Classic Contender: Caleb Kuphall

by St. Croix Rods 21 Mar 2023 17:27 PDT March 24–26, 2023

Caleb Kuphall at the 2023 Academy Sports Outdoors Bassmaster Classic © St. Croix Rod

Competitive fishing's grandest stage is coming to Knoxville, Tennessee this weekend, when the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota kicks off on the Tennessee River. St Croix Pros Caleb Kuphall of Mukwonago, Wisconsin; Bob Downey of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota; and Pat Schlapper of Eleva, Wisconsin are among the 55 elite anglers competing for the biggest title and payout in competitive bass fishing.

Caleb Kuphall is completely immersed in fishing. When he isn't fishing the Elites, he works as a fishing guide on his home waters in Wisconsin, as well as part-time in a tackle shop. Kuphall finished his third season in the Elites ranked 19th in AOY points in 2022.

Kuphall says making the 2024 Bassmaster Classic is his most important goal for this 2023 season. "I'm just trying to stay on tour," he says. "It takes consistency. That comes from having confidence in what I'm doing - trying to stay versatile and adapt, but having something you can fall back on. For me, that's jig fishing. I feel like I can go to a jig and it can either bail me out or push me up."

After a slow start to the 2023 Elite season at Lake Okeechobee and Lake Seminole, Kuphall says he's particularly looking forward to this year's Elite events at Santee Cooper and Guntersville, both of which will play to his strengths. "I had a good finish at Santee Cooper last year and won on Guntersville in 2021," he says. "I thought Lake Seminole would be in my wheelhouse, too, until I got there. I'd never fished it before and it had a lot more of a Florida vibe than I was expecting. Of course, everyone likes fishing at Lake Champlain, and being from the north, I feel like I should be able to make something happen there, too."

With respect to the upcoming Bassmaster Classic on the Tennessee River, Kuphall says it's one of his favorite places to fish. "It'll be interesting to see what the weather does and how that affects the fish and the spawn. I approach the Classic differently because there's no points attached to it. It's all or nothing. I'm going to feed them with my strengths; there's no plan B."

For Kuphall, that likely means jig fishing. "I'll probably have a Legend Tournament Bass LBTC71MHF in my hands most of the time at the Classic. It's my favorite jig rod and the number-one rod on my deck," says Kuphall, who also gives a nod to the Legend Tournament Bass LBTC72HM. "That's one of the new reaction-bait models in the series that St. Croix calls iACT with both carbon and glass. I caught every fish I weighed at Okeechobee on that rod, and it's definitely my new favorite chatterbait rod. One of my other go-to's lately has been the Victory VTC73MHF. It's what I'm fishing now for swim jigs and speed worms. It's really a great lipless crankbait rod, too."