SHREVEPORT, La – Caddo Lake has always suited Casey Reed’s run-and-gun fishing style, but it was a vastly different approach that carried the Virginia native to his best tournament yet on the fishery that splits Louisiana and Texas.

With a total of 196.5 inches, Reed won the 2026 Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series at Caddo Lake/Lake Bistineau presented by Native Watercraft, edging out second-place Dontrell Sullivan by a quarter inch to earn the $10,500 first-place and a berth in the 2026 Kayak Series National Championship.

“I’ve been chasing a Bassmaster trophy for the last six years. I’ve wanted one so bad, and after practice I was just hoping to do well enough to cash a check,” Reed said. “The last few hours of practice, I found a spot where I knew I could go catch some fish. I didn’t know what it would turn out to be, but it turned out to be a magical spot.”

Reed has been towards the top of the Angler of the Year race each of the last two seasons, and adding a win to his 20th place finish at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes puts him in contention once again this season.

Securing a berth in the National Championship, however, might change how he approaches the rest of the season.

“I always worry about making the Championship. It is the best event we have, and it is not easy to qualify for,” Reed said. “To have that out of the way takes some stress off. I (don’t really) have to worry about points, I can fish to win it.”

After a stormy and windy Day 1, much cooler temperatures greeted anglers to start the second day. Even still, three anglers reached the 100-inch threshold with multiple competitors eclipsing the 90-inch mark.

Normally, Reed’s Caddo Lake strategy is to fish as many cypress trees as he possibly can with his signature shaky head setup. This week was much different, as Reed maximized one small area to catch the winning bass. The spot was a small flat in 5 feet of water between groups of cypress trees where postspawn largemouth were feeding on baitfish.

“The bass just kept coming through, and you had to be there right when they came through,” he explained. “They weren’t there all the time, but they’d show up and it’d be fast and furious for a few minutes.”

Several feeding windows opened throughout the day, especially on Day 1, and Reed would use his eyes or his forward-facing sonar to make accurate casts to where the bass were feeding. A golden shiner-colored Yo-Zuri Rattl’n Vibe produced many of his best bites while a ChatterBait, squarebill crankbait and a shaky head also caught key bass.

Reed stayed in his primary spot the entirety of Day 1 essentially, leaving only a couple times to let it rest before playing defense once he reached 96.25 inches. He then opened Day 2 by landing a 22.75-incher, his biggest of the tournament, and filled out a limit by mid-morning.

The bite got tougher as the day progressed, and Reed was forced to make a move to a similar spot. That move produced a 21-incher. Two casts later, he upgraded again.

“I was through the roof excited,” he said. “Right there, in my mind, I had a feeling everything was meant to be today. Everything was going right.

Sullivan spent his time on Caddo Lake as well, landing limits measuring 100.25 inches and 96 inches for a total of 196.25 inches.

“It feels pretty close to winning one,” Sullivan said. “Being this close and being up here with the class of anglers we fish against, it is nice to be at the top for once.”

Capitalizing on a shad spawn helped the North Carolina angler achieve a quick start with a Bizz Baits buzzbait on Day 1, but with a much cooler morning on Day 2, the water temperatures dropped and the shad did not return.

Bites were hard to come by up shallow, but Sullivan made a move to a bluegill bed in 6 feet of water he found in practice and filled out his initial limit. Around that bed, he rotated between a white Z-Man Evergreen JackHammer with a Keitech Easy Shiner and a black and blue JackHammer paired with a Bizz Baits Minner.

“I think the cold might have pushed some fish out to the bluegill bed,” he said.

After checking another area, he returned to the bluegill bed and landed an 18-inch on the JackHammer and then a 21-incher on a jerkbait. With only a couple minutes left on the clock, Sullivan hooked up with a bass he felt might have put him over the top, but it pulled off before he could get a look at it.

Kobi May, a Carson-Newman student-angler, finished third with 193 inches. The Tennessean caught 98.5 inches before landing 94.5 inches on the second day.

“My personal best coming into this week was a 6-pounder and I broke that five times. I caught a 10.65 the last day of practice,” May said. “It fished really well this week.”

Using a Hideup Coike, May targeted cypress trees near creek channels.

“(Sunday) I put my head down and stuck in one area,” he said. “I tried to catch (Casey) and (Dontrell) two but never could. That’s the way it goes.”

Tennessee’s Ron Butler Jr. and Texas’s Guillermo Gonzales rounded out the Top 5 with 191.75 inches and 190.25 inches respectively. Michigan’s Myles Sayles caught the Big Bass of the Tournament, a 24.75-inch largemouth that bit on Day 1.

Full results of this event can be found on Bassmaster.com and TourneyX.

This event is being hosted by Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission.

 

2026 Bassmaster Kayak Series Title Sponsor: Newport

2026 Bassmaster Kayak  Series Presenting Sponsor: Native Watercraft
2026 Bassmaster Kayak  Series Angler of the Year Sponsor: Pro-Guide Batteries

 

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