Carolina Kayak Anglers [CKA] is a grassroots kayak tournament fishing club based in North Carolina. Centered in the Greensboro area, our annual schedule may stretch from end-to-end of North Carolina, challenging anglers to compete on a variety of waters. As a result, many of us have attained national prominence in the sport of kayak bass fishing. All that accomplishment may have begun elsewhere when anglers were younger, but it was all fine-tuned in one place: CKA.
Winning a CKA tournament requires scouting, pre-fishing, and flawless execution. One mistake can cost you a win, but one victory can turn years of near misses into distant memories. It has been that way from the first event, when anglers who were seasoned against tough competition in the defunct Carolina Yakfish Trail (2010-2013) moved to CKA. CKA anglers were born directly into battle.
This page acknowledges those victors.
Top Competitors
For the historical record, in live competition through 11 complete seasons:
- Ricky Rowland and Bryan Tsiolkas have the most 1st place finishes, with 7 each in live, single-event competition. Rowland’s wins span the 2014-2023 era, for which he won the Angler of the Decade title. Tsiolkas notched his first victory in 2014, too.
- Will Lambert & PC Hawj (6 wins each),
- Bob Dainton and Keith McGee (4 wins each),
- Matt Hawj, Justin Faircloth and Joey Sullivan (3 wins each).
- Jamie Denison, Jim Lor, Melvin Yang, Sammy Wilson, Buster Swisher, Christopher Decker, Clay Lanier, and Jared Stanley have two wins each in live competition.
Assorted Facts
- In 2019 (Keith McGee) and 2021 (Jared Stanley), the CKA Rookie of the Year also won the Tournament of Champions.
- No angler has ever swept all 3 major titles (AOY, ROY and TOC). One angler (Charles Crews†) won both the AOY and ROY in a single season (2020).
- Only four anglers (PC Hawj, 2017; Rick Rowland, 2020; Bryan Tsiolkas 2022; Justin Faircloth 2024) have ever won back to back single live events.
- Only three anglers (Bryan Tsiolkas, 2023, Will Lambert, 2024 and Justin Faircloth 2024) have ever won three events in a single season.
- Only four anglers have won the same event in consecutive years. Bob Dainton won the Gate City Classic (2018 & 2019), Jim Lor won at Shearon Harris (2018 & 2019), Keith McGee won the Tournament of Champions (2019 & 2020) and Will Lambert won the Gate City Classic (2023 & 2024).
- Four anglers have won both a single season event and a Tournament of Champions (TOC) in the same year.
- Counting the early 2025 season and a total of 95 events (not including team or on-line tournaments), 20 anglers have won 1st place multiple times for a total of 57 events, while 38 other anglers have won 1st place only once.
- In 95 tournaments, an active CKA director has won 1st place only six times: Eric Nelson won the 2022 Tournament of Champions, Cory Dreyer won the CKA event at Falls Lake (2022), Justin Faircloth won the Burlington Bash, High Rock and Mayo (2024) and Wayne Butler won at Lake Hickory (2018). Hank Veggian won Shearon Harris (2021) and a charity event (The Blair Fish Project in 2020), but he won both when he was inactive as a CKA director.
- No angler has ever placed in the money in all 8 regular season events. Charles Crews† nearly did so in 2020, when he placed in 7 of 8 tournaments on his way to winning the Angler of the year title.
Year-by-Year Results
2013
Team Event (Randleman Reservoir): Record not found
2014
Event 1 (Shearon Harris): Vang Yang, 1st Place
Event 2: (Randleman): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st Place
Event 3 (Lake Reese): Record not found
Event 4 (Badin Lake): Shelly Efird, 1st Place
Event 5 (Yadkin River/High Rock): Dwayne Houser, 1st Place
Event 6 (Lookout Shoals, July): Record not found
Event 7 (Gate City Classic): Buster Swisher, 1st Place
2015
Event 1 (Jordan Lake): Jeremy Coggins, 1st Place
Event 2 (Randleman): Matt Hawj, 1st Place
Event 3 (Shearon Harris): Bob Dainton, 1st Place
Event 4 (Yadkin): Rick Rowland, 1st Place
Event 5 (Tuckertown): John Ladd, 1st Place
Event 6 (Lake James): Vinny Ferreri, 1st place
Event 7 (Gate City Classic): P.C. Hawj, 1st Place
2016
Event 1 (Norman): Jamie Denison, 1st Place
Event 2 (Harris): Nomku Thao, 1st Place
Event 3 (Randleman): Rick Rowland, 1st Place
Event 4 (Falls): PC Hawj, 1st Place
Event 5 (Yadkin River): Richard Kennedy, 1st place
Team Event (Randleman): Cory Dreyer/Buster Swisher, 1st Place
Event 6 (Mackintosh): Jamie Denison, 1st place
Event 7 (Gate City): Rick Rowland, 1st place
Tournament of Champions (Yadkin River): Denny Romero, 1st Place
2017
Event 1 (Norman): Melvin Yang, 1st Place
Event 2 (Falls): Brandon Jessup 1st place
Event 3 (Jordan) Mitchel Rhodes, 1st place
Event 4 (Hickory): Wayne Butler, 1st Place
Event 5 (Badin): PC Hawj, 1st place
Event 6 (Randleman): PC Hawj, 1st Place
Event 7 (Shearon Harris): Jim Lor, 1st Place
Event 8 (Gate City): Tommy Xiong, 1st place
Tournament of Champions (Lake Norman) Melvin Yang, 1st place
2018
Event 1 (Hyco): Bob Dainton, 1st Place
