KFA Kayak Angler Chronicles: BKFT Big Slab Crappie Challenge Wrap-up

The 2014 Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail kicked off at Indian Lake for the Big Slab Crappie Challenge last
weekend. With the long, cold winter many kayak anglers were itching to hit the water and meet many of the anglers they had been talking to all winter. Many anglers camped the night before talking about their strategy or what location they planned on hitting the next morning as well as which YAK Ohio spots are going to be beaten throughout the year.

Cold Temp Registration

The couple weeks leading up to the event were unseasonably warm for May and even hit the 80's for a day or two. Anglers were regularly catching 12"+ crappie on Indian Lake and Brad Beals even landed a 14.75" YAK Ohio crappie that took 2nd place the weekend before the tournament. (Brad would later top that crappie with an even bigger win, but more on that later!) In typical Ohio fashion the weather turned on a dime and a massive cold front rolled across the state right before the Crappie Challenge. The night time temps dropped into the 30's and made for some chilly camping the night before. At registration the temperature was reading right at 42 degrees and climbed to about 53 degrees by the measure-in (almost 30 degree difference from less than a week earlier).

At registration the morning of the event the BKFT staff was hoping to clear 30 anglers, but had doubts with

the recent weather changes. We brought 50 printed waivers, surely enough for the event, and then A LOT of cars with kayaks started showing up. The Big Slab Crappie Challenge had one spare waiver after registration and 49 registered anglers that set a new record turnout for a BKFT event!
The captain's meeting began by thanking the host, Lakeside Pro Bass Shop for letting us use their space for both registration and measure-in, the main event sponsor Kayak Fishing Alliance not only for the great prizes but the quantity of prizes, 412 Bait Co. for their soft plastic baits, Backwater Hand Paddles for the Assault Hand Paddles, and YAK Attack for the rails and leash. The Trail also thanked Wilderness Systems and let anglers know that we would be raffling off a brand new Ride 115X at the end of the year for qualifying anglers! A new twist was also announced: the Smallie Stix Sponsor Challenge. The Challenge for this event was that any angler who caught a Fish Ohio saugeye (21") would win a brand new rod with microwave guide. It was mentioned that while the challenge would be hard a 20" saugeye was just caught the day before fishing for crappie by Mike Murphy....so their was a chance! After a rundown of the rules all the anglers took off to their planned launch points and hit the water.

Channel around Blackhawk/Lucy's Pond

Unlike the 2013 Big Slab Crappie Challenge the wind was non-existent allowing anglers to target nearly any spot they wanted on the lake. Some hit the Blackhawk/Lucy's pond area, some hit the nature preserve, some even found their own secluded spots. At the start of the tournament it was clear the cold front that moved in a couple days earlier would make it hard for anglers to locate and catch crappie. Early reports were that crappie were tight to cover and not in the least bit aggressive. Any angler that had one or two fish in the first few hours were atop the early leaderboard. As the day progressed anglers started to get more hits, but not necessarily landing any crappie. Then the last couple hours hit and the crappie switch turned on! Nearly every angler finishing atop the standings caught their crappie within the last couple hours and the lucky ones were even able to cull a few smaller fish.

At the 3PM measure-in there were a lot of really unsure anglers not knowing how they would stack up and if other anglers found a crappie hotspot on another section of the lake. Out of 18 anglers in the 2013 Challenge the top 5 all had a 3 fish total length of over 30"with 37.5" taking the top spot and a big fish of 14", so most anglers thought they were out of the running with 49 anglers participating. This year only the top 4 eclipsed 30" and the top spot was 31.25" with a big fish of 11.75".

1st Place Jeff Bennett

Here are all the anglers that caught their 3 fish limit out of 49 anglers:
Angler - Total Length
1. Jeff Bennett - 31.25"
2. Brock Spencer - 31" *BIG FISH WINNER - 11.75"
3. Chase Bateson - 30.75"
4. Russ McDonald - 30.25"
5. Jim Martin - 29.75"
6. Amanda Jones - 29.5"
7. Diann Bowen - 28.75"
8. Charles Ball - 28.25"
9. Joe Wolford - 28"
10. Larry Haines - 27.75"
11. Ethan Nealeigh - 27.5"
12. Brad Lehman - 27.5"