CKA Anglers in 2017 KBF Events
Dozens of CKA anglers are KBF members and as members they compete in KBF Trail, Open and Challenges/On-Line events. KBF anglers also represented our series at the 2017 KBF National Championship on Kentucky Lake, competing against hundreds of the nation’s top anglers. Two CKA anglers (Cory Dreyer and Rick Rowland), came within inches of bringing the trophy to North Carolina, placing 5th and 3rd, respectively.
2017 was a landmark year in many ways, as CKA anglers competed at a high level in every category of KBF events. By the end of the season, 9 CKA anglers were represented in the top 101 of the final KBF National AOY standings, and two of those (Rick Rowland and Jamie Denison) were tied for 1st place, while Shelly Efird, Arlie Minton, Brandon Jessup, Hank Veggian, Matt Dunn, Ralph Nolan and Cory Dreyer took other places in the top 101. In sum, CKA anglers represented roughly one-eleventh of the top of the AOY field.
Most importantly, Jamie Denison won the KBF 2017 Angler of the Year title.
This page recognizes their hard work and celebrates their achievements. 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.
KBF events are sorted into 3 categories below: Challenges, Trail/Open tournaments, and the National Championship.
- KBF Challenges
Kayak Bass Fishing holds two categories of “Challenge” events every season. First, there are the popular KBF Monthly Challenges, which are organized by state. Second, there are the “Special Challenges” that generally run Friday – Sunday and are nationwide events. These are divided into Night Fishing Events (“One Night Stands”) and Special Challenges that mark important calendar dates like Father’s Day, etc.
KBF held 15 Special Challenges in 2017, and the best finishes by CKA anglers were as follows:
| o Joey Sullivan 1st place | o (Black Bass Friday, 98 anglers) |
| o Rick Rowland 1st place | o (April One night Stand, 78 anglers) |
| o Jamie Denison 2nd place | o (Veteran’s Day Challenge, 120 anglers) |
| o Rick Rowland 2nd place | o (Father’s Day Challenge, 106 anglers) |
| o Dewayne Houser 2nd place | o (July One night Stand, 135 anglers) |
| o Matthew Dunn 3rd place | o (Mother’s Day Challenge, 73 anglers) |
| o Henry Veggian 3rd place | o (Dog Days Challenge, 131 anglers) |
| o Brian Falbe 6th place | o (May One Night Stand, 85 anglers) |
| o Brandon Jessup 6th place | o (July One Night Stand, 135 anglers) |
| o Cory Dreyer 7th place | o (100 Challenge) |
| o Matt Dunn 10th Place | o (Columbus Day Challenge, 104 anglers) |
| o Henry Veggian 11th Place | o (Columbus Day Challenge, 104 anglers) |
Other notable finishes include the “Freedom to Fish” Challenge in which Rick Rowland, Henry Veggian, Jamie Denison and Ralph Nolan rounded out the top 25 with 16th, 17th, 19th and 21st place finishes, respectively.
In the other category, the North Carolina Monthly Challenges, CKA anglers earned the following notable finishes:
| o Joey Sullivan 1st place | o (April, July, September) |
| o Henry Veggian 1st place | o (May) |
| o Matthew Dunn 1st place | o (October) |
| o Adam Share 1st place | o (August) |
| o Jamie Denison 2nd place | o (September) |
| o Rick Rowland 2nd place | o (July, June) |
| o Bob Dainton 2nd place | o (May) |
| o Arlie Minton 3rd place | o (October) |
| o Larry Anderson 4th place | o (June) |
- CKA Anglers in 2017 KBF Open & Trail Events
Where the National Championship (see next section, below) 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 than Challenges, 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.
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 |
- The 2017 KBF National Championship
Competitive fishing against the nation’s top kayak anglers requires considerable determination and skill. Once again Carolina Kayak Anglers rose to that challenge and fished extremely well at the KBF National Championship and related events on Kentucky Lake. The CKA staff is grateful and thankful that CKA anglers devoted time and resources to making the journey to Kentucky Lake for the KBF Championship in 2016 and 2017.
Below is a side by side example of how our anglers performed this year when compared to last. We have listed only the anglers who placed or were near the top of the standings. While Stewart Venable is from South Carolina, we included him below because he sometimes fishes CKA events and he is a good fisherman and representative of the sport.
We also want to thank others who competed – Jim Lor, Matt Hawj, John Ladd, Joey Sullivan, Brian Falbe, Dustin Matthews, Jamie Denison, Aaron Miller, Arlie Minton, Nathan Naturile, Tommy Xiong, Dewayne Houser and Hank Veggian – with respectable showings in all events. The larger national events give us more than money to compete for; they provide the opportunity to travel, have fun and enjoy fishing on great bass lakes. We also thank KBF, all the sponsors and families who support our anglers, our fellow competitors from the U.S. and Canada who participated, and the great states of Kentucky and Tennessee.
| 2016 KBF National Championship | 2017 KBF National Championship |
| Shelly Efird 5th place | Rick Rowland 3rd place |
| Jim Lor 7th Place | Cory Dreyer 5th place |
| Cory Dreyer 16th place | Stewart Venable 14th place |
| Jamie Denison 20th place | Shelly Efird 16th place |
| Aaron Miller 29th place | Denny Romero 31st place |
| PC Hawj 36th place | |
| 2016 Big Bass Brawl KY Lake | 2017 Big Bass Brawl KY Lake |
| Cory Dreyer 9th place | Bob Dainton 5th place |
| Henry Veggian 13th place | Brandon Jessup 16th place |
| Brandon Jessup 16th place | Rick Rowland 20th place |
| John Ladd 17th place |
© CKA 2014-2019
