Monroe-West Monroe, LA:.- Hayden and Dan Jeffries are the 2023-24 NCL National Champions of the Open Division. Anglers competed for three days on three different lakes for the National Championship title in Monroe-West Monroe, LA.  Open division teams fished D’Arbonne Lake on day one, which replaced the Ouachita River due to flooding. The teams fished Caney Lake on day two.

JoJo Baker and Phillip Wilson led the field after day one with a half-pound lead, followed by Travis Decker-Gene Neumeier, Kyler Beckman-Dillon Stocking, Hayden – Dan Jeffries, and Travis Brown-Leslie Johnson rounding out the top five.

On day two, JoJo Baker and Philip Wilson maintained the lead, but Hayden & Dan Jeffries finished just 0.06 lbs. behind to move into second place. They were followed by Travis Decker-Gene Neumeier, Kyler Beckman & Dillon Stocking. Rounding out the top five after day two were Terry Richard and Roy Hoy.

Day three was the lake everyone was concerned about. The top 25 teams of both divisions fished Poverty Point, with many teams having never fished the lake. Cold weather moved in with high winds making fishing more difficult. Anglers adapted, and the lake brought the largest weights of the tournament.

Five teams had over 10 lbs. It was Hayden and Dan Jeffries who brought in the big fish of the tournament with a 3.26 lb. Crappie out of Caney Lake. They also had the largest bag of the tournament with a weight of 14.24 on the final day, earning them the National Championship pulling away from other teams by nearly 4 lbs. They finished the tournament with 35.42 lbs. and earned $25,000.00 for first place and $1,200.00 for the Car Zone big fish.

Hayden and Dan didn’t get to pre-fish the lake due to the off-limits and didn’t have maps of the lake, but they knew it was a big white crappie lake. They started breaking the lake down and hit 4 to 5 spots. “Once they found them and landed, we landed. We caught, probably 75 fish today.”

They fished in 5-6 foot waters in a compression area, and most fish were on the bottom. “They were all good fish, and we had 2 lb. fish all day. We used pro tuff baits and orange chartreuse, and they hit it pretty well. It was pretty nasty out there; we found a point that stuck out into the lake, and that is where we found the fish.”

Travis Decker and Gene Neumeier took second place overall. Travis stated he didn’t get to pre-fish the lake and had never been on it until that morning. “We didn’t have a great plan. We looked at a map last night and decided to start on a ledge. The first fish caught was a 2.16, but we couldn’t stay there because it was so rough. We made a run to the south end of the lake and found a wind break. We worked the area and caught a couple of good fish. We moved and started working in that area, catching pretty good fish. We fed them minnows today. Most of our fish were suspended in open water. If they were on timber, they wouldn’t bite.” They earned $4,000.00 for second place.

JoJo Baker and Phillip Wilson took third place overall. The team stated that it sounds like a lot of anglers didn’t have a problem getting bites, but they did. What ended up working for us was using the smallest minnows we could find and small jig heads. They fished in 15-20 foot water. “We saw some bigger fish but couldn’t get them to bite.” The team won $2,000.00 for their 3rd-place finish.

Kyler Beckman and Dillon Stocking took fourth place, winning $1,000.00. The top Male/Female team was Cliff and Alissa Bammes, earning $500.00. They also finished in 8th place overall. RJ and Zack Hargett finished 11th overall and earned $500.00 for the top adult/youth team. Steve Adams earned $500.00 as the top senior.

Special thanks to all local hosts/sponsors:  Monroe-West Monroe CVB, Monroe Civic Center, Ludwig Marine LLC, Morris Marine, KNOE 8, State Farm Insurance/Peggy Sullivan, Ink’s Firestone, ACME Glass & Mirror, Battery Pro, Waterfront Grill, and Texas Roadhouse.

Special thanks to all National Sponsors:  CarZone USA, Crappie Monsters, Grenada Lake Resort, HH Rods & Reels, OK Fishing Tackle, Rockport Rattler, Power Pole, DMF Bait Co., Compass Lithium-Outlaw Lithium, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Pro Control, Morris Marine, Ludwig Marine, Crappie Brakes, Midsouth Tackle, Slider Fishing, Everharts Outdoors, BnM Poles, Engel Coolers, Team Crappie TTI Blakemore,  Quality Plumbing & Heating, Swamp Gear, Hook-Bullet, Crappie Now, Crappie Magnet, Amped Outdoors, ATX Lures K9 Fishing, Nothead Tackle, Top Notch, SoreMouth Tackle, Slab Crazy, Pro Dezigns, Crappie.com, Snacks Lures, Millennium, Jenko Fishing, Crappie Customs and Black Speck Fishing.