Southern Indiana Yak Anglers Klub

The annual river event was this past Sunday. We didn't have a great turnout, but we went ahead and floated the Blue River anyway!

Fish were caught. Not everyone got a limit, but everyone caught fish. Some were not big enough, some were not the target species, and unfortunately for Gavin, he lost his due to drowning his phone! That is 2 phones in 2 events for that family! There wasn't a lot of service for most, so most waited until the end to upload. At the time the leaderboard was turned off, Matt was in the lead with 65" or so. As it turns out Matt culled a few more times after the boards went dark and ended up with 70.25". TJ followed closely behind him with 67.5" thanks to a Blue River Giant 19.25" Smallmouth! Chris Wargel found himself in 3rd place with 64.75". Thomas McNulty had 5 fish for 61.75" in 4th. And in 5th, Chris Dailey had 4 fish for 54".

But that is not how the event ended. Part of doing these events, especially on the river, is managing your time. Chris Wargel and Matt Kiefer pivoted from their initial plan to fishing a longer stretch when they were told Thomas, TJ, and Gavin would be on that stretch as well. As it turned out, those guys had made a change of plans as well. After a brief discussion, Chris and Matt decided to stick to the 2nd plan, even though that meant they had to keep up the pace to make it to the Check-In on time at 4pm. Rules are rules, and despite their best efforts, they were 5 minutes late! A 5-inch penalty had to be assessed. 1" was removed from each of Matt and Chris' fish to make the math work out. The penalty dropped Matt and Chris down 1 spot in the standings.

Congratulations go to TJ for winning the Blue River event and Big Bass! 1st place was $229.81, and Big Bass was $35. This is TJ's second win of the season. Matt was still able to take home the Side Pot of $25 for the largest Rock Bass caught (9.25"). Matt also took home a $25 coupon for the Wicked Weights Wicked Fast Limit for catching the fastest limit of the event. Matt had a limit by 8:14 AM Eastern. Matt also won the Bioenno Power 12v12ah battery for being first out of the money.

Coming up this Sunday is the SIYAK 2026 moving water event on the Blue River near Milltown, IN. This is the 6th of seven 2026 regular-season events. We will implement a 10-inch minimum size limit. Our side pot will be $5 for the largest Rock Bass! You may launch at any public launch between Fredericksburg and the Old Iron Bridge. Old Mill Canoe Rental may let you pay to launch there and pay to be picked up at one of their pick-up spots between Fredericksburg and Milltown (River Retreat or Totten Ford). You should call ahead if you plan to do something like this. I do not believe they will allow you to leave a vehicle at either of those locations. The run between Fredericksburg and Milltown is way too long for a single-day fishing trip, so I'd suggest you not try it. Ask Kevin Biggs and me how we know! You can launch above or below the Dam at Milltown. Please do not attempt to traverse the dam!
We will launch just after first light at 6:15/5:15am EST/CST. You will have 8 hours to fish with lines out at 2:15/1:15pm EST/CST. Photo Submission and Check-in by 4/3pm EST/CST at East Crawford Elementary. If it's raining, we'll move it across the street to Baylor Park under the pavilion if it's not being used. I think we'll do smash burgers on the griddle this time!

Our Next event is coming up quickly! Presented by Bizz Baits, the 7th annual Weekend Brawl starts June 25th at first light! We thought we would drop a little history on you. Hopefully, the fish come out to play. This will only be our 2nd June event. The last June event was our highest event total at 104.5"! Get signed up!

SIYAK 2026 AOY Race after 3 events!

I forgot to mention that Brant Sharp was the Angler with the quickest trigger! Brant took home the Wicked Weights Tungsten Fishing Tackle Wicked Fast Limit Coupon worth $25 at WickedWeights.com. Congrats Brant!

We have a new The Rod Locker Big Bass of the Year leader. TJ Aylward is now the leading with this 19.75" HNF Stud!

SIYAK Event #3 at Hoosier National Forest presented by is in the books. It was a close one with a lot of small fish. But Big Bass made all the difference in this one! Thank you to the anglers who came out and participated! HNF does not get much love, but it is a scenic place to fish! The lakes have tremendous populations of bluegill, redear, and crappie. There are a lot of bass in the lakes, but they are size-challenged! This was a 2-day, 5-fish total event. When the dust cleared after 2 days, 6 out of the 12 anglers had a limit. 7 of the 12 anglers fished both days.

With 12 anglers in the event, the event paid out 2 places, big bass, and 6 anglers jumped into the Tiny Bass Side Pot.

Congratulations to TJ Aylward for taking 1st place and the EGO Fishing - Designed for the Savvy Angler Big Bass. That big bass culled out a 12.75", giving TJ a 7" boost! With 74" and a 19.75" Big Bass, TJ takes home $256.07 and $60.00! TJ has also punched his ticket to the Championship!

