Mike Elsea of Mooresville, Ind. took home the $50,000 grand prize and $23,000 in additional prize money for winning the Kayak Bass Fishing (KBF) National Championship held March 28-30 in Shreveport, La.
The KBF National Championship is a catch-photo-release tournament that takes place over three days. On the first two days, competitors electronically submitted their 10 longest fish, which were then certified by a team of judges. The top 100 anglers fished on the final day for the $50,000 grand prize.
Elsea’s winning 15-fish total measured 288.75 inches, besting 2nd-place finisher Drew Gregory of Wingate, N.C. by 16 inches. Greg Blanchard of Seneca Falls, N.Y. was 3rd
"This is the largest kayak fishing event of its kind with the richest payout," said tournament organizer Chad Hoover. "We have 461 anglers from 43 states competing for the title of national champion. This is the first time that we've used multiple bodies of water ... there are more backwaters and places that are inaccessible by power boats than anywhere we've ever had the national championship."
FLW recently announced a partnership with KBF to hold two kayak bass fishing tournaments in 2019 in conjunction with FLW tour events.