Event 2 (Hickory): Keith McGee, 1st Place
Event 3 (High Rock): PC Hawj, 1st Place
Event 4 (Kerr Scott): Jacob Shepherd, 1st Place
Event 5 (Shearon Harris): Jim Lor, 1st Place
Event 6 (Jordan): Rick Rowland, 1st Place
Event 7 (Mackintosh): PC Hawj, 1st Place
Event 8 (Gate City): Bob Dainton, 1st Place
Tournament of Champions (Falls Lake) Joey Sullivan, 1st Place
2019
Event 1 (Burlington Bash): Melvin Yang, 1st Place
Event 2 (Jordan): Matt Hawj, 1st Place
Event 3 (High Rock): Joey Sullivan, 1st Place
Event 4 (Tuckertown): Sammy Wilson, 1st Place
Event 5 (Randleman): Will Lambert, 1st Place
Event 6 (Kerr Lake): Tim Sabella, 1st Place
Event 7 (Kerr Scott): Keith McGee, 1st Place
Event 8 (Gate City Classic): Bob Dainton, 1st Place
Tournament of Champions (Jordan Lake): Keith McGee 1st Place
Bigguns for the Dunns: Mike Wimmer, 1st Place
2020
Carolina Shootout: Joey Sullivan, 1st Place
Event 1 (Shearon Harris): Larry Moua, 1st Place,
Event 2: (Wild Card): Sammy Wilson, 1st Place,
Event 3 (Tuckertown): Charles Crews†, 1st Place,
Event 4 (High Rock/Randleman): James Wevers, 1st Place,
Event 5 (Lake Hickory): Teng Vue, 1st Place
Event 6 (Cape Fear): Rick Rowland, 1st Place
Event 7 (Reese/Lucas): Rick Rowland, 1st Place
Event 8 (Gate City Classic): Dustin Matthews, 1st Place
Tournament of Champions (Kerr Lake): Keith McGee, 1st Place
The Blair Fish Project: Hank Veggian, 1st Place
2021
Event 1 (Shearon Harris): Hank Veggian, 1st Place
Event 2 (Burlington Brawl): Christopher Decker, 1st Place
Event 3 (Kerr Scott): Nick Huddleston, 1st Place
Event 4 (Badin Lake): Preston Hampton, 1st Place
Event 5 (Falls Lake): Rick Rowland, 1st Place
Event 6 (Randleman): Marcus Smith 1st Place
Event 7 (Mayo/James): R. Murphy 1st Place (James), Jereme Olshefski (Mayo)
Event 8 (Gate City Classic): Matt Hawj 1st Place
2021 Tournament of Champions (Santee Cooper): Jared Stanley, 1st Place
2022
Event 1 (Falls Lake): Cory Dreyer , 1st place
Event 2 (Lake Mackintosh): Jeremy Hicks, 1st Place
Event 3 (Jordan Lake): Bruce Deel, 1st Place
Event 4 (Badin/Tillery) Christopher Decker 1st Place
Event 5 (East/West) Jared Stanley 1st Place
Event 6 (Summer Lakes): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st Place
Event 7 (Shearon Harris): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st place
Event 8 (Gate City Classic): Jared Stanley, 1st place
2022 CKA Tournament of Champions (Lake Tillery): Eric Nelson, 1st Place
2023 (10th Anniversary Season)
Event 1 (Lake Norman): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st Place.
Event 2 (Shearon Harris): Clay Lanier, 1st Place.
Event 3 (Lake Gaston): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st Place
Event 4 (Lake Hickory): Clay Lanier, 1st Place
Event 5 (Randleman Reservoir): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st Place
Event 6 (Lake Mackintosh): Sean Boorsma, 1st Place
Event 7 (Tuckertown): Brooks Lanier, 1st Place.
Event 8 (Gate City Classic): Will Lambert, 1st Place
2023 20 for 23 Series: Will Lambert, 1st Place.
2023 Tournament of Champions: Will Lambert, 1st Place
CKA Winter Series 2023-2024
Event 1 (December 2023): Juan Medina, 1st place
Event 2 (January 2024): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st Place
Event 3 (February 2024): Jeremy Hicks, 1st Place
Winter Series Champion: Juan Medina
2024
Event 1 (Burlington Bash): Justin Faircloth, 1st place.
Event 2 (High Rock): Justin Faircloth, 1st place.
Event 3 (Falls Lake): Will Lambert, 1st place.
Event 4 (Randleman): Will Lambert, 1st place.*
Event 5 (Jordan): Dontrell Sullivan, 1st place
Event 6 (Mackintosh): Dave Hart, 1st place.
Event 7 (Mayo): Justin Faircloth, 1st place.
Event 8 (Gate City Classic): Will Lambert, 1st place.
2024 Tournament of Champions: Ryan Hayes, 1st Place
2024 20 for 24 Series: Will Lambert, 1st Place.
Winter Series Champion: Will Lambert
2025
Event 1 (Lake Tillery): Bryan Tsiolkas, 1st place
Event 2 (Shearon Harris): Isaiah Stanley, 1st place.
Additional Info
Separate pages on our site are dedicated to the annual AOY and ROY titles.
* Denotes a club record (104.25″ for a five-fish limit).
Whenever possible we have tried to tag every angler’s social media profiles at least one time. Please follow and support your local trail champs!
[Note: The research for this page was conducted using TourneyX event records, Fishing Chaos, review of old posts to the CKA Facebook page and also internal documents held by CKA tournament directors.
To consult individual angler records, search anglers by name on TourneyX or see the CKA club page on TourneyX here: https://tourneyx.com/app/club/carolina-kayak-anglers
CKA began using TourneyX in 2017 and those events through 2021 can be searched there at https://tourneyx.com/app/category/nc—carolina-kayak-anglers/archive
CKA started using Fishing Chaos as a tournament management system in 2022; other events can be found there.
Partial records, including AOY standings and event standings, may also be found on the CKA Facebook Page.]
All text and photographs © CKA 2014-2024
