Dave Hart Wins at Mackintosh

For the second straight tournament, a new angler has etched his name in the CKA Hall of Champions. First, Dontrell Sullivan earned his first victory at Jordan in late June, and this past weekend Dave Hart earned his first win at Mack. In addition to the money and the nice Ketch trophy, Dave Hart is now a member of a new club – he’s a CKA champion.

By now, the name “Mack” resonates in a different way. When we compete on Lake Mackintosh, we expect big results. The lake out-produces other tournament lakes in a big way. Some say it is because of the genetics of the Haw River bass that were trapped when Alamance Creek was impounded, others says it is because the lake is managed to limit boating traffic and livewell tournaments. Whatever the reason, Mack shines year-round, and the summer months can be best of all.

On a rainy day with a full moon over Mack, no angler broke the century mark (as has happened four times in the past five years), but Dave Hart and Will Lambert each posted huge limits. Hart won by virtue of his 96” bag, which averaged 19.20” per fish. For his win, Hart took home $1,100 and a shiny new Ketch trophy. Here is how he did it…

How Dave Hart Won

Unlike most anglers who have a long experience with certain lakes, Dave Hart has only been fishing lake Mackintosh regularly for the last four years. Prior to that, he says

“The first time I was on Mack was in 2012-2013. I never really fished it or Jordan until I started tournament fishing, even though I cross Jordan thousands of times for work. Once I did, I noticed Mackintosh is a consistent lake – the most consistent, I think. I like it because it gets a few days of rest during the week, and it has the non-motorized sections. That, and it fishes well year-round.”

Hart didn’t have time to pre-fish for CKA event 6 at Mackintosh presented by Roll Construction. He did however pick up some clues at a previous tournament he fished there, a CCKF event in June. Those clues helped him dial in the winning bite.

“On Saturday, I caught them on topwater all day long. Before CCKF in June, I went out the day before because I hadn’t seen the lake. I got bites all morning and I finished sixth, but I noticed the bite died when the sun came out.

“Yesterday I caught almost everything on topwater, all but my 20.25”, which I caught on a shaky head around mid-day….I did really good on topwater until around nine a.m., and I just had a flurry when I caught four keepers. Then I went around three hours without a bite, and saw something on my sidescan and landed that 20.25”. Once the clouds came over again, I went right back to topwater. I won’t mention the lure because we have a KBT event there in September, but it’s the first time I caught fish with it at Mack.”

Steve Simpson works the shore line at Mackintosh.

Duff Digital marketing Big Bass update

Will Lambert won second place at Mackintosh, and he also won Big Bass with a 22.50” tank. In addition, he won three of the hourly big bass prizes, for an addition $255 dollars on top of the $430 he won for Big Bass.

Justin Faircloth also won an hourly, and his big bass from Lake Jordan remains atop the list for big bass of the season. Will someone find a bass bigger than Faircloth’s 23.25” hog at Mayo Lake in August? We will soon find out. In the meantime, his 23.25” leads the Duff Digital Marketing Big Bass contest for the 2024 season.

Up Next

CKA will fish on Lake Mayo this coming August 17^th. In May of 2025, Mayo will be included in the boundaries for the Kayak Adventure Series tournaments to be hosted by South Boston, VA. This will be a good chance to scout the lake if you have never fished its clear, grassy waters.

Registration is open: Click here to register!

Additional Info

For full standings from Lake Mackintosh, click here: https://app.fishingchaos.com/tournament/rXBNSeHXWBLQyp5oVPch

About the Anglers

Dave Hart fishes with the Tar Heel Lunkers of the Kayak Bass Team Series.