Stockton Lake, Missouri – July 19, 2025

A razor-thin battle played out across Stockton Lake last Saturday, with just 7.5 inches separating 19th place from 2nd—a true dogfight in the middle of the standings. But Chad Davison rose above the chaos, edging the field by a solid 5-inch margin to claim his second career MoYak Elite Series win. Known for his remarkable consistency and a long list of runner-up finishes, Davison reminded everyone that he’s just as capable of closing the deal as he is of hovering near the top.

Fishing under sweltering conditions that started at 76°F at launch and climbed to a scorching 99°F by takeout, Davison found a pattern that held up across the day. Davison’s win is significant not just for the trophy but also for its implications on the Angler of the Year race.

AOY Shakeup:
With only two Elite events remaining, the AOY standings have tightened. Richie McMichael maintains a narrow lead at 1,729.00 points, with Micah Funderburgh (1,717.25) and Troy Enke (1,695.50) hot on his heels. Davison’s win pushes him to fourth overall with 1,676.25, keeping him firmly in the AOY conversation.

Other Highlights:

• Jared Fosnow landed the only fish over 21″ (21.25″), earning a spot in the Twenty+ Club.
• Chris Robbs took home the Trash Pot with a 23″ catfish, good for $140.
• Darian Beedle earned the Smallest Bass Award with a 7.75″ squeaker.
• Eric Easter claimed the Smallest Limit Award at 56.25″.
• Troy Enke just missed the payout line, earning the First Out-of-the-Money Award, while Johnathan Dominguez landed squarely in the center of the action, taking the Middle of the Pack Award.

Looking Ahead:
As the Elite Series heads into its final stretch, the AOY race is far from settled. Davison’s performance proves that experience and consistency are still among the most valuable tools in the kayak angler’s arsenal. With temps rising and pressure mounting, the next event promises even more fireworks.

Team Series Update:
On the team side, “Everhart’s A-Team” went back-to-back by blowing away the field with 108.5″ again, edging out back-to-back 2nd place finishers “Something to Prove” by over 7  inches and earning $280.

Next stop: Bull Shoals in August, where the water is 26 feet high at the time of this writing.

Here are your top ten for the 2025 MoYak Stop #5 Stockton presented by Eco Fishing Shop.

Chad Davison – 87.5″
Jared Fosnow – 82.5″
Chris Robbs – 82″
Tyler Cokley – 82″
Spencer O’Neal – 81.75″
Adam Denningman – 81.25″
Troy Enke – 80.5″
Marcus Sherman – 80″
Richy Laughery – 79.5″
Micah Funderburgh – 78.5″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle in their own words:

How did you approach tournament day—did you have a specific game plan in mind?

• Chad: My main focus was trying to keep in a good frame of mind. I do best when I am relaxed and have fun fishing. I found myself getting agitated in practice and realized that was a problem. I didn’t prefish the area I launched for the tournament, so I wanted to keep an open mind and bounce around until I found something. I really had no idea if or how I would catch them.
• Jared: With the heat, I knew I wanted to be in my best area to start the day to capitalize on the topwater bite.
• Chris: Gameplan was to fish a summertime pattern. With it being 90+ degrees and clear skies, I figured I would have a small topwater window, then I’d have to slow down and hit them with the finesse. Luckily, the plan came together. Caught a few early on topwater, and I quickly slowed down and started picking up some quality bites.
• Tyler: The Plan was to throw my glidebait all day!
• Spencer: Had a decent pre-fish, so I went into Saturday working off what I found the day before early. After that, I fished new water and had to improvise when the sun got high.

Were you able to get any prefishing in beforehand?

• Chad: I did prefish two different areas and didn’t really do great in either one of them. The main thing I gained from practice is that it seemed like the fish were feeding up on baitfish, and there were groups suspended and roaming. I never figured out how to consistently catch them in practice, but I did notice that a lot.
• Jared: I fished about 4 hours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The bite got a little worse each day as they were cutting back on releasing water through the dam each day by several hours.
• Chris: No prefishing.
• Tyler: Nope, I left the house at 1 am, drove down, fished, then drove home.
• Spencer: I was able to prefish the day before and caught a few solid ones in the last few bushes with water still. Lake was dropping fast so it was really easy to tell what sections of bushes would hold fish.

How did this event compare to your past results on Stockton?

• Chad: I have had several good finishes there in the past, including winning the Winter Series there this Winter. This was my 1st regular-season win there.
• Jared: It was really similar to the win I had 3 years ago. Same weather and water conditions.
• Chris: Stockton has been good to me, I have cashed checks 4 out of the 6 tournaments I have fished there, but a 1st place has continued to elude me.
• Tyler: Great!! Stockon has been that one lake that kicks my butt!
• Spencer: Last year I got 2nd so not quite as good but I can’t really complain.

