The only thing Chad Hoover enjoys more than catching big fish is exploring and finding fish where powerboats can’t reach. Chad is host of Kayak Bassin’ on World Fishing Network and Knot Right Kayak Fishing on NBC Sports—two television series’ that follow Chad on entertaining backwoods adventures, while offering anglers valuable fishing tips and tricks.
As a full-time angler and fishing personality, Chad puts approximately 57,000 mi. each year with his kayak laden Yakima RACKandROLL trailer in tow: That’s 57,000 mi. strictly dedicated to the hunt for the biggest bass he can find and land from the seat of his kayak! He is currently tracking to hit 250-300 days of fishing this year. From his home in Hendersonville, TN he ventures everywhere—from the white sand beaches of Miami to raging rivers in Canada—on the search for North Americas best trophy bass destinations.
Here is a rundown of Chad’s kayak bass angling adventures from Season 5 on WFN and NBC Sports:
Chad kicked things off with a bang by inviting UFC fighter, Clay ‘The Carpenter’ Guida, and YouTube sensation, Gene ‘The Flukemaster’ Jensen, to the shallow and brackish waters of Lake George in Florida. Despite being a seasoned angler, Clay Guida learns firsthand that it’s not only bass that like the looks of a tasty topwater frog.
On his next Floridian adventure this season, Chad headed to Palatka in the northeast to meet up with legendary big-game kayak angler, Jim Sammons, for a straight-up bass fishing challenge called the Backyard Beatdown. Neither angler had fished these waters before and with hundreds of miles of open water and an unseasonable patch of low pressure, it was the perfect place as the guys were on equal footing. With the gloves off and reputations at stake, pulling in half pounders won’t do the trick and Chad resorts to psychological warfare. No spoilers here, but rest assured a rematch is in the works.
Chad’s next stop on the production calendar was Guntersville, Alabama, to hook up with the Tadlock family to fish for big bass in legendary Lake Guntersville. After a great day of throwing the topwater frog, Chad loads up his rig and heads back to his home state of Tennessee for the opportunity to fish downtown Nashville with buddy Craig Dye. 
The urban environment offers its own unique angling challenges and surprises and Chad identifies tips, tricks and tools that he finds handy for these waters. To reset and for a change of pace his next stops are a couple small farm ponds near his house in Hendersonville.
With his roof racks and RACKandROLL trailer loaded with boats, Chad makes the 600 mi. journey south to the St. Johns River in central Florida to meet up with Ron Champion, searching for big bass in gator filled waters. Not daunted by any web-footed competition, they make the move to another location known for having one of the densest populations of large gators in the country, Lake Jessup. There they target bass that prove to be equal in size and numbers.
With spring in the air, Chad ventured two hours south of his home to Long Branch Lakes in Tennessee looking to pull some big bass off their beds during the spawn. The conditions were excellent and we captured a segment featuring Chad spending an hour and a half plotting and describing how best to pull a mammoth pre-spawn female from an active bed. Chad is puts all his experience into play; coyly catching the protective male and zeroing in on the prize. This calculated catch was definitely one of the highlights of the season.
During another week of shooting an episode for Kayak Bassin’, Chad does a mini tour of Tennessee, visiting thee locations within a couple hours’ drive. First he hooks up with some good friends on the Collins River in Cookville to chase the meanest freshwater fish on the planet—big, toothy musky. He then revisits the tried and true Long Branch Lakes—one of his favorite lakes in the country—with hopes of landing another big ol’ bass.
After a short break at home, Chad has made his way to Virginia for YakAttack’s Annual Charity Kayak Fishing Tournament in support of Heroes on the Water and Project Healing Waters.
Chad arrives a few days early, in order to hook up with a few friends and revisit two lakes in the Farmville area that were pivotal in his move to switch from being a Navy man to a professional kayak angler—Briery Creek, and Sandy River Reservoir. He then heads to a place on the Briery he calls the Pig Pen because its proven time and again to be filled with big hogs. Joining Chad on this trip is Kameron Van Scoyoc on a long haul roady from Michigan.
To wrap up the season, Chad hits the road with kayaks in tow en route to Miami to take part in ICAST, the world’s largest sportfishing trade show. The relentlessly passionate angler that he is, he couldn’t miss out on an opportunity to test his skills in some unknown waters and joins friend, Monster Mike, on an urban peacock bass fishing adventure. While there, the comical and physically contrasting team are invited by Captain Ben Chancey of Chew on this Guide Service to hop aboard for a successful mission to catch some aptly named goliath grouper.
