Gardner Takes Two at Elwood!
A grinder kayak fishing tournament doesn't sway Joshua Gardner.
Elwood Reservoir is well known for it’s walleye and wiper but there are also a good number of smallmouth and largemouth bass, if you can find them. Located in the west central part of Nebraska just south of I-80 this remote lake with undeveloped shorelines will give you breathless scenery in every cove which are numerous throughout the lake.
Recently, 34 anglers fishing with the Colorado Bassmasters Club participated in two separate tournaments in that many days. Day 1 brought strong westerly winds along with the already high water levels that the bass had not adjusted to yet. The largemouth were very difficult to find with shorelines covered with half submerged cottonwood trees and their very young trunks. The water temps had dropped to 59 degrees and there were some fry located in a few of the pockets throughout the lake. The smallmouth were in the process of spawning or guarding beds as well from the way we caught them.
Some anglers targeted the largemouth while a portion of the field went after the smallies. Both seemed very difficult to find and catch but a few anglers did figure them out on both days. Joshua Gardner from Colorado was one those anglers. He took the wins on both days with a mixed effort for largemouth and smallmouth bass. On Day 1 I also had a nice area that gave me success and stayed there until two hours to go and went to find more places to fish. As luck would have it, I should have stayed as the original area produced some nice fish for a couple of other anglers. One of them being Gardner who capitalized on the bite. Another angler out of Nebraska, Bobby Rubek found success on both days digging for largemouth along the shorelines. He used a method that would put a limit in his boat both days and take a 4th and 2nd place finish. Tim VanSickler on Day 1 and Matt Arledge on Day 2 would finish third in a very talented field of anglers.
Again, with the high water many anglers were not able to get the bites they needed and we only had four anglers on each day with limits. The puzzle was difficult for everyone. The tournaments were still a lot of fun and there was a lot of camaraderie at the local Big Johnson Bar and Grill. James Strawbridge does a great job running this organization and it showed by the out of state attendance. He also has some great support from fellow angler Matt Flannagan.
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We interviewed Joshua Gardner about his experience and the video is posted below. This guy is an up and coming elite angler in the making and when you hear how he approaches fishing you will soon see why.