What lures, rigs, or techniques ended up producing best for you during the tournament?

• Chad: Out of my best 5: One of Council Bluff Crankbaits Plopper, Two on a hair jig, One on a jerkbait, and One on a Spook.
  I never caught a fish on or even used a hair jig, jerkbait, or spook in spook in practice, so it pays to keep an open mind and fish with your instincts.
• Jared: The first hour I threw the Heddon Super Spook in Pink/Chrome. Then switched to a Neko rigged Green Pumpkin Senko with a 1/16oz KayakJak button head. I dye about a 1/4” of the top in chart Spike It and soak them in Strike Force scent. I tried several other baits, but these two baits accounted for all of the 20+ fish I caught.
• Chris: Buzz bait, Council Bluff Crankbait, Baitcave Customs soft plastics – Texas and Neko-rigged.
• Tyler: I caught 2 little 13” smallmouth on a 10” worm….then the rest of the day was the butcher glide by chum glides.
• Spencer: Best baits for me were a Croc-O-Gator buzzbait in the morning and a 6th Sense squarebill in the afternoon.

How far did you end up paddling, motoring, or pedaling to find fish?

• Chad: I did not travel very far – it was the mouth of the cove I launched. Once I found the fish, I worked the same 100-yard area all day.
• Jared: I stayed within 3/4 of a mile of the ramp I used, which was located mid-lake. I fished main lake bluffs all day and did not venture into the creeks or coves. Once it was shallow enough to have bushes in the water, I moved on to the next bluff end and started where the bushes came to an end.
• Chris: Not far from the launch at all. I targeted points and channel banks.
• Tyler: I’d have to map it out, but I covered an insane amount of water. Crossing the main lake 2 times as well.
• Spencer: Went about 6 miles from my ramp on Saturday to explore some new sections if the lake I’ve never fished before.

With the heat being what it was, how did you stay cool and keep your energy up throughout the day?

• Chad: Honestly, once I started catching fish, I got in a zone and never let up. I realized at about 1:30p p.m. that I hadn’t even drunk my coffee, let alone anything else. I rehydrated at weigh-in with 4×4 Brewing 🙂
• Jared: Lots of water and wearing lightweight SPF-rated pants, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, and a mask.
• Chris: Lots of water and sunscreen.
• Tyler: It was windy where I was. Just has plenty of cold water, and I never really got hot.
• Spencer: Honestly, I probably don’t take care of myself like I should when it’s that hot out on tournament day. I’m more focused on getting culls than cooling off most of the time.

Did you have any close calls, missed bites, or memorable catches that stood out?

• Chad: I was fortunate to never lose a fish. I had a couple of hits that were likely good fish that didn’t hook up. There were several catches on Saturday that were memorable for me. The 19.75 on the hair jig was pretty cool. I recently started having success with that bait. It is such an amazing feeling when you are stroking the jig and you pull up and there is a fish on there. One of the 18’s I caught swam right by my kayak chasing bait. I looked down and saw it swim by as plain as day while I was jerking my jerkbait. I saw it swimming that way, and a few seconds later, it loaded up. The last fish I caught was another 18 with about 30 minutes left, I had a 13.75″. I really felt like I needed to cull. I threw the spook out there and was working it, and saw a fish come up and swirl on it several times, and finally crushed it!
• Jared: The blow-up of that 21.25” right at daybreak was pretty cool. I fished pretty clean and only lost one fish on the spook, and it wouldn’t have helped me catch Chad 🙂
• Chris: I had 2 missed opportunities. Had a BIG go full airborne over a limb after my buzz bait, she came down on top of it, but did not get the hook. I had another solid upgrade shake-off at the side of the boat. The 19.5″ that I caught was pretty cool. I saw a mark on my graph around a baitball. I positioned myself to cast to it, and as soon as my bait hit the bottom, she thumped it.
• Tyler: Yes, I hooked 3 fish that were all around 20” and lost them!
• Spencer: My biggest bite of the day was on the buzzbait. Accidentally sent it a little too close to the bush, and by the time I got it out and the bait hit the water about 10ft from the kayak when it ate.

Looking ahead, do you plan to fish the Bull Shoals and Mark Twain events to close out the season?

• Chad: Absolutely! I have only missed one Moyak event since I joined in 2021 and that was due to having COVID.
• Jared: I will fish both events to finish the season. Hope to keep the points high enough to make the championship at Pomme, make the Taney 20, and fish for the MOYAK team at the 2026 AAKC.
• Chris: Planning on Bull Shoals but probably going to miss MT.
• Tyler: Yes
• Spencer: I’ll be fishing both Bull Shoals and Mark Twain.

Did you add any new gear this season—kayak upgrades, electronics, rods—that’s helped your game?

