On August 9, 2026, Rapala CrushCity Crew ambassadors Jamie Bruce and Bryan Gustafson won the 2026 Kenora Bass International (KBI) on Lake of the Woods with a three-day weight of 54.20 pounds. The victory makes the pair, both from Kenora, three-time KBI champions, having won previously in 2014 and 2024.

GRINDING THROUGH TOUGH CONDITIONS FOR THE WIN

Bruce and Gustafson faced different fishing conditions this year compared to their previous KBI victories, largely due to low water levels and strong, steady winds.

“The two other times we had won, it was high water,” Bruce said. “We never left the bank and were fishing dirt shallow. Then this year it was way on the low side for water.”

Relentless winds, which Bruce says were often 25 to 35 km, were present throughout the tournament. Securing their win required Bruce and Gustafson to adapt to the conditions, fish several areas, and use a variety of presentations.

“We never had so many rods on the deck in this tournament, but we were running four different patterns,” Bruce said. “We had deep smallmouth, shallow smallmouth, shallow largemouth, and off-bank largemouth.”

Below Bruce shares details about the team’s top baits and how they caught their winning fish — six largemouth and nine smallmouth — over three days.

PIGSTICK

Bruce and Gustafson began each day catching shallow largemouth with a 5-inch Pigstick wacky rigged on a size 1 VMC RedLine Series Wacky Neko Hook. The strategy allowed them to get a quick limit of bass. Most fish were 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 pounds, but the Pigstick also produced a critical fish on both the first and second day.

“We caught our two biggest largemouth on a Pigstick,” Bruce said. “They were outside of coontail and rock, in about six feet of water.”

Bruce fished the Pigstick using a 13 Fishing 7’4” Myth medium, fast spinning rod, the new Shyft spinning reel (3000 size), and 10-pound Sufix Revolve finesse braid with a 12-pound Advance Fluorocarbon Leader.

AVATAR SHAD

“We caught a couple of our largemouth on a 1/2-ounce ChatterBait with the new Avatar Shad,” Bruce said. “We cut the lip off the Avatar Shad and used it as a ChatterBait trailer, so that was a new look and worked well.”

The 4-inch Avatar Shad’s segmented body gives it a distinct swimming action and enticing belly roll. It’s made of Rapala’s ultra-durable, buoyant Super TPE.

“It swims in a different way than any other ChatterBait trailer or minnow bait that I’ve seen,” Bruce said. “We were also catching a lot of pike, so it was nice to have a Super TPE trailer.”

The presentation was used to cover water and trigger strikes from largemouth relating to weedlines.

“It was probably 10 feet deep, but we were just fishing it two feet down,” Bruce said.

Bruce fished the bladed swim jig and Avatar Shad with the newly released 13 Fishing Enzo 7’5” heavy, fast casting composite rod designed for horizontal, reaction lure presentation, the new Shyft baitcaster, and 20-pound Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon.

FREELOADER

Minnow shakin’ a 4-1/2-inch CrushCity Freeloader (green shad) on a 3/16-ounce VMC RedLine Tungsten Swimbait Jig caught the team several key smallmouth. Garmin LiveScope helped them pinpoint bronzebacks offshore that were relating to baitfish in 10 to 20 feet.

“We were using 3/16, but if it wasn't windy, we would have been using an 1/8,” Bruce said. “We were really shaking it and really hovering it in the zone. They were not easy to catch. It was long follows and lots of shaking.”

Bruce relied on the technique-specific 13 Fishing Myth Shaker 7’2” medium-light-mag, fast-spinning rod, a Shyft reel, and 10-pound Revolve to 10-pound Advance Fluorocarbon Leader.

THE MAYOR

“When it was really blowing, if we couldn’t stay on them with LiveScope, we used a 3-inch Mayor on a Smeltinator Underspin Jig,” Bruce said.

Green shad was their go-to colour for the CrushCity swimbait. The jig was 1/4-ounce.

“We were still spotting them on the ‘Scope, but it was impossible to stay on them some of the days… [with] three-foot waves crashing, especially when they were in a mix of bait.”

The strategy with The Major was straightforward. Scan around using forward-facing sonar to get a rough idea of bass position, then cast to the zone, and steadily reel in the swimbait until a smallmouth crushes the swimbait. Rinse and repeat.

The same rod, reel, and line setup Bruce used for the Freeloader was used for fishing The Mayor.

THE CEO

Bruce and Gustafson weighed in two smallmouth caught with CrushCity’s The CEO, which won the ICAST 2026 Best Freshwater Soft Lure category. The green pumpkin blue, 15-mm Super TPE urchin bait was weighted with a 1/16-ounce nail weight and rigged on a size 1 VMC Hybrid Treble.

“We were in 15 to 20 feet, and there were some fish on boulders,” Bruce said. “These fish were pretty locked to the boulders, and they were really hard to catch. We floated The CEO down there, and then would pop it over the boulder to get the fish to come out, using a quick, sharp snap. Almost like you’d snap a Jigging Rap.”

Bruce fished The CEO with a 13 Fishing Myth Jigging Rap 6’10” spinning rod, a Shyft reel, and 10-pound Revolve to 24 inches of 17-pound Advance Fluorocarbon Leader.

BRONCO BUG

Two critical largemouth bass catches from shallow laydowns came on a green pumpkin, 4-inch CruchCity Bronco Bug Texas-rigged on a 4/0 VMC RedLine Series Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook with a 3/8-ounce Tungsten Flippin’ Weight.

“We only got a couple of bites on the Bronco Bug, but they were winning ones,” Bruce said.

He spoke about the importance of line selection, explaining that he chose 50-pound Sufix 832 Advance Superline in High-Vis Yellow for maximum sensitivity, strike detection, and hook-set power transfer. A 30-inch leader of 20-pound Advanced Fluorocarbon was attached to the braid with a FG knot.

“The fluorocarbon works around the wood better… braid can cut into the trees, but you feel more on the braid, especially with the wind, and you need to know when they bite it. Otherwise, they’ll turn and be back in the wood, so we used braid for that, and I can get a better hook-set on braid if the fish is on a weird angle.”

Bruce fished the Texas-rigged Bronco Bug using a 13 Fishing Myth 7’3” medium-heavy, extra-fast casting rod and a Concept A baitcaster.

SHOP CRUSHCITY

SHOP 13 FISHING

SHOP VMC

Local Duo Wins 2026 Kenora Bass International With CrushCity Baits & Become Three-Time Champions

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