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Hobie Pro Angler Carl Jocumsen Tops the Field at Tenkiller
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Historic Bassmaster Elite win is the first ever for an Australian angler
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OCEANSIDE, Calif. (September 30, 2019) – This past weekend marks one of the most exciting finishes in recent Bassmaster Elite tournament history. Not only did Hobie pro angler Carl Jocumsen take the title at the Cherokee Casino Tahlequah Bassmaster Elite on Oklahoma’s Lake Tenkiller, he did so on his 35th birthday, and just two weeks before his own wedding. Jocumsen also became the first Australian angler to ever claim a Bassmaster Elite title.
“I couldn’t have imagined it going down that way in my wildest dreams. I’ve always known I was going to do it one day. The way it happened and the timing was just beyond anything I could have imagined,” says Jocumsen.
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The Aussie sensation caught 19-12 on the final day to explode his four-day tournament total to 54-15 and earn a check in the amount of $100,000. He entered Championship Sunday—his birthday—in third place behind angler Kyle Monti and caught a key smallmouth, documented on video for posterity, to assure the win.
“The conditions are definitely what helped me at the event; what I excel in are tough tournaments,” Jocumsen says. “For starters, the late change in venues to Lake Tenkiller made it a very even playing field. Nobody had spent any time on the lake and there were no locals who really knew it. And then with the lake dropping, extreme heat and humidity through practice, and no wind… those factors all suited me. That’s what it takes to dig deep and grind it out and get those bites,” comments Jocumsen.
Jocumsen’s used larger football-head jigs and trailers to cull through Tenkiller’s significant population of smaller largemouth and smallmouth bass to attract bites from tournament-winning fish.
“Tenkiller is absolutely loaded with bass. It’s an amazing fishery, but it’s very hard to get through the smaller fish to catch those bigger ones. The key for me was using a really big Molix football head jig with a big trailer. It limited bites, but when I got a bite it was the fish I needed. It was a grind. I had to fish slow and methodical and just have the belief that I was going to get those five or six quality bites that I needed each day,” Jocumsen explains.
Aside from his own skills and tenacity, Jocumsen credits the ongoing support of his sponsors for helping put him in position to earn his success. Hobie was one of his first.
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“When Hobie Fishing contacted me in the very beginning, I never really had a paying sponsor. But they saw what I was trying to do and knew I was going through some tough times trying to make it over here. They backed me before anyone else saw the vision. It’s unreal because a lot of people ask, ‘Why is a kayak company sponsoring a pro bass angler fishing out of a bass boat?’ But we had a vision of what we could do. If you look around now, every major kayak manufacturer is sponsoring a pro bass angler. But together with Hobie, we were the very first. Without their support, there’s no doubt I wouldn’t be where I’m at. This is the seventh or eighth year that I’ve been part of the Hobie team. It’s just something I’m very proud of,” says Jocumsen.
Enthusiastic kayak anglers, Carl and his fiancée, Kayla, enjoy exploring new waters while traveling between Bass Elite events. Their Hobie kayaks travel on top of their camper everywhere they go.
“We fish out of our Hobie kayaks all the time. That’s how I grew up fishing—out of a kayak and off the bank. It was a natural progression to where I’m at now. In our down time, Kayla and I enjoy getting into our Hobie Outbacks and inflatables and fishing some out-of-the-way places that we can have all to ourselves,” says Jocumsen.
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The recent win marks the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for Jocumsen. “The win on Tenkiller is definitely the realization of something I’ve been working toward my entire life,” he says. “I feel extremely grateful for the support of everyone—like Hobie—for helping me work toward this dream.”
As far as what’s next for Carl and Kayla, they’ll be busy preparing for their upcoming wedding in Idaho before returning to the road for upcoming Bassmaster Elite events.
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About Hobie
Since 1950, Hobie has been in the business of shaping a unique lifestyle based around fun, water and quality products. From their headquarters in Oceanside, California, Hobie Cat Company manufactures, distributes and markets an impressive collection of watercraft worldwide. These include an ever-expanding line of recreation and racing sailboats, pedal-driven and paddle sit-on-top recreation and fishing kayaks, inflatable kayaks and fishing boats, plus a complementary array of parts and accessories.
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