• Chad: Nothing in particular.
• Jared: I am back in an OldTown 136 AutoPilot for this season. One big change was switching to Halo rods over the winter. Hands down, the best change I have made in my fishing career.
• Chris: Nope
• Tyler: Yes, I have the same setup as last season for the most part! Big changes soon!
• Spencer: No noteworthy equipment.

Anyone you want to give a shout-out to—sponsors, family, fellow anglers?

• Chad: I had a great time camping with my buddy Jared Fosnow. Trey Dawson was at my ramp tournament morning and just being around him helps lift my mood. He lost his net mid-day and I loaned him my spare. Russell Bergeron was at my ramp and I actually loaned him a Ketch board. I saw Russell mid-morning with several big inflatable float tubes on his kayak. I realized they had floated out in the lake from a swim area and he was collecting them and taking them back. He probably doesn’t realize anyone saw him, but I thought that was cool he took the time to do that.
  As always, thanks to all my sponsors: Old Town Fishing, Crock-O-Gator, H2 Bait Design, Dungarees Clothing, Cashion Rods, Council Bluff Crankbaits, Max It Out LEDS, CMX Lures USA, Everharts Outdoor Store.
• Jared: Halo Rods
  Crock-O-Gator
  H2 Bait Design
  Everharts Outdoors
  Glover Lures and Replicas
  Elite Billiards and Alehouse
  American Baitworks
• Chris: Everharts Outdoors, Baitcave Customs, Council Bluff Crankbaits, and Buff trucks for helping me keep up with all the gear I need to do this. My wife for helping make sure I make my tournaments. And shout out to the Everharts pro staff Jared Fosnow and Chad Davison, for making this a 1, 2, 3 finish for the crew.
• Tyler: The wife, EcoFishingShop, and chum glides.
• Spencer: I want to thank Eco Fishing Shop for the support in the last few years.

What’s one lesson you learned from this event that you’ll carry into your next tournament?

• Chad: Don’t be afraid to start over somewhere new in the tournament if you don’t feel good about what you found in practice.
• Jared: Quit telling fellow prostaff buddies about secret baits like the Stinky Pinky Zara Spook 🙂
• Chris: Don’t be afraid to fish slowly. I am a power fisherman at heart and struggle to slow down sometimes.
• Tyler: Keep grinding until the end! I culled from 79.75” up to 82” in the last 20-30 mins.
• Spencer: My biggest lesson learned from this event is how important exploring new areas can be for a pre-fish.

Was there a moment during the day when you knew you had a solid limit—or started to feel like you were in contention?

• Chad: Once I caught my 3rd fish, which was a 19.75, around 7:30 am, and with what I was seeing in fish activity, I started to get excited. At that point, I pretty well committed to what I was doing the rest of the day.
• Jared: I knew the big fish had a chance of winning, but had to grind all day to catch enough to pass Chris right before the board went dark.
• Chris: I had upper 70s pretty early in the day, so I figured I would at least have a solid finish, but when I culled a 13 for a 19, I felt pretty confident I would be in the checkline.
• Tyler: Yes, when I culled my last fish at around 2 pm.
• Spencer: When I caught 2 16+in fish to cull in the last hour or so.

What advice would you give someone fishing Stockton for the first time from a kayak?

• Chad: Pay very close attention to the forecast, especially the wind.
• Jared: Keep a good eye on the weather beforehand and pick a place that you can safely fish. The first hour is very important during the summer so always be in your best area and be efficient early in the day.
• Chris: Find an area of the lake that fits your strengths, whether that’s clear water or dirty water, deep or shallow, rock or wood, Stockton has it all.
• Tyler: Bring some ChumGlides!
• Spencer: Keep an open mind.

Did anything about the lake or conditions surprise you this time around?

• Chad: I was amazed how much bait fish activity I was seeing particularly in the upper ends of the lake. There is so much bait. And I also saw large groups of small 4″-8″ largemouth bass. Seems like the lake is very healthy.
• Jared: No real surprise other than slowing the water generation through the dam each day. I thought they would continue to draw the water down, with it still being a few feet high.
• Chris: The Lake was a little higher than normal for this time of year, but other than that, pretty typical.
• Tyler: Just how windy my area was at first launch!
• Spencer: Not particularly, everything was pretty standard for Stockton.

Derby Stats

• Anglers: 62
• Fish caught: 335 (FPA – 5.40)
• Total limits: 43 (69%)
• Margin of victory: 5″
• Twenty+ Club: Jared Fosnow – 21.25″
• Trash Pot: Chris Robbs – 23″ Cat ($140)
• Smallest Bass Award: Darian Beedle – 7.75″
• Smallest Limit Award: Eric Easter – 56.25″
• First Out-of-the-Money Award: Troy Enke
• Middle of the Pack Award: Johnathan Dominguez
• Air temp at launch: 76°F
• Air temp at takeout: 99°F