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Landstrom’s smallie strategy vaults him into Day 1 lead at Dale Hollow

Smallmouth bass were the key to success for Glenn Landstrom on Day 1 of the 2025 Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series at Dale Hollow Reservoir presented by Native Watercraft.

The Huntingburg, Ind., angler secured a limit of brown fish measuring 98.50 inches to claim the Day 1 lead. Virginia’s Ewing Minor is second with 97.75 inches and Florida’s Seth Taylor is third with 96.50 inches. Landstrom was the only angler in the Top 9 to land exclusively smallmouth.

It was an overall stellar day for the 233-boat field on the famed reservoir that splits the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. The Top 25 all landed limits measuring 90 inches or better and 135 limits were registered on TourneyX.

A former Lexington, Ky., resident, Landstrom had only been to Dale Hollow one time before this week for a Bluegrass Kayak Anglers event. He fished for largemouth in that tournament and did not come close to the victory.

“My buddy Jay Wallen won that event, and he told me, ‘You have to be in this general area fishing for smallmouth to win events here.’ So, I put that in my head,” Landstrom explained. “Even though I caught good largemouth in practice, I went and looked for smallmouth, and so far, that is paying off.”

While he found a productive largemouth bite in practice, Landstrom knew smallmouth would likely be the key to winning. On Saturday, he started — and never left — a rocky flat where he could see smallies swimming in and out with his Lowrance ActiveTarget.

“There were only six people who launched at our spot, so there was very little pressure, which was nice. I was shocked considering where I am at,” Landstrom said.

He believes many of these bass are in some stage of the spawn, although he isn’t sure which stage. One lure from Bizz Baits produced all of his bites on Day 1.

“The largemouth seem to be spawned out, although some of the females seem to be guarding the nest, which isn’t usually their job. The water is up in the bushes. I caught a bunch doing that, and it is obvious the largemouth are spawned out,” he explained. “The smallmouth, I have no idea. I can see some beds on my side imaging, and I can see they are on the bed, but I don’t know where they are in the procedure.

“It seems to be a mix of pre and postspawn.”

While his final tally has him leading going into the final day, it could have been a little better had the first 30 minutes gone a little differently. After landing an 18.50-incher to start the morning, Landstrom proceeded to lose the next six bites he received, all of which were bigger than the bass he had already landed.

“I was lucky enough to have the fastest kayak to get to my spot,” he said. “And then I lost 95 to 100 inches in the first 20 minutes. I got the 18.5 in, and the next cast I got hung up. I must have rolled the point of my hook, and I never looked at it once I retrieved it. I lost one after another and I got good — well, bad — video of that.

“I finally looked at my hook and it was blunt. I couldn’t even stick it in my finger.”

After changing out his hook, Landstrom was able to fill out his limit and made a key cull late in the day to edge out Minor for the lead. He broke off a couple of other bass that likely would have lifted his total to the 100-inch mark.

“The bite kind of died in the afternoon,” he said. “I got lucky and caught one with 40 minutes to go to cull me up 2 inches. I wasn’t expecting it, and I’m grateful for it.”

Virginia’s Abraham Street landed the Big Bass of the Day, a 21.25-inch largemouth.

The full field will take off from any approved public launch and begin fishing at 5:45 a.m. CT on Day 2. Anglers will have until 2 p.m. to catch their five longest bass. The top finishing anglers will be recognized at Pickett County High School at 5 p.m. The awards ceremony will also be streamed on the Bassmaster YouTube Channel.

The winner will earn the first-place prize of $11,355 and the Top 5 anglers will earn an automatic bid to the 2026 Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship presented by Native Watercraft.

Source: Bassmaster