By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Joey Nania's victory in last week's Bassmaster Open at Oklahoma's Lake Eufaula moved him up to 9th on the Opens Elite Qualifier points list and into position to compete on B.A.S.S.' top tour next year. It also gave him what he desired most from the 2023 campaign – his second berth in the Bassmaster Classic.
A man of great faith, Nania isn't yet certain that God's plan for him is to fish the Elite Series – if it is, he'll still be among the Top 9 when the season concludes in mid-October. However, he knows his presence in the field next March in Tulsa, Okla. (the Classic will be held at Grand Lake) is a superb opportunity to witness for Christ.
"My wife (Jessica) and I talked about it before the season and we agreed that we'd rather win one and qualify for the Classic than make the Elites," said Nania, who finished 13th in the 2022 Classic at Lake Hartwell following his first Open win at Pickwick Lake the previous year. "It's the biggest stage in bass fishing and it allows me to do what God has called me to do. I am a preacher and every time a door opens, I share my faith. I'm called to share the gospel wherever I go and I let God guide my experiences every day.
"I loved my first Classic a year and a half ago – it was so much fun and such an awesome opportunity."
Now 32 years old, Nania has fished competitively at a high level for well over half his lifetime. A native of Washington state now living in Cropwell, Ala., hard by the shore of Lake Logan Martin, he was a two-time Junior World Champion as a teenager. He fished at the triple-A level for more than a decade prior to notching his first win.
When he's not away at tournaments, he guides more than 100 days per year – mostly at Logan Martin, but also on the other Coosa River impoundments. Between those trips and the sponsor income he derives from his content on YouTube and various social meda platforms, he's able to support his family (he and Jessica have two young sons) and thus feels no urgency to advance to tour-level competition.
At Eufaula, he employed finesse tactics to compile 52-08 over three days, including an extremely stout 22-08 haul in the middle round to jump from 25th place to 1st. His winning margin over Illinois teen sensation Trevor McKinney was 1-08.
Nania, a native of Washington state, was a two-time Junior World Champion as a teenager.
He'd never been to the lake before and went in determined to not be overwhelmed by its massive size (Eufaula covers more than 100,000 surface acres).
"I didn't want to try to practice on the entire lake," he said. "I put in at the same ramp every day and went from there down to the dam, where the clearest water was. It was 8 or 10 miles and I had places all up and down that stretch, and then I had one creek.
He located some quality fish on deep brushpiles. He also had a key point that was inundated with white bass in 19 to 22 feet of water, but there were some big largemouth mixed in that would bite once the whites had concluded their frenetic pecking routine.
That point surrendered two 4-pounders and a near-3 on Day 1, then a 4 1/2 and a 6 1/2 the following day.
His primary offering was a Ned-Miki rig (a hybrid of the Ned and Damiki rigs) similar to what Jeff Gustafson used to win this year's Classic on the Tennessee River. He said it's produced about 75 percent of the fish he's caught during the Opens campaign. It consists of a a 3/16-ounce Z-Man Finesse EyeZ jighead with a 1/0 hook and a Z-Man StreakZ 3.75, which is a fluke-style offering that imitates shad.
He used a 7'3" Temple Fork Outfitters Medium-Light Plus rod, 10-pound Vicious No-Fade Braid and a 14-pound Vicious Tora fluorocarbon leader.
His white bass-infested point was unproductive in the final round and he had about 12 pounds in his livewell late in the day. He stopped on a rocky bank near the launch, which he said was covered by 50 boats on day 2, and used a more conventional Ned rig to catch a pair of 3 1/2-pounders that bumped his bag up to 16 pounds and allowed him to hold off McKinney.
"I was pretty sure that 12 pounds wasn't quite enough and if I was meant to win, it was going to have to happen right there by the ramp," he said. "I hadn't caught a keeper doing that since the first 2 days of practice – I tried during the tournament and never caught anything.
"Apparently it was an afternoon deal and you just had to be there when the sun was right."
