Hobie Bass Open Series hits Lake St. Clair

The fifth main event in Hobie’s new elite-level kayak tournament trail, the Hobie Bass Open Series (B.O.S.) on Lake St. Clair on Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30, was a huge success producing gigantic smallmouth bass and close competition. Hosted at the ConCorde Inn of Clinton Township, the event saw a skilled field catching an extraordinary number of trophy smallmouth bass over the two-day tournament.

“For those who enjoy fishing for smallmouth bass, Lake St. Clair is an absolute mecca,” says Tournament Director, AJ McWhorter. “The numbers of quality fish available and the potential for a trophy-size bass is second-to-none. St. Clair’s bass are fighting current constantly, so they are so aggressive and strong. Every time you set the hook you feel like you’ve hooked into the biggest you’ve ever caught and a lot of times those fish are just 3-pounders. They’ll give you everything you want time and time again; that’s what makes that lake so special as a fishery.” 

The St. Clair tournament turned out to be one of the closest B.O.S. events ever judged in Hobie’s Catch-Photo-Release format. “We had 3/4 inch separating our top four anglers and another 3/4 inch separating our next four anglers, so the competition was really close and really exciting!” McWhorter shares. “These anglers were all catching quality fish with most averages over 18 inches for their two-day 10-fish totals. Every 1/4 inch made a difference. It was exciting to watch and judge, and for the anglers, it was one of the best fishing experiences they’d ever had.”

During prefishing the week leading up to the event, anglers were posting double hookups, personal-best smallmouth upwards of 21 inches, and enjoying phenomenal weather. Everyone was getting excited and feeling confident that Lake St. Clair was living up to its reputation. But most anglers also realized how close the competition might be. In a tournament where success is judged in inches and not weight, a 1/4 inch more or less could make a significant difference in a competitor’s final standing. 

Day one was a free-for-all battle with large numbers and massive fish landed. The bass were hungry, and anglers caught fish with all their favorite techniques. The smallmouth were in a postspawn transition, and competitors found them spread out over relatively shallow flats, which made targeting them an easy proposition. Anglers who found hard bottom with grass found the fish, and it became a culling game; ultimately, it would take a 19-inch average to stay in the top 20. 

Hobie B.O.S. Kentucky Lake Champion, Kristine Fischer, jumped into the lead and stayed there for quite awhile with five bass totaling 93 inches. She found success with reaction baits, and a soft plastic paddle tail swimbait was her trick for the bigger fish. She upgraded to finish day one with 96.25 inches and ended up sitting in third place. Angler Eric Siddiqi also had 93 inches by 10 a.m. His fish were eating well and he landed approximately 40 fish over the course of the day. He ended day one with 96 inches in tie for fourth place. 

“Day one I had a lot of bites,” Siddiqi says. “I probably had 10 bites in the first 30 minutes of the tournament, but I didn’t fish very clean. I lost over half of them. They kept jumping off so I had to make some changes. I fished a small swimbait and a tube most of the day.”

No one demonstrated more consistency throughout day one than Jim Orr. Orr submitted five fish over 19 inches and finished the day in second place.

The class of day one, however, was Dustin Murguia, who had measured five bass by noon tallying an impressive 98.5 inches, including a 21.5 inch and another 21-inch kicker. Dusty conservatively estimated the biggest fish at 5.5 pounds. “It may have been six,” he says. “My spot was go big or go home. If I go to this spot and they are biting, they will all be big fish. But if they aren’t biting, there won’t be much in the way of catching fish. Lucky for me they were biting!” Murguia, known as “Dusty Yakker” on social media, would hold on to retain the day one lead. At the end of day one, the top 24 anglers all had 90+ inches, amounting to an 18-inch average. First and 10th place were separated by a mere 4 inches.

Fishing is rarely about what happened yesterday; it’s about what’s happening right now, and this proved true on day two, which saw many changes. After stable weather and flat-calm fishing conditions throughout most of the prefishing period and day one, the wind turned back on and posed a variety of challenges for the anglers. With wind came the mayfly hatches, increased chop and lots of current. The anglers had a much tougher time consistently landing larger fish, as most of the quality fish were “rolling” in the drifting mayflies. “The fish were so lazy eating the mayflies, they looked like dolphins rolling on top of the water,” recalls Siddiqi.

Some anglers embraced the conditions Lake St. Clair offered and caught fish sipping on the bugs. Many anglers decided to add sight fishing into their arsenal, targeting fish coming to the surface, as well as with with their usual offerings. The water in most places was still incredibly clear with 10 feet of visibility, so It was easy to see the big, brown bass rising to the surface and then slowly descending back to their favorite hard-bottom humps. 

