OCEANSIDE, Calif. (December 2, 2022) – There’s a new king on the Hobie Bass Open Series (BOS) Anchored by Power-Pole® trail and his name is Brian Nelli. The 39-year-old from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, conquered an extremely talented field on Lake Caddo in Shreveport-Boissere City, Louisiana, to win the event and take home the $45,000 top prize in the guaranteed $100,000 payout tourney.
Nelli finished second on Day 1 and led the board on Day 2 and Day 3 of the competition, while racking-up 295.4 total inches of largemouth bass to win the three-day, 50-angler, catch, photograph and release (CPR) event by nearly 20 inches. Runner-up Brady Storrs, 21, from Gibbon, Nebraska, tallied a very respectable 274.75 inches of bass to take home a second-place check worth $15,000. Justin Patrick, 36, from Bartlett, Tennessee, nailed the third spot and a $10,000 check with a 274.50-inch total. Storrs landed the largest bass of the contest, a 23.5-inch brute, netting an additional $500 for Bassin’ Big Bass honors.
“This proved to be an amazing event, and Nelli’s performance was outstanding,” said tournament director A. J. McWhorter. “We put the top kayak bass anglers in the country on the same water and despite changing weather conditions every day Brian was able to lock down a consistent fishing pattern, dominate the field, and earn the Hobie BOS Sponsored by Power-Pole Grand Champion title. This is the ultimate crown in competitive kayak fishing, bringing together the 50 top anglers in the BOS Series, including the 2021 Grand Champion, Kristine Fischer, the top three non-qualified finishers at each of nine open events in the 2022 season, and the top 22 non-qualified competitors in the AFTCO Angler of The Year race.”
McWhorter noted sunny skies and local temperatures in the 70- to 80-degree range greeted anglers during their pre-event practice sessions, but the tournament opener on Friday saw some cold fronts pushing through with rain and winds. “The low on Friday dropped to about 60 degrees,” recalled McWhorter, “Saturday morning broke with chilly 40-degree temperatures, and Sunday witnessed bluebird skies with a 29-degree start that just never really warmed up.”
None of that stopped the tournament’s ultimate winner from dominating the field as he fished with confidence throughout the competition. “This is my first Hobie BOS win so it’s still kind of hard to comprehend, but I think it’s sinking in a little bit now,” allowed Nelli afterward. “I’m one of those guys who accomplishes something and then looks ahead to the next challenge, so I’m already thinking about next year. Still, this one feels pretty sweet.”
Nelli got off to a great start, finishing second behind Storrs on Day 1 with a 96.75-inch total before recording 96.25 inches on Day 2 and closing with tournament with 101.5 inches on Day 3. From start to finish, he hammered his quarry on a three-foot-deep grass flat positioned next to deeper water. “The bass were both pushing bait into that grass line and waiting around to ambush anything that came through,” he revealed. “I was throwing a Bomber Badonk-A-Donk® to work the surface early each day before switching over to a speed worm presentation. That surface lure really did the trick, though. It has a great profile, and it works well in a chop, which proved to be vital since we had a lot of wind. My biggest bass of the tourney was a 21.5-inch fish.”
