Monster bags await Kayak Series Championship anglers at Lake Fork
March 14, 2025
YANTIS, Texas — Giant bass await anglers who qualified for the 2025 Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship at Lake Fork scored by TourneyX. With temperatures rising, multitime championship qualifier Matthew Scotch, who is based out of Fort Worth, Texas, believes this tournament will produce impressive bags.
“That time of year is probably the best time of the year to be there,” the east Texan said. “In my opinion, you’re gonna have the most fish at their fattest and healthiest as the spawn kicks off. There will be waves of fish spawning all the way through May, but when you get there in March, I mean, you just got the first crack at him. It’s gonna be really, really good.”
Tournament days are scheduled for March 19-20. Competitors will be able to launch from any approved public access on the lake starting at 7 a.m. CT and will have until 3 p.m. to fish. This is a catch-measure-release format event, and the top finishers will be honored on the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour stage at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on March 21.
Lake Fork has reached a legendary status as one of, if not the, primary destination in the country for trophy largemouth bass. The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series showed the fishery’s amazing potential last March as then-rookie Trey McKinney caught 130 pounds, 15 ounces over four days to win a massive event that saw the entire Top 10 join the Century Club.
The Kayak Series has made three trips to Lake Fork, with one-day events in March of 2020 and 2021 respectively and the first two-day event on the lake in February 2022.
Scotch, who finished second in last October’s Bassmaster Kayak Series event at Caddo Lake/Lake Bistineau to qualify for this event, believes multiple patterns could play out, which opens up plenty of opportunities for anglers. Weather will determine how far bass will move toward their spawning areas. The Little Caney section of the lake will be popular, but Scotch thinks much of the lake will be in play.
“It turns on early here. It may not be a heavy spawn, but it depends on the weather,” he said. “If we have the right warming trend, we might see an awesome spawn tournament. But if we get a cold front, it might be one of those things where it is a little more prespawn. You can’t come to Fork at a better time of year, really. The middle of March is the sweet time to come.”
A shallow bite should be heating up when anglers arrive, Scotch said. The bass heading toward beds will stage on secondary points close to the spawning grounds. There is also shoreline alligator grass the bass like to get in, but if the water is low, that won’t play quite as much.
Some of those prespawn bass will also school up around hard spots in 12 to 24 feet of water. For those with forward-facing sonar on their kayaks, there will also be opportunities to pick apart some of the standing timber the lake is known for.
Any pattern could produce a heavyweight class of largemouth, and Scotch said he would not be surprised to see a 24.5-incher light up TourneyX during the tournament.
“Just because there will be bass up shallow doesn’t mean someone won’t catch them out deep,” he said. “You will be able to catch them in so many different ways.”
Red crankbaits, ChatterBaits and Texas-rigged worms like a Yamamoto Senko will be popular choices amongst anglers, Scotch anticipates. During the 2024 Elite event, jerkbaits and jighead minnows played a major role offshore as well.
The Wood County Economic Development Commission will be hosting the event.
2025 Bassmaster Kayak Championship Sponsor: Yamaha Rightwaters
2025 Bassmaster Kayak Series Title Sponsor: Newport
2025 Bassmaster Kayak Series Presenting Sponsor: Native Watercraft2025 Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year Sponsor: Dakota Lithium