Canadian Richard Ofner would be day two’s hero, launching into the lead with a 96.5-inch limit that included a 21-inch tank. A local favorite on St. Clair, Ofner used his local knowledge and experience, slowing way down and fishing plastics around humps over a massive flat. The strategy paid off, lifting Ofner’s two-day total to 187.75 inches. But it was still anyone’s game. 

Siddiqi struggled early on day two, finding bass more reluctant than most of his competitors. He went without a bite during the first hour of competition. His bites remained infrequent as the day progressed, but Siddiqi capitalized on every opportunity, never losing a fish. He ended up landing 10 fish throughout the day using the same pattern: dragging a tube, but slowing way down to keep his bait in the strike zone longer to match the mood of the finicky, mayfly-filled smallies. 

“Day two was a little bit different,” says Siddiqi. “There was a big mayfly hatch and the wind blew all the dead mayflies over to our area. And when that happens, those smallmouth will come up and take big mouthfuls. They don’t have to work hard, and it’s difficult to get them to pay attention to anything else. Seeing that, I knew it was going to be tough, and I was going to have to slow down. So most of the day I just dragged a tube really slow. When I’d see them come up take a mouthful of mayflies I’d throw a swimbait, and I was actually able to catch one of my keepers doing that. But the rest came on the tube. I had a bunch of good spots marked in a two-mile stretch and slowly worked my way through those areas.”

Similarly, Fischer decided she needed to change her day-two strategy and made a geographic move where she found more-willing bass. The quality lacked, however, and Fischer only landed one smallmouth over 19 inches. But he rest of the field was struggling, too. How Fischer’s two-day total of 188.25 inches would fare remained to be seen. 

Matthew Scotch, who made the longest trek to fish the smallmouth capital of the world – driving all the way from Texas – had a good day two, landing 20.25 inch and 19.75 inch bass that boosted his two-day total to 188.25 inches. 

The final results were as close as they could be – so close, in fact, that tournament officials had to separate second and third place with a tiebreaker. Here are the results:

The Top 8 competitors at the Hobie B.O.S. St. Clair event qualified for the Tournament of Champions on Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita, slated for Nov. 9 and 10. The top 8 competitors were Eric Siddiqi, First Place, 188.75 inches; Kristine Fischer, Second Place, 188.25 inches; Matthew Scotch, Third Place, 188.25 inches; Jim Orr, Fourth Place, 188 inches; Richard Ofner, Fifth Place, 187.75 inches; Dave Sewell, Sixth Place, 187.5 inches; Jaxton Orr, Seventh Place, 187.25 inches; and RJ Hoover, Eighth Place, 187 inches. 

Champion Eric Siddiqi gives the highest credit to tournament organizers for what he called a spectacularly well-run event. “I love Hobie events,” the thrilled angler exclaims. “They always run smooth. AJ McWhorter is an amazing tournament director, and we can always count on everything going well. The camaraderie with all the other anglers also makes it a great time,” he continues. “And this event, in particular, was really fun. St. Clair has become my favorite lake. It’s a gem; there’s no place like it. When you look at the total lengths and weights caught at every tournament here, you just don’t get that anywhere else. The smallmouth are on steroids, and it doesn’t matter what time of year it is. It’s just an incredible fishery, and I can’t wait to come back.”

If you would like to join the fun and excitement that comes from participating in a Hobie B.O.S. series event, simply visit iAnglerTournament.com and register for a tournament. The next main event will be held on Lake Guntersville in Alabama, Sept. 21 and 22.

More about the Hobie Bass Open Series

Birthed out of their popular Hobie Bass Open on Kentucky Lake, and in response to angler demand, Hobie has created what is essentially the first elite-level tournament circuit in kayak fishing, the 2019 Hobie Bass Open Series (B.O.S.). The B.O.S. will comprise of six Open events, 11 satellite tournaments, one last chance shootout and a Tournament of Champions (TOC) in November 2019 on Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita and hosted by Mountain Harbor Resort.

A Catch, Photo, Release (CPR) format—a conservation-based practice that actually finds its origins in competitive kayak fishing—will test an angler’s skill on premier fisheries during prime conditions. Anglers will be able to turn in their longest five bass each day in hopes of maxing out a 10 fish limit, scored in inches, over the course of the two-day tournament.

The first event headquartered at Rhea County Welcome Center in Dayton, Tennessee, and followed with the 2019 Hobie Bass Open Series event on Lake Shasta, California, March 9-10, 2019; Kentucky Lake, Kentucky, May 18-19; Lake Fork, Texas, June 1-2; Lake St. Clair, Michigan, June 29-30; Lake Guntersville, Alabama, Sept. 21-22; and the B.O.S. Shootout, Nov. 8 on Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita and Tournament of Champions, also on Lake Ouachita, Nov. 9 and 10.