Tag: Lake Winnipesaukee

Jake Angulas Gambles Big on Winnipesaukee and It Pays Off

July 23, 2024 0 Comment

On July 20, the 2024 Dakota Lithium Elite Kayak Fishing Series, presented by Black Hall Outfitters, hosted its second event of the season on one of the Northeast’s greatest fisheries: New Hampshire’s famed Lake Winnipesaukee!

With the scenic backdrop of the White Mountains and the pristine natural environment, forty-one anglers battled wind, waves, an endless parade of pleasure boaters, and aggressive smallmouth.

In contrast to our previous event on Great Sacandaga Lake, the smallmouth on this day weren’t as willing to eat, requiring many anglers to work much harder for their catches—and leaving many others scratching their heads.

Regardless, the tournament was a nail-biting affair, with anglers in the top ten constantly jockeying for position throughout the day. From the morning bite to the final moments, the leaderboard saw continuous movement as competitors reeled in bass after bass. Each hour saw a new contender scratching their way into the top ten, with inches separating the leaders in a fierce contest.


(Watch our live event broadcast on YouTube)

The lake’s diverse habitats and abundance of bass ensured that no angler was ever truly out of the running. As the hours wore on, the relentless back-and-forth battle at the top of the leaderboard highlighted the exhilarating nature of competitive kayak fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee.

In the end, it was New Hampshire native—and our Great Sacandaga Lake winner—Jake Angulas who clinched first place with a total of 93.75 inches of bass, highlighted by a standout 21.50-inch largemouth.

Jake sat atop the leaderboard for much of the morning until Matt Zapala not only took the lead, but increased it. Jake’s decision to swing for the fences and hunt for a kicker largemouth paid off, earning him the Fresh Baitz Big Bass of the event.

Matt Zapala followed closely in second place, amassing an equally impressive 92.75 inches of smallmouth bass.

Steve Hedges secured third place with 90 inches, while the fourth spot went to Todd Dyer, who finished with 89.50 inches, narrowly winning the tie-breaker against Nick Audi.

     

Check out the full results here and watch our EKF LIVE recap show with Todd Dyer and Matt Zapala…

Our next event will be on the St. Lawrence River on August 17! Register here.

Want to Win a Micro Power-Pole and Spike?

July 2, 2024 0 Comment

Want to win a Micro Power-Pole and Spike?

Register for our Lake Winnipesaukee event by July 14 for your chance!

Morcone Wins the Tie-Breaker

August 31, 2022 0 Comment

Lake Winnipesaukee was the fourth stop for Elite Kayak Fishing this year. Expectations were high leading up to the event, as Lake Winnipesuakee has been putting up big limits all season.

And she didn’t disappoint! The top 24 anglers hauled in over 80 inches of mostly smallmouth bass, with the top eight anglers being separated by just two inches. A true slugfest!

Like most summer tournaments on Winnipesaukee, Mike Morcone had to go deep to find the winning fish.

“It basically came down to locating big bait balls in 45–65 feet to target the better-quality fish,” Mike said. “My feeling was 90–92 inches would win, so I never felt anyone would run away [with it], so to speak, but in my mind, I felt I needed a little more. Competition was stacked, so I figured what we were seeing across the board was a solid trend. I kept that in mind and just stayed calm, telling myself the quality was a touch down all around and the slightly smaller limits might just do it. I saw better fish in practice for sure, so the last hour or so I figured the next upgrade might just win the whole thing.”

And he was right. A key late-game upgrade sealed the deal. But barely.

Mike tied for 1st place with Nick Audi, current Elite Kayak Fishing Angler of the Year leader. They both had 89.50 inches, but Mike had the largest fish between them, an 18.25-inch smallmouth, which was the tie-breaker.

Having only fished one other Elite Kayak Fishing event this season, this win was enough points to secure Morcone a spot in the championship at Lake Champlain next month.

“Well, I couldn’t make many events with all the family-life chaos,” Mike said, “so that’s definitely a great perk to the win. I’ve never fished Champlain and have to travel to Pennsylvania this weekend for KFL, so I’m really hoping I can make it work! Should be a blast.”

