The NPFL Championship is Here!

Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons

Just a couple of weeks after stop one of the 2024 NPFL season ended, the qualifying anglers and their families made their way to Del Rio, Texas, for the inaugural Epic Baits NPFL Championship event, paying out over $200,000 to the field and $100,000 to the winning angler.

The 2021 Progressive AOY winner, Keith Carson, qualified for this year’s championship despite missing a regular-season event in 2023. Due to other conflicts, his absence hurt his chances at another AOY win, but he was able to fish his way into 18th overall, earning almost $30,000.

Carson headed to Amistad from West Point Lake in Georgia after he wrapped up another pro-level event and missed the first two days of practice. Despite his unfamiliarity with Amistad, Carson was excited to get there in time for the final day of practice on Tuesday.

“It is 16 hours from Georgia to West Texas, and I will get one day to look around. With the championship field heavy on the top end, $100,000 for first place, I am not interested in finishing in second place,” said Carson, who was an hour away from arriving at the house for the week with anglers John Cox and Dustin Smith. “I heard the water is extremely low, over 60 feet, and the bottom is very silty.”

Coming off an event where he relied on forward-facing sonar (FFS), Carson is comfortable fishing shallow on a whim if needed and planned on spending his only practice day looking for staging fish with his electronics in hopes of finding less pressured fish with the majority of the anglers opting to fish the bank.

“I have been putting in the effort to learn the FFS, and living in Florida, we do not have many opportunities to do so,” he added. “Coming into this event, with fish supposedly not spawning due to water conditions, I am planning to go and keep expanding on what I have learned and trying it out in Texas. The weights (on Amistad) have been all over the place recently in local events, and a few guys catch them well, and then the weights drop off. I just hope to run into them.”

Fresh off winning the 2023 Progressive Angler of the Year and a top ten to start the 2024 season, Todd Goade is fishing with a mission and is carrying that with him to Texas. Goade has had a “decent” practice and located several areas where he is getting bites. Knowing that a couple of big fish will go a long way during the tournament, Goade has focused his efforts on expanding on what he has found to locate the bigger fish.

“The water is 65 degrees, and I am seeing signs of bass moving shallow,” he said. “I think we are between moon phases, and the big fish are spooky and hard to catch. I have figured out a few keys to getting bites and have several patterns working for me right now (after two days of practice).”

Looking ahead to Thursday and day one of the tournament, Goade is excited about stable weather. He has been covering lots of water, like most, and has figured out how to catch both smallmouth and largemouth thus far.

“We have some weather maybe projected for Thursday, but otherwise, we should be fairly consistent throughout the event,” he added. “I am fishing water mostly to myself but also have seen a few guys, and I am confident I am fishing some baits nobody else in the field is throwing, which could be a factor during the event.”

Goade has experience in Texas despite fishing Amistad in the past, and the notable comparisons might just clue him into success this week.

“To me, this lake looks exactly like Douglas in Tennessee, with the water low. It also fishes just like another Texas lake I have been on before, and so far, the same baits are helping me get some bites. Again, I am going to be covering water, fishing how I am comfortable, and the fish are wanting to move up; it could be a very fun week.”

“Local angler” Nick Brown lives on Lake Fork and has a history on Amistad when the two lakes were equally as good. Unfortunately for the NPFL anglers this week, Brown notes that most folks, including himself, were expecting a full-blown spawning event which would have given him an advantage, but instead, the field is as evenly odded as it could be.

“This is the fairest championship we could have seen, and Amistad is going to be anyone’s game,” said Brown. “Everyone should catch fish, and anyone could get a big bite at any time and make a difference in how the standings shake out. I expected this event to be all sight fishing, but with the weather and other factors, it looks like we might not see much of that at all.”

Like Goade, Brown is finding plenty of fish staged and ready to move to the banks, but the low, murky water is going to make it hard to see even if the fish were on their beds.

“Some guys may catch some spawners, but I don’t think it will be won that way at all. The staple is going to be the drains, draws, and such leading into the spawn areas, but it’s been tough to locate fish in those typical areas, too. If you get offshore, most banks are very steep, and you can be in 90 to 100 feet very quickly,” he added.

With the water steadily falling over the month before, an average of 3 inches per day, the anglers are now seeing stable water levels and steady warm weather. Brown reported temperatures in the 90s during the day and 60s at night.

“Everyone thinks I have the waypoints, and I certainly do,” he noted. “But, they are all 30 feet out of the water at the moment, and the fish are waiting to make a move to the banks if they are not already. If you are catching fish right now, you are doing good because this place can shut you down fast. We have the top guys in the league fishing this week, and most guys will be doing the same thing; it is going to be fun.”

The 26 angler field this week is comprised of the top 25 from the 2023 Progressive Angler of the Year race as well as the regular season event winners.