Familiarity with Ute and Conchas Lakes might have been the key to Clovis angler Noah Hoffman’s success in the New Mexico Bass Nation Kayak Anglers’ year-end tournament.
Hoffman, a 27-year-old captain in the U.S Air Force, won the Sept. 26-27 tournament held at the lakes near Tucumcari, and while he was at it earned the kayak series’ Angler of the Year award.
“I have fished before at Ute and Conchas,” said Hoffman, a combat systems officer stationed at Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis. Ute Lake is 80 miles from Clovis and Conchas Lake is 116 miles from the Curry County seat.
Hoffman tapped the familiar waters for 19 fish measuring a total of 164 inches during the two-day tournament.
He said a night rain on Sept. 25 prompted him to change his strategy on the first day of the competition when he discovered mud in some of the canyons and creeks around Ute Lake.
“I used buzz bait for largemouth bass and went to the cleanest water to find schools of bass,” he said.
He used the same approach Sept. 27 at Conchas Lake.
“I just stayed where there would be cleaner water,” Hoffman said.
He spotted a school of largemouth bass chasing baby bass and “moved around until I found a school and found the larger brush.”
Fish use brush piles and fallen trees for survival and feeding.
Hoffman has served in the Air Force for five years, transferring to New Mexico two years ago after serving at Naval Air Station Pensacola and Hurlburt Field in Florida.
He joined the New Mexico Bass Nation Kayak Anglers series in 2024.
“There’s not a lot to do in Clovis,” Hoffman said during a telephone interview. “I was looking for something to do. I kayak fished in Florida.”
He participated in his first NMBNK event in May of 2024.
“It was super fun,” he said.
A native of Thousand Oaks, California, Hoffman doesn’t remember when he started fishing but said he recalls casting his lines at Lake Casitas in Ventura, California, and Castaic Lake near Los Angeles.
“I was pretty young when I learned to fish,” he said.
Hoffman bought his first kayak in 2022 while stationed in Florida.
“I bought it for saltwater fishing,” he said. “I didn’t do any freshwater fishing until I moved here in 2024.”
There are differences between freshwater fishing and saltwater fishing, according to the Suncatcher Yamaha Boat Company’s website.
“The intent is usually to escape the daily grind, relax quietly and hopefully catch some trout, bass, crappie, bluegill or other freshwater fish,” reads the website, noting that saltwater fishing is “often quite rigorous … saltwater fish are generally larger, stronger and more difficult to catch.”
Hoffman said he has fished from a bank and rental boat. He said owning a kayak has its advantages versus staying on land or borrowing someone else’s watercraft.
“It gives you access to more water. To be out on the water is super peaceful,” he said.
With the NMBNK season concluded, Hoffman is eyeing return trips to both Ute Lake and Conchas Lake before winter hits.
“I plan to look for deepwater walleye to take home and eat,” he said.
Follow Mike Smith on Instagram @mikesmithartesianm