As mentioned, Nick Audi secured a 2nd place finish, as well as the top spot in the Angler of the Year race, while Jake Angulas took 3rd with 88.75 inches.

For this event, we paid out six spots, plus lunker—nearly $10,000 in cash and prizes from our sponsors: Three Belles Outfitters, Bixpy, Harpoon Brewery, and Dakota Lithium Batteries!

Special thanks to Messy Mike’s Barbecue & Catering for amazing gift bag!

The rest of the top ten played out as follows:

4th – Ryan Matylewicz (88.75)
5th – Matt Lee (88.50)
6th – Ken Wood (88.00)
7th – Matthew Zapala (87.75)
8th – Joseph Daddeo (87.50)
9th – Jason Gardner (86.50)
10th – Anthony Campbell (86.00)

The Bixpy Big Bass winner was Ronel Mullen, with a massive 21.75-inch Winnipesaukee largemouth!

Congratulations once again to all the winners!

This event concluded our regular season. Next up is the championship on Lake Champlain, September 10–11!

Down to the Wire on Winnipesaukee

August 18, 2021 0 Comment

The fourth and final regular-season Elite Kayak Fishing event of the season—presented by Three Belles Outfitters and Bixpy—took place on Saturday, August 14, in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire on famed Lake Winnipesaukee.

Sixty-one anglers battled wind, sporadic rain, and thousands of recreational watercraft crisscrossing the lake, hoping for the win and to punch their ticket to next month’s championship event on Lake Champlain.

The fishing on Winnipesaukee is world class, boasting a healthy population of largemouth and smallmouth, lake trout, landlocked salmon, and more. Anglers submitted 228 scorable bass, with the top ten finding themselves in a tight race for the trophy.

The week leading up to the event was full of heat and humidity, making pre-fishing a challenge for some, while others were more successful. Lower temperatures and humidity greeted anglers the morning of the event, with the chance of showers throughout the day, and this no doubt had an effect on the fishing for many.

Massachusetts’s John Ferreira got off to a quick start, however, submitting an early limit in the low 80s and culling up to 84.75, which kept him in the lead for the majority of the day.

As the morning went on and the day heated up, other competitors started catching up, submitting and culling fish regularly. By mid-morning a familiar name had found his way to the top of the leaderboard.

Jake Angulas, a New Hampshire native and winner of our Lake Messalonskee and Lake Wallenpaupack events, targeted unpressured smallmouth, drop-shotting as deep as 100 feet. When the standings went offline at 1 PM, it appeared to be Jake’s event for the taking.

But Josh Smith, host of the Dark Waters Kayak Fishing Podcast, had other plans…

Josh started his day with a giant 22.50-inch largemouth, hauled up from 30 feet of water on a ned rig! But the fishing was slow, his bites coming few and far between, and more than once he considered leaving the event early. About once an hour, though, the fishing gods would give him a good reason to stay.

At 12:59:19, Josh photographed his fifth and final fish of the day, a solid 19.50, which he uploaded at 1:00:43, just after the standings went offline. This fish pushed him to 88.75 inches, giving him a near three-inch victory over Jake Angulas.


Josh credits his win to hard work and eating right.

His 22.50 also took home lunker gold for not only the event but the season, besting the previous season lunker, a 21.25 caught by Adam Rourke at our Cayuga Lake event (Justin Lacasse also caught a 21.25 at Lake Messalonskee, but Adam’s next largest had that now-irrelevant tie broken). Josh took home an additional $500 for catching the biggest bass of the event and a Bixpy Jet for the biggest of the season!

The event paid out six spots and over $7,000! Check out the final standings here on Fishing Chaos.

Elite Kayak Fishing would like to thank Judy Richardson and New Hampshire Kayak Fishing for helping make this event possible.

And to our sponsors—Three Belles Outfitters and Bixpy, Dakota Lithium, Jackson Kayak’s Orion Coolers, and Savur Outdoors—whose support throughout this season has been amazing!

And to all the anglers who supported not only this event but have supported Elite Kayak Fishing as a whole—thank you!

Up next, on September 14, we’re heading to Lake Champlain for our first championship event. If you’ve qualified, head on over to Fishing Chaos and register.