Every CKA season is its own chapter but each one is also its own book. We traveled hard, made new memories and caught a lot of big Carolina bass. Let’s take a look at how the 2025 season concluded, and also look ahead…. The Gate City Classic Greensboro area lakes host the Gate City Classic tournament that closes every CKA season, and this year those lakes produced some big fish and some even bigger surprises.
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Times change, and so does our sport. One decade ago, the dominant anglers in CKA had names that ended with Hawj, Rowland and Swisher. Our club regularly attracted 75 anglers or more per event, directors checked your photos manually at the ramp and Ketch boards were not yet available. Over the course of the decade that followed, many CKA anglers earned national reputations, sponsorships and money fishing the Kayak Bass Fishing Trail. Starting in 2019-2020, our sport diversified at the local and national level. Multiple national trails emerged, creating more…
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The weather held off, just long enough. Saturday, the fourth of May, 2024, saw a big crowd of North Carolina’s kayak anglers descend on Falls Lake for the third event of the 2024 CKA season. The sky threatened rain all day, but rarely delivered more than a sprinkle. The hesitant weather made for a great topwater bite in some areas at the combined event that took place alongside CKA’s tournament; the Carolina Classic grew in its second year, with competitors from Foothills Kayak Anglers and the host, Central Carolina Kayak…
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The CKA Winter Series took everyone by surprise with strong turnouts for a cold-weather series. What was no surprise was the fact that some giant fish were caught. Consider the following: Jeremy Hicks won the final frame with a 62″ limit of three fish Mark Wilkins posted a 21.25″ Smallmouth Bass in the January event Will Lambert posted 61.75″ in the final frame, too. Stephen Bell Sr. landed a 23.25″ monster, the biggest bass caught across the three-event series. And while the series champion only landed the third longest limit…
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The 2023 edition of the Gate City Classic brought many storylines to a close. It crowned the Angler of the Year and Rookie of the Year and it finalized the club’s NC BASS and KBF qualifications. It also capped ten successful years for North Carolina’s oldest Kayak bass Fishing tournament series. Finally, it set the table for the CKA Tournament of Champions, which will be held beginning September 30 on Lake Mackintosh. The tournament also opened new story-lines. Among those, it announced a new tradition, as CKA presented the first…
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