Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships

Dylan Akins year as the Bassmaster College Series Bracket champion is off to a strong, albeit snowy start. Akins finished the first Bassmaster Open of his career in 18^th-place, and while most Open competitors would agree they could have done without the frigid forecast through practice and tournament days, Akins may be getting used to the cold.

Not only did Akins deal with the historic winter storm that saw snow accumulation as far south as Florida and caused day one of the Bassmaster Opens season on Clarks Hill to be postponed. The 23-year-old Georgia native also made a white-knuckle cross-country drive in his brand-new Toyota Tundra on January 9^th, the day he took possession of his new ride.

One of the perks of winning the Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket, besides qualification to the Bassmaster Classic and a slot in the Opens, is the full use of a Toyota Tundra and a Nitro Z20 bass boat sporting your school’s colors. Unfortunately for Akins, he was scheduled to pick up his truck at Dynamic Sponsorships headquarters in Tulsa, OK the same day a winter storm was set to wreak havoc on travelers along the I-40 corridor (Jan. 9-11).

Akins flight landed about the same time the snow flurries began. His trip back to Georgia would normally take 12-hours in good conditions, but with every minute that passed travel conditions worsened. While Akins would have preferred to wait until the storm passed, the reality was he needed to get back home to continue rigging his new truck and boat.  After studying a few weather radars, Akins elected to gas up his new ride, grab a Chick-Fil-A sandwich to go and hit the road.

“I was eager to get my new rig home, and I thought, well hoped I guess, that the forecast wasn’t going to be as bad as they were saying,” Akins said. “I figured I might have to drive in snow for the first few hours or so, but I’d get in front of it by Little Rock at the latest. Man was I wrong.”

Akins spent approximately the next 9-hours averaging 45-mph on the interstate and dealt with more stress than fighting a double-digit bass on light line. While this may sound a bit dramatic to northern readers, many parts of Arkansas saw anywhere from 8-inches to over a foot of snow on January ninth. Those are difficult driving conditions for anyone, let alone for a dude from the south who had “driven in flurries once or twice.”

After witnessing his share of weather-related wrecks and staying connected with his Dad who was actively following his progress, Akins finally got in front of the storm around Memphis. He opted to drive until the wee hours of the morning so the weather wouldn’t catch back up with him. Many aspiring young anglers might not realize it, but being a part-time truck driver and meteorologist is all part of the job description of “professional angler”, which Akins can now attest to.

Little did he know that this was a precursor for things to come, as Akins and the entire field of Bassmaster Open anglers were dealt a forecast of snow, ice, and temperatures in the teens last week at Clarks Hill. Akins winter storm driving experience came in handy immediately.

“I bought the first ice scraper of my life driving home from Tulsa,” Akins said with a laugh. “Out of six people in our house at Clarks Hill, I was the only one with ice scraper. It was a hot commodity… Everyone was wanting to borrow it all week.”

When it came to fishing, Akins hand stayed hot much like his 2024 efforts. The former college fishing standout used a Strike King Baby Z-Too on a ½-ounce Spotlight Head Jig Head to target deep water largemouth relating to bait and brushpiles or rocks. With his ultimate goal of finishing in the top 50 of the points standings so he can advance to the three Bassmaster Elite Qualifier tournaments, Akins 18^th-place finish is a perfect start to his 2025 Opens campaign.