CKA started.
The weather tried its best to ruin that parade, however. All week long, band after band of rain unleashed storms on North Carolina. It was need rain, sure, but it stained the waters a bit much. It also downed trees, swept in food, and kept water temps cooler. So what would happen – would the rain ruin the bite at Randleman, or improve it?
For about one-fifth of the field, it turned out to be a memorable event, to say the least. Event number five of the CKA season, presented by Miller Shed Haulers LLC, was an event to remember.
Tsiolkas survives Musical Chairs
You know the game – when the music plays, everyone moves. When it stops, everyone sits down. But there aren’t enough chairs.
That’s what first place looked like on the leaderboard at mid-morning. By our count, at least eight anglers occupied the top spots within a span of around five hours (and we probably missed a few). They included:
Robert Miller (65.5” at 8 a.m.),
Brooks Lanier (72.75” at 9 a.m.),
Jeremy Way (76” at 10 a.m.),
Bruce Deel (87.25” at 10:30 a.m.),
Eric Nelson (89” at 11 a.m.),
Chris Edwards (90.25” at 11:30 a.m.),
Will Lambert (Will Lambert 90.5” at 12:30 p.m.)
Shelly Efird (91.25” at 1:00 p.m.)
It is worth noting that Brooks Lanier, Eric Nelson, Jeremy Way and Will Lambert all eventually improved on the numbers quoted above. That means that the battle for 1st place was extremely competitive as anglers culled and jockeyed for position. But every time the music stopped, someone else was in the first-place chair.
In the end, it was Bryan Tsiolkas who was in that chair when the music stopped once and for all. Bryan had a final total of 92.5”, and in his words, it was a tough bite:
“To say the fishing was a grind would be an understatement. I had found big fish shallow while practicing before the event, but that wasn’t the case for me on tournament day. Tournament morning, I started in an area that I thought would produce some good bites, but it wasn’t happening. I think either the fishing pressure or weather change had a lot to do with it. So I just started covering water hoping to stumble upon feeding fish. At around 11 a.m. I only had two fish, so I decided to head down toward main lake after fishing both creek arms. While I was heading out I noticed some schooling fish, so I pulled up on a point and it was loaded. They weren’t very active, but they were there.
After trying to force feed them a jig all day, I decided to throw a shakey head. First cast, came an 18.25, then a 21.75. That filled my limit, and the shakey never left my hand. At 1:58 I was heading back and noticed a competitor still fishing in a pocket. I looked at the tournament description and sure enough lines out was at 2:30. So I headed back to the point, got positioned, casted at some brush, and DONK, set the hook, and the line snapped. Next cast, at 2:17 I culled my small fish with an 18.25, and just hoped I took the lead. It was a struggle, but I learned you have to stay with it mentally and not get discouraged. I feel very blessed to get another win against such great competitors. I think NC has some of the most talented anglers in the country, and it shows throughout the pro circuits. I’m definitely looking forward to Mackintosh!”
With his victory, Tsiolkas has achieved something no CKA angler had done in ten years of competitive kayak bass fishing: he won three tournaments in a single season (previously, Ricky Rowland and P.C. Hawj had two wins each, and had done so twice each). Tsiolkas also ties P.C. Hawj for second most wins all time, with 6 first place finishes. With three events to go, Tsiolkas only needs one more win to tie Rowland for all time and challenge for Angler of the Decade.
That’s an amazing run for an angler who won his first event in 2014, during CKA’s first season.
Stiff Remains Consistent
With the second half of the season in full swing now (and a huge event at Mackintosh approaching in July), we will be devoting time to the CKA Angler of the Year race. Sponsored by Get Outdoors Pedal and Paddle, the CKA Angler of the Year title is the longest running North Carolina kayak bass fishing trophy. To say it is prestigious to win the title would be an understatement – the list of previous winners is a who’s who of kayak bass fishing in our state.
To date, no angler has ever won the Triple Crown: both the Rookie of the Year and Angler of the Year titles and also the Tournament of Champions. One angler – Charles Crews – came close to it in 2020 when he won the ROY and AOY trophies.
