Garrett Morgan Reflects On The 2020 Tournament Season

Old Town Pro Staff and competitive kayak bass angler Garrett Morgan had a standout year in 2020 despite the atypical competitive environment. From defending his Angler of the Year (AOY) title on his local club Natural State Kayak Anglers to qualifying for the Tournament of Champions, Garrett set and achieved some lofty goals this year. We sat down with Garrett to learn a little more about his experience this year. 

First of all, can you walk us through your season a bit? 

This past season I focused on a few main goals to make up my tournament schedule. I wanted to defend my local Angler of the Year title with the Natural State Kayak Anglers, qualify for the Bassmaster Classic Championship event for 2021, and qualify for the Tournament of Champions for a second straight year. My local angler of the year run was more competitive than ever. More anglers are getting into kayak fishing and they are improving each year. I was pushed locally to be at my best each event and after a slow start to my season I finished the local trail strong with two wins in the last three events, sealing the title at our championship event in Sept. I punched my ticket to the Tournament of Champions by doing well at Lake Dardanelle after a lot of hours of hard work preparing for that event.  

The season kicked off the inaugural B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series event at Logan Martin. What was that experience like?

B.A.S.S. put on a great event and I’m looking forward to seeing their expansion into the kayak side of tournament fishing. I would prefer to see the events expand to two days in the future and suspect we might see that. To have our anglers walk across the same stage as the Bassmaster Classic Champion is really awesome.

What has it been like to compete this year, given what is happening with COVID? 

Kayak fishing is set up to handle events better than most. The utilization of technology, the TourneyX system, and virtual meetings have allowed us to continue to compete. Our local trail never missed an event, we adapted immediately to online meetings and kept the event rolling. We miss getting together after events, but it’s nice that we are able to continue the competition since we submit photos of our fish on a measuring board vs having a weigh in. 

What is your plan for 2021? Do you have any goals for the season?

In 2021 I would love to do well in the B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series Championship, defend my local Angler of the Year title for a fourth year, and qualify for the Tournament of Champions for a third year. The Tournament of Champions (TOC) is an elite event comprised of 50 anglers in the nation that qualify through events or points. Each competitor is at the top of their game and capable of winning that event. In the last two years, I have improved my TOC finish and I’m eager to make a top 10 in that event next year, having finished 13th and 11th most recently. The Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship is also a title I have my eye on. That event will be on Caddo Lake, a lake I have had great success on and posted 101.25 inches within a single day in 2018. I recently lost a buddy of mine Ben Spangler that was also a member of our Old Town pro staff. I plan to wear a bright yellow jersey as he did, with his name on it, in his honor during that event. I know he was looking forward to fishing this event and he really enjoyed Caddo Lake. I would love nothing more than to win that event and give him a shout-out on that stage. 

For those who are wondering, what kayak do you compete out of and why? 

I currently compete out of a Topwater 106 PDL. I love to find off the road areas to fish that are hard to get to by other anglers. Having a kayak I can easily pick up and dump in the water off the side of a bridge, road, campground, etc. fits my style and gives me an advantage. I’ve put more miles on my kayak than most people will in a lifetime. And I’m very pleased to share that they hold up great. 

For those who are interested in getting into competitive kayak angling, what is the scene like and what advice do you have?   

I would recommend getting involved with a local trail. This is a great place to meet friends, learn the pieces that are unique, and practice your tournament strategy. Kayak anglers are very helpful, friendly, and overall great people. You will be welcomed and you will find others will help you in any way possible. 

What was the biggest fish you caught in a tournament this year?

The biggest fish I caught in a live event was 21.25" at Lake Beaverfork in Conway, AR.

You put in some serious mileage this year. What was your favorite lake that you competed on and why?

My favorite event was the Kayak Bass Fishing National Championship. I had never been to Lake Guntersville in Alabama and I was really blown away at how pretty the area was. The lake had a lot of options when it came to choosing structure or vegetation to fish. The campgrounds there were very clean, the people were friendly and the fishing was great. I didn’t have my best finish but sometimes going to a new lake with great views can still make it the best experience of the year. 

What was your favorite moment of the 2020 tournament season? 

My local angler of the year race was very tight. Our attendance per event had reached a new level and the average angler was much better than in years pasts. I got off to a slower start than usual and was chasing the points leader early in the year. By the summer I was starting to get into a good groove and found my first win at Dardanelle in July. Our local August event fell on the same weekend as a KBF event four hours away at Caddo Lake. The KBF event was both Saturday and Sunday, while our local event was Saturday night. I decided to fish three events in two days, driving to Caddo Lake Friday night, then back to Arkansas Saturday evening to fish Saturday night, then back to Caddo Lake in the early morning hours Sunday. The gamble paid off as I was able to get enough points locally to take the lead for angler of the year and also get 2nd place in the KBF event on that Sunday. As we rolled into our local championship in September I was the points leader for the Angler of the Year but needed to finish fourth or better to seal the deal. I wanted to really put an emphasis on a long, hard tournament year and win both the end of the year Championship and Angler of the Year.

The event started slowly with fish not holding in shallow areas where I had caught them before. I opted to use my side imaging on my Hummingbird HELIX 7 to find the creek channel and run a chatterbait vertical assuming the fish had gone for the nearest deep water. I was able to find success and put together a decent limit.  I knew I needed one more good fish as the day got late. The sun had climbed high and the shad were flickering at the top of the water. It seemed fish were finally moving on to shallow flats and I knew I needed one more 16-inch fish to feel secure. I loaded up my kayak and went for an area I had caught a 19-inch fish in practice. I arrived to find other anglers there, I quickly dumped in and after an initial pass through the area felt I was not going to have success fishing behind others. I opted to load back up with an hour left in the event and drive back to my starting spot. I dropped back in the water, only taking two poles this time with two baits, I knew the fish were targeting shad. I went in search of baitfish until I found some off a flat near the creek channel I had worked earlier in the day. I peddled up to the start of the flat and let the wind blow me across it, working a spinnerbait through the balls of shad. I repeated this for about 20 minutes until finally I got a bite and landed a fish over 16 inches. I knew it would give me a shot to win it all, I had predicted the event would take 80 inches total to win and that fish put me at 81.

Going into the event there had been a lot of friendly chatter from competitors wanting to usher in a new angler of the year. This chatter fired me up a bit, I wanted to put together a great performance, win the end of the year championship and win the angler of the year title, becoming the first to accomplish both. I was able to edge out the competition by 1.5 inches that day and unify the two prestigious titles in our club. It has been said the wolf climbing the mountain is hungrier than the wolf at the top. While this is true, getting to the top only means you get to test your bite and if you bark all the way up the hillside, you may find little breathe left to finish the fight. I’m not ready to step aside yet and if 2020 was any indication, I’ll have my work cut out for me locally once again in 2021. I’m as hungry as ever and will spend a lot of time this winter learning as much as I possibly can to become a better angler. What people don’t see are the hours I spend on a tablet at home, watching videos, looking at maps, and learning about fish behavior.  Competitive angling is like any other pursuit, the harder you work, the more time you invest, the greater the reward.