The 2023 IKA Championship Field and Details were just Released! Check out which Hoosier Anglers made the cut and where they will be doing battle for the coveted AOY and Championship Titles.
The 2023 IKA Season has been epic with some great battles all season long and an AOY race that has been a dogfight since the very beginning. The 2023 IKA Season, as per usual, consisted of 3 Lake events and 2 river events. The season opened up with the Tippecanoe River at the end of April and the final event of the regular season just concluded with the annual IKA White River event.
Each season, anglers compete not only for the AOY Title, but also for one of the 16 spots on the IKA Championship roster. Those 16 spots are comprised of the winner from each event and the remaining spots are filled via the AOY rankings.
Four anglers qualified via a victory this season, which allowed 12 anglers to qualify via the AOY rankings.
Here are the Four anglers who came out on top of some incredible battles this season, punching their tickets to the Ship:
RYAN PLATT
Victory: Tippy & Duggar
DREW DUNCAN
Victory: Tri-Lakes
STEVE MARTIN
Victory: Raccoon Lake
TEAGUE MCCLURG
Victory: White River
The following anglers have qualified via AOY points:
Joshua Robbins
Justin Kivett
Brian Moore
Mark Howell
Jim Bailey
Larry Reyes
Clint Stafford
Matt Kiefer
James Miller
Austin Killion
Brian Duncan
Ryan Reedy
In addition to announcing the 2023 IKA Championship roster, IKA also released the details of this year's competition and the format is going to be not only for the anglers competing, but also for those of us watching the leaderboards.
For 2023, IKA and the 16 qualified anglers will be heading to Northeast Indiana for our two-day championship.
Where will they be fishing?
Well, those details haven't been released. What we do know, is the anglers will compete on two separate bodies of water. One location selected at random for each day of competion.
The potential options are:
Lake James Chain Crooked Lake Lake George Golden Lake Lake Gage Hamilton Lake
On the night of Friday, September 8th IKA will announce the lake that will be fished on Saturday, and on Saturday night they will announce the lake that will be fished on Sunday.
This poses some obvious challenges for the championship roster as practice, along with tournament prep, will be a bit more difficult. That said, these are the best of the best so there is no doubt they're going to figure them out regardless of the location.
Again, anglers will be competing not only for the championship title & payout but also for the AOY title. Currently, Ryan Platt and Drew Duncan are in the best position to be crowned AOY and take home the AOY prize package of a custom-colored NuCanoe Frontier 10 kayak, a 60Ah Dakota Lithium battery, and a custom Ketch X Board. That being said, should those two anglers stumble, there is a handful of other anglers who could sneak in and steal the title.
As far as who will be crowned champion, well, it's anyone's game and the top 3 are going to go home with a pretty decent payday.
The prize payouts are as follows:
1st Place: $1700 + Custom Ketch X Board 2nd Place: $900 3rd Place: $500
Not bad for a $75 entry fee.
IKA is the longest-standing series in that state and it's a true accomplishment to win an IKA Championship or be crowned Angler of the Year. We wish all the anglers the best of luck as they battle it out on the water early next month.
Huge shoutout to the unsung hero of the league, the IKA Admin team! These gents are some of the best in the industry.