Congratulations to Chris Wargel for coming back for day 2 and fishing his 3rd lake in 2 days. Chris put a solid 74" limit together but couldn't overcome the big fish tiebreaker to pull out a victory! Chris takes home $137.89 for 2nd place

The Bioenno Power first out of the money angler was Matt Kiefer. Matt had a 4" lead going into Day 2 with a 17.5" kicker. He upgraded 3 times in short order, but that was all the upgrades he found. In the end, 73.25" found him on the outside looking up at the paying spots. Matt was awarded the Bioenno Power 12v12ah battery for his trouble.

Brant, Thomas, Brett, and Gavin were all awarded with Big Bite Baits products.

The Tiny Bass Sidepot was pretty closely contested as well! The HNF Lakes are loaded with tiny fish. You don't have to fish for them; they are pretty aggressive biters. Matt takes home the $30 for the smallest bass caught and uploaded to the leaderboard.

Next up is the Weekend Brawl on June 25th through June 28th. Daylight Thursday to Sunday at Dusk! Indiana Public Water.

SIYAK Event #3 is coming up this weekend at the Hoosier National Forest Lakes. This event will be presented by Big Bite Baits Fishing Lures! You may choose to fish Celina, Indian, Tipsaw, Saddle, or Rainbow. All of these lakes are in the HNF below I-64. We will meet behind the 79 One Stop Travel Center just off Hwy 62 and 37 on Sunday afternoon. There will not be a meeting on Saturday afternoon. It's spitting distance from I-64. This event will be your best 5 fish combined. So you can fish Saturday, Sunday, or both days! The Wicked Weights Wicked Fast Catch will be the angler with the fastest limit either Saturday or Sunday. For instance, Anger Johnny B catches his limit in 91 minutes on Saturday, but Angler Fred M catches his limit in 62 minutes on Sunday, Fred is taking that coupon home with him! Johnny catches 78" on Saturday, Fred catches 81" on Sunday, and Michael catches 85" between Saturday and Sunday. Michael wins the event!

The $5 Side Pot will be Tiny Bass again. You will lay them horizontally on the board like a normal fish measurement. No manipulating the fish to get a shorter length!

***Make sure your GPS Location Services are turned on. You may also take the photo in the Fishing Chaos App!***

Please look at the map and familiarize yourself with the locations.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1LBJs8637m70BFIK4Zo7XEQq8Ja2HP88&usp=sharing

I would also suggest downloading your Google or Apple Maps so you don't need internet services to find your way. Cellular service is traditionally spotty in that area.

After 2 SIYAK Events, here is the Top 10 in Angler of the Year! Angler of the Year is based on your top 5 scores of the 7 events. It's still early yet, and there is plenty of fishing left. You won't want to miss the Championship! Anglers qualify for the championship by winning an event or by accumulating AOY points. Only 14 anglers qualify for the Bioenno Power Championship brought to you by Walton Rods!

SIYAK Event #2 at Beaver Lake Presented by Bill Lewis Fishing is in the books! We want to thank everyone who participated! The boating wasn't too rowdy, and fishing was pretty darn good considering all but one of the competitors caught a limit! Many anglers reported catching multiple limits of fish! Unfortunately, most of the fish were smaller in size. The gnats, however, were most annoying!

Congratulations to Chris Dailey for the Wicked Weights Tungsten Fishing Tackle Wicked Fast Limit! 20 or so minutes is amazing! Chris took home a $25 Coupon for some amazing Tungsten!

Congratulations to Josh Christmas for collecting the Tiny Bass Sidepot. However, we did have to have a heart-to-heart about fish care and the spirit of competition. It's all good, Tiny Fish need love too! Josh took home some gas money!

Congratulations to young Mr. Gavin McNulty for catching the EGO Fishing - Designed for the Savvy Angler Big Bass! Gavin is the son of our Co-Founder Thomas McNulty! This was Gavin's first Big Bass award and first limit while fishing with SIYAK! Gavin took home an Ego Fishing Kayak/Wade Net, $55 in digital dollars, and a big piece of "I beat my Dad, cake!"

In 3rd place and 1st out of the money was Mr. Bruce Beechler. Bruce took home a 12v 12AH Bioenno Power battery! Congratulations Bruce!

In 2nd Place, Congratulations to Matt Kiefer with a solid 75" bag anchored by a 16.5 and a 16. Matt will be receiving $126.40!

And the Champ of the day! Congratulations to Brant Sharp for claiming the top prize! Brant had 75.25" on the day with a 17" kicker fish and a mixed bag of 14s. Brant took home the Winner's Cup and $234.73! Brant is also the 2nd person qualified for the 2026 Championship on West Boggs in September!