Category: Staff News

BIG NEWS!

December 5, 2022 0 Comment

Starting in 2023, Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ will have four divisions: Eastern, Western, Central, and Northern!

We’re excited to bring Anthony Campbell and Patrick Brown on as directors for the Northern Division, and Jonathan Medina, Bill Galeckas, and Joseph D’Addeo for the Central Division. All of them have history with MAKB and are friends to many of us, so we have no doubt they’ll be a great asset to the group.

Welcome aboard, fellas!

Below shows the general area in which these divisions will host their events.

We don’t have any dates or locations for next year just yet, but we’ll begin working on that soon. We’ll be doing a poll to choose locations for at least the Eastern Division, as has been tradition for the past for years or so. Look for that shortly!

Anyway, we’ll have a few additional announcements coming soon, but 2023 should be another great year for MAKB!

If you have any questions, let us know.

We’re Heading West!

December 14, 2020 0 Comment

As Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ has grown, more and more anglers have asked us to run events on the north shore and out in the western part of the state. With our core group of anglers being from the south shore, this has proved difficult. As such, the idea of opening new divisions has been explored for years now, but we’ve never been able to find anyone dedicated enough to take on that task.

Until now…

Starting in 2021, MAKB will have a brand new western division. Directing it will be Shawn Dominik and Nelson Da Costa, both longtime MAKB members. We are very excited about bringing new opportunities to anglers in a part of the state where there has been a demand that we’ve not been able to fulfill!

The western division will run just like the original “eastern division,” as it’s now called. There will be seven regular-season events for the western division this first year, while the eastern division will have nine instead of its normal ten. Reason being, the season will culminate in the first-ever MAKB Championship, where top anglers from each division will compete for the title of Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ Champion!

If you’re interested in hearing some more in-depth discussion about this new division, check out the latest episode of the Jigs & Bigs podcast, where Shawn, Nelson, and Ken Wood discuss it and more. Jump to 1:14 mark if you don’t want to listen to the rest (though it is an entertaining podcast all around, so give it a shot).

Big things are coming for MAKB and this region, and this is just a small taste…

Ken Wood Joins the Jackson Kayak Fishing Team

March 13, 2020 0 Comment

Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ founder, Ken Wood, has joined the Jackson Kayak Fishing Team. Here is his statement…

• • •

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”

My interpretation of this quote has always been a simple one, but Louis L’Amour probably said it best: “Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.”

Where you start doesn’t determine where you finish. It’s everything in between that gets you there and matters most, and I’ve always been one to embrace and focus on the many adventures within the long journey to my final destination, whatever that may be.

On this day four years ago, I traveled down to Delaware Paddlesports on my way to the first-ever Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship on Kentucky Lake. That short detour started my journey with Jackson Kayak, with the purchase of a brand new Big Rig.

I’ve been with Jackson ever since, from that first Big Rig to the Coosa FD and now the Big Rig HD/FD. As an angler, there isn’t another kayak I’d rather be in.

At the 2018 National Championship, I found myself knocking on death’s door in the frigid waters of Lake Barkley, having flipped my Coosa FD.

In the process of trying to flip the kayak back over, I bent and broke the lower unit of the Flex Drive.

Upon hearing of this, Jackson Kayak and their team stepped up and had a new lower unit for me the following day. I was rattled and not much interested in fishing, but I was back on the water facing my newfound fear. Words can’t explain how important that was.

My loyalty doesn’t come easy, but Jackson has it, for many reasons.

And so I am excited to announce that I’ve accepted a position on the Jackson Kayak Fishing Team, alongside Joshua Evans, Matt Ball, Henry Veggian, Russell Johnson, Richard Wohlwend-Penny, Josh Stewart, Dwayne Taff, Jamie Broad, and so many more, giants of the kayak bass fishing community.

I don’t know where this road leads, and I don’t want to. Never do. I just want to be present and available for whatever adventure comes next. This is just one of them.

Photo courtesy of Scott Beutjer.