Prior to paddling the sprawling waters of Lake St. Clair this past June, Australian kayak angler Jack Gammie had never caught a bass. Nor had Gammie ever cast the Z-Man® bait that would soon help him entice countless heavyweight smallmouth bass and ultimately, win the 2024 Hobie World Championship.
Representing sixteen countries around the globe, including eminent ‘yak pros from China, South Korea, and Kuwait, fifty men and women qualified to enter the world championship of competitive kayak fishing via regional tournaments in their home countries.
But in many ways, the story of this year’s kayak world championship began two years ago on the shores of Sweden’s scenic Lake Vänern. “I first met Jack Gammie at the 2022 Hobie Worlds over in Sweden,” recalls Z-Man kayak pro Ryan Lambert, a talented angler, practical joker and co-host of the Kayak Bass Nation podcast. “Ever since, he’s become like a little brother to me.”
To hear Lambert tell it, the two fun-loving anglers struck up a friendship from day one. “We were constantly goofing around, sabotaging each other’s gear— just a lot of good-natured trash talking and mischief we get into during these kayak derbies. The chance to meet and exchange ideas with anglers all over the world and to experience fishing from all these diverse perspectives . . . that’s what makes today’s kayak scene so cool.”
Ned Rig Assist
As the anglers launched identically rigged Hobie Mirage Pro Angler 14 kayaks for their first day of prefishing on Lake St. Clair (near Windsor, Ontario, Canada), bites were scarce for Gammie, a topnotch competitive kayak angler from Sydney, Australia. About an hour into the day, Gammie was mostly watching adjacent anglers catch fish, pondering his next move when fortune ensued.
“The bite was really slow for myself when I heard my good mate Ryan Lambert shout out a question,” noted Gammie. “‘Hey Jacky boy! Have you caught a smallie yet?’ I told him I hadn’t. He continued catching more fish, so I asked what he was throwing.”
“I’d hooked a dozen smallmouths or so when I realized Jack was struggling a bit,” Lambert recounted. “Eventually, I pedaled over and put a Ned rig in his hands—a NedlockZ™ EWG jighead and green pumpkin Big TRD™. Shot a quick video of him catching his first bass ever. We sat out there floating side by side like that for a while, catching bass after bass.
“Well, you already know what happened after that,” Lambert laughs.
On practice day-two, armed with just couple Big TRDs to get him through the day, Gammie set out to cover water and build a pattern. “Eventually, I stumbled across a good patch of broken rubble and grass, which held quality fish—all in an area no larger than a hockey rink. I knew I had to preserve this spot, so I saved it on GPS and headed in to find Ryan and ask if he had any more of his magic Big TRDs.
“For you matey, I do,” replied Lambert through a grin. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
Gammie responded, simply, “Yes, I think you might.”
Big Water, Big TRDs
During day-one of the Championship, the Big TRD treated Gammie well indeed, helping produce 88.25-inches of St. Clair smallmouth bass, and seventh place in the standings. “Had my limit by 9am that morning, fishing a variety of baits, including the Ned rigged TRD and a dropshot. Left my main area to find more fish and didn’t turn a reel handle for the rest of the day. I was comfortably in the top 10.”
As day-two began stormy and rough, Gammie returned to his “hockey rink” spot and gradually scratched a limit, once again on the Z-Man bait. “Late in the day, I needed to upgrade one small bass, so I picked up the Big TRD, which tricked a nice fat 19-1/4-inch smallmouth and culled out a 14-incher.”
Back at the launch, Lambert sat in 5th place, following a solid day of fishing a one-two punch of Big TRDs alongside a ChatterBait® JackHammer™. After bagging another strong limit of smallmouths, Gammie landed in 2nd place, catch-photo-releasing 89.5-inches of bass, including two stout 19-inch kickers.
“I was down to just one Big TRD in the bag, so I went back to Ryan and asked if he had a few more baits to get me through the last day,” recalled Gammie.
“I told him to come see me tomorrow,” said Lambert, who had something slightly more sneaky in mind for Championship Sunday.
Hijinks and Hoisting Trophies
“At the launch that next morning, Ryan offered a few words of wisdom, and then told me to put these babies to good use,” noted Gammie, gladly accepting a last pack of the game-winning ElaZtech® baits. “As we headed out, his last words to me were ’Go get ‘em Jack-o!’
“Should have known by his goofy grin that Ryan had a few final tricks up his sleeve. Soon as I get in my boat, I discover my steering controls, reel handles and Mirage drive had all been slathered with KY Jelly lubricant—a running joke from our first meeting back in Sweden. He got me good, no doubt. But we all had bigger fish to fry with 4-foot waves and the biggest winds of the tourney that day.”
Gammie stuck to his plan and by 8:30 that morning, had registered his fourth bass. “Two hours later, I had a limit, but needed to upgrade if I wanted a real crack at winning. I also knew the way to make it happen was to pick up the Big TRD and hunt big bites. I threw the lights out of that bait, which produced my biggest limit of the tournament.”
Safely back on shore, Gammie was congratulated by tourney officials and his “great mates” Ryan Lambert and Jordan ‘Teddy Bear’ Marshall. Posting the largest limit of championship at 96.5-inches, each of Gammie’s 5-bass exceeded 19-inches. With a three-day length limit of 274.25-inches, Gammie out-fished second place angler Antoine D. Gagnon of Quebec, Canada by nearly 8-inches.
“These are friendships that last a lifetime,” Lambert observed following the final tournament tally. “Jack and I are planning to meet up back in Australia to go fishing. Can’t wait ‘til he returns the favor and hopefully puts me on a monster barramundi.
“Something tells me he’ll have a box full of Big TRDs by then.”
About Z-Man Fishing Products: A dynamic Charleston, South Carolina based company, Z-Man Fishing Products has melded leading edge fishing tackle with technology for nearly three decades. Creator of the Original ChatterBait®, Z-Man is also the renowned innovators of 10X Tough ElaZtech® superplastics, among the most coveted baits in fresh- and saltwater. Z-Man is one of the fastest-growing lure brands worldwide.
