Smith Mountain Lake in VA was host to the Elite Series event called the Blue Ridge Brawl this past April 23rd through 26th.

Four  StrikeKing pros finished in the top ten including Kevin VanDam who took the win with a 4 day total of 61 pounds 13 ounces!
Congratulations Kevin!

Greg Hackney (shown on left) finished in 4th place with a 4 day total of 57 pounds even. Most of Greg’s fish were caught using the soon to be released “Baby Rage Craw” and he was quoted as saying;  “I put a 5/0 hook in it and used it on the bed fish,” he also said. “For whatever reason, the bass like that smaller bait.” Way to go Greg!

Shaw Grigsby finished in 6th place with a 4 day total of 54 pounds 3 ounces.
Nice job Shaw!

And James Niggemeyer (shown on right) ended the 4 day event in 7th place, also with a total of 54 pounds 3 ounces. Niggemeyer who fought his way back from deep in the pack, used a Rage Tail Lizard on Day 3 to catch a 7-02 Largemouth that stood as the tournaments biggest fish.
Congratulations on the tournament’s “Big Fish” James, well done!

Mark Menendez wins BASS Elite Series on Lake Dardanelle!

Armed with his trusty Aluminum boat, 90 hp Yamaha outboard and bags full of Rage Tail Soft Plastic Lizards and Coffee Tubes Mark Menendez of Paducah KY, battled the elements and fished his way to victory by over 2 pounds over fellow Strike King Pro Staff Teammate Kevin VanDam.

“I was fortunate enough to use my aluminum boat this week and get back into an area where no one else had been all week and I basically had the entire place to myself.” “Once I started throwing my Strike King soft plastics around and figured out how the fish wanted the bait, I was able to dial in my presentation and bring home the win.”

Congratulations Mark!!!!!!

Also a big congratulations to all of Team Strike King who placed high finishes this week with Mark placing 1st, KVD 2nd, Denny Brauer 5th and James Niggemeyer in 13th, The entire team is showing its strength early on this season. Good luck guys and Congratulations!