Adam Murray goes the distance and claims the 2023 SIYAK Angler Of The Year Title!
The SIYAK AOY Title is determined by anglers' best 5 events of the 7 event schedule. Adam kicked things off quickly with a Top 5 in the first event at GSSF East Duggar Unit and then backed it up with a win in the following event, The Weekend Brawl.
After two events, it was a two-way tie between Merlin Hammer III (MH3) and Adam but Adam would take the lead in the AOY race after the 3rd event on Brookville Lake, in which Adam took 2nd place.
The fourth event of the SIYAK Season took place in the Hoosier National Forest which included lakes Indian, Celina, Tipsaw, Saddle, & Rainbow. Adam once again took 2nd place, extending his lead over MH3. 3-Time AOY, Matt Kiefer, grabbed a top 3 in this one as well which catapulted him into the 2023 AOY race making it a 3 man battle. While a handful of other anglers like, Antoine Hayes and Chris Wargel, were lurking just out of contention but within striking distance.
Things got interesting in the 5th event of the season. Adam would get another top 3 finishing in 3rd but the challenger MH3 picked up his 2nd win of the season. This put the two in a heated battle going into the home stretch.
Adam was unable to compete in the 6th event on the Blue River leaving the door wide open for both Merlin and Matt. Matt took advantage of that open door and took second place, but unfortunately for him, he needed a win to stay in the race. Which left MH3 as the only remaining challenger to the title. Merlin finished in 5th on the Blue River, which meant he would need to win the final event in order to eclipse Adam.
The final event of the 2023 season was a month-long challenge. MH3 was unable to pull off the upset landing in 9th place. While Matt was out of contention for the title, he still fought not only to win the last event, but to draw as close to Adam as possible. Matt would ultimately take 2nd in the final event and Adam closed out his season with another Top 5 coming in 4th.
As you can see, it was an epic battle among the Top 3 but in the end, Adam's consistency was too much this time for Matt and MH3. The truth is, all 3 of them had a season worthy of an AOY. This goes to show just how competitive this series is and how talented its anglers are.
The 2023 SIYAK AOY Race was presented by Bioenno Power. A long-time supporter of SIYAK. Thanks to Bioenno, Adam took home $620 in digital cash, plus a Bioenno Power 100AH 12v LiFePO4 battery and charger worth $952.50! Pretty nice cherry on top of the title and the bragging rights.
Congratulations once again to the 2023 SIYAK ANGLER OF THE YEAR - ADAM MURRAY!