2018 KBF National Championship Recap

As 2018 comes to an end, I start looking back at some of my most successful fishing moments of 2018. I’d say right at the top would have to be the KBF National Championship on Kentucky Lake on March 23-23.
I’ve been to KY Lake the past several years for the KBF National Championship with two of my buddies. This year was no different, we all head down to Paris, TN early in the week to get a couple days of pre-fishing in. The bite was tough as the weather was changing and water being pulled out of the lake. I have never seen KY Lake that low so I thought the fish would probably be moving out deep. During the days leading up to the tourney, I tried finding a shallow bite since that is was I’m most comfortable with. That turned out to be a tough bite.

Come tourney morning on the first day, I thought I would head out to the main lake and try to fish some of those KY Lake ledges you’re always hearing about. After throwing everything I had in the kayak and not getting any bites for 6 hours, I decided it was time to head back to where I was most comfortable fishing, shallow. As soon as I get back in the bay, bam, my first fish and it was a good one, 18.5 inches on a jig. Within 2 hours I had two more good ones but I ran out of time. I finished the day not filling my limit but I had 3 good fish. I was in 127th place after Day 1 with only 3 fish. Day 2 morning I go back in the bay and start fishing 2-8 feet of water again. Within 2 hours and I had a solid limit. Day 2 ended and I was 4th for the day. Day 2 bumped me all the way from 127th to 23rd overall. I’m glad I didn’t get frustrated after starting so poorly but I’ve always wondered where I might have placed if I stuck to my original game plan of fishing what I knew.

All in all, it was a great time with a lot of great people. Lesson learned to never count myself out and to stick with what I know works. 23rd out of 751 of the best anglers in the country is a great tournament and it was a great way to kick off 2018.

– Brandon Sorg