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Several flags decorated the Earle May Boat Basin this weekend, welcoming the Hobie Bass Open Series (BOS) to Bainbridge. This fishing tournament is set across the country, and distinguishes itself from other bass tournaments, as it’s competitors fish from kayaks, rather than traditional boats.

The first stop in this year’s tournament was Lake Seminole, with 175 anglers braving Saturday’s dreary weather. While the tournament was headquartered at the Earle May Boat Basin, the anglers were not limited to using it as their launch point, and could launch from both the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers.
While many bass tournaments require participants keep the bass and weigh them at the end, the BOS has anglers measure their catches with a ketch board, photograph the fish measured on said board, release it, and submit the picture to an official contest app to be scored.

891 fish in total were caught over the weekend. The tournament winners were as follows:
First place, Bryan Howell of Texas, total fish length at 205.50”; second place, Joey Vanyo of Minnesota, total fish length at 201.50”; and third place, Zack Hall of Michigan, total fish length of 184.50”.

“Partnering with Hobie BOS tournaments offers a unique type of bass angler the opportunity to try their luck on Lake Seminole,” Bainbridge Community affairs director Crystal Hines said. “This is the second time we have hosted Hobie anglers and this year, the tournament grew by over 50 kayakers and yielded their largest finish yet.”

The next tournament in the series is scheduled for Watts Barr Lake, in Knoxville, Tennessee, on February 20-21.