Prefishing Tips From The 2021 KBF National Championship (Video)

Matt Ball and Tim Isaacs break down Caddo Lake

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Last week marked one of the biggest annual events for kayak bass anglers, as the KBF National Championshipย kicked off from October 13โ€“15. Competitors came from far and wide to test their skills in the waterways around Shreveport, Louisiana. In this video, 2016 KBF national champ Matt Ball and his running mate Tim Isaacs prefish Caddo Lake and share their tips on โ€œbreaking down the waterโ€ฆto get five big fish on the board on tournament day.โ€

Prefishing Tips from the KBF National Championship

Caddo Lake straddles the border between Texas and Louisiana, covering 25,400 acres of swamp and bayou. An internationally protected wetland, the lake is home to one of the most extensive flooded cypress forests in the U.S., and the cypress trees make a stunning backdrop for some excellent bass fishing. Ball and Isaacs cover the milesโ€”up to 20 a dayโ€”in their Torqeedo-equipped kayaks, power fishing as they go. โ€œJust trying to put as many casts in the water as I can,โ€ explains Ball.

man holds up a bass caught while kayak fishing in Caddo Lake
โ€œWhen youโ€™re looking at a forest like this you got to find something different and I think so far thatโ€™s what we found,โ€ says Matt Ball. | Image: The Little Stuff/YouTube

Based on the dayโ€™s conditions, Ball and Isaacs search for patterns of activity to help them find the bite. Satellite footage on Google Maps can be a big help. โ€œWe had some hits right in this little pinch point right in here,โ€ Ball says, pointing at his phone. โ€œLike a flurry of bites, so Iโ€™m kind of scrolling out on this map and looking for other places that have pinch points.โ€ He also uses Google Maps to track the distance between spots.

Productive Prefishing Takes an Inquiring Mind

โ€œWhen youโ€™re prefishing youโ€™ve got to take everything in,” Ball advises as the pair hunts for secondary patterns. โ€œAnd if you have wind on tournament day,โ€ he continues, โ€œthatโ€™s going to play into a lot of these trees that are out in the open, whereas right now weโ€™ve been catching a lot of our fish along the edge. So, just keep your mind openโ€ฆbecause the conditions today are generally not going to be exactly the same on tournament day.โ€

In addition to some nice catches, Ball provides a walkthrough of the new video catch-release procedure for this yearโ€™s KBF championships. Isaacs also shows off the pedal steering modifications on his motorized kayak, allowing it to turn on a dime.

For more โ€œinstructional fishing videos that focus on the little stuff,โ€ check out The Little Stuff on YouTube.

 

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