In 2023, Leland Stiff has a chance to win AOY and ROY, then take a shot at the Triple Crown. It’s a long road, but he’s ahead of everyone on it right now.
Stiff has shown amazing consistency in CKA competition. He has had three top 10 finishes in five events, and has finished in the top 15 at every single one of his first five tournaments. In doing so, he has quickly made a name for himself as a threat on any tournament day.
We asked him about how he got into the sport and about that consistency. Stiff replied by giving us a really interesting breakdown of his season to date….
“I never thought when I bought my Oldtown 106 PDL that I would be fishing competitively with it. I really just bought it to do some pond fishing with my buddies. So one day I was watching this young lady (Kristine Fischer) competitively fishing out of a kayak, and how competitive she is, it was then I realized maybe this is something I would like to venture into. So whenever I approach a body of water, whether if I have experience on the lake or not, I have to always remember to not venture no further than my Dr. Prepare Lithium Iron battery could take me.
So, stop #1 puts us at Lake Norman, which I have not fished Lake Norman in over 10 years, but have experience with the lake. I decided to stay at Lake Norman State Park. The only reason is because of convenience (a place to stay that had boat ramp access). Never fished this part of the lake before, so, pre- fishing was key. And, of course, knowing the transitional stages of the spawn helps out. And with that, I was able to put a pattern together and do well. My biggest key at Norman was breaking down water. Areas that were productive and had the right cover were key. So, tournament #2 puts us on Shearon Harris Lake. I have knowledge of Harris, so here, knowing transitional patterns was key. And, with only 3 ways to access the lake, I had to choose which sections I could fish my strengths in. So, I chose to concentrate on the lower end of the lake. Having knowledge and fishing my strengths was key here. Stop #4 (Carolina Clash) Lake Hickory. I have never seen or fished this lake before. So here I had to put in my homework. Watching videos, looking on Google Earth, reading articles, and time on the water was key. So, there are a lot of different scenarios going on with the lake, and it would either be the spawn, post spawn, or shad spawn. I chose to fish shad spawn because during pre-fishing, I was able to catch bigger fish. “
“And stop #5, that we just finished up was Randleman Lake. Again, I have never seen or fished this lake before. So, the same approach at Lake Hickory applies here as well. And to be honest, it was a good feeling at the end of the day, knowing that all the hard work I have put into this schedule thus far, to see my name at the top of AOY & ROY once again, it just goes to say “you get out of it what you put into it”.
The CKA Angler of the Year race takes an angler’s top 6 finishes, and the Rookie of the Year Race takes the top 4 finishes. To see the complete Angler of the Year standings, click here:
https://app.fishingchaos.com/club/cka/tournament-series/RtflT7wFelfHsSe0dqf6
Rookie of the Year updates are posted separately to the CKA Facebook page on a periodic basis.
Up Next
On July 22, 2023, CKA will fish on Lake Mackintosh, the best Largemouth bass fishery in the state. Over the past three years, Mack has produced more 100” limits than any other lake in the state, and it isn’t even close. We will also be holding the check in at the Lager Haus at Red Oak Brewery, close to the Guilford Launch on the lake. It will be a magical event. Sign up is open!
https://app.fishingchaos.com/tournament/cka-2023-lake-mackintosh
Additional Info
Bruce Deel won the Str8UpMounts Big Bass prize, and $520. We will have a full recap of the big bass award soon on the website!
CKA Event 5 at Randleman Reservoir was presented by Miler Shed Haulers, LLC. We thank Robert Miller for his generous support!
Judging for CKA Randleman was provided by Kayak Bass Fishing. We extend our gratitude to the organization for its support of kayak bass fishing clubs at the grassroots level.
CKA’s 2023 Season is brought to you by Dakota Lithium Batteries
Click here to see the full 2023 schedule.
Click here to become a member.
All content and photos © Carolina Kayak Anglers LLC, 2023.
The author of this article was not assisted in the composition of it in any way by a machine.
