NSKA

NSKA NWA Recap – Bella Vista Night Ops

A hot stretch of days near the end of June led up to a rare summer night kayak fishing tournament on the beautiful Bella Vista lakes nestled in the Ozarks. Fifty-seven kayak anglers battled pre-4th of July water skiers, swimmers and fireworks to try and sift through the vast amount of dinks in Bella Vista in order to put together a decent limit.

The in-person captain’s meeting was held jointly at Ozark Kayak and Hook Line and Sinker in Bella Vista – highlighted by some tasty barbecue prepped by the TD for the event. Shout out to Taylor Frizzell for this first class touch! As the fifty seven anglers peeled out of the parking lot at relatively high speed, the race was on to get their spots on one of the seven Bella Vista lakes – Windsor, Loch Lomond, Norwood, Avalon, Ann, Brittany and Rayburn.

Tournament Results

As expected, the Bella Vista lakes gave up a lot of fish to the anglers, just not much size. Word had been that the bass boat tournaments have had low weights and finding a big one was very difficult. On this summer Saturday 84% of the field carded a keeper while a respectable 60% turned in a limit. Fish were caught, but Kyle Long destroyed the Big Bass contest by catching a 22.5″ Largemouth at Lake Norwood.

Kyle Long’s very lengthy but flat tummy Largemouth Bass. Took home the Big Bass prize for the Bella Vista event.

Danny Dutton was a part of a very large contingent (18+) anglers on Lake Ann and he turned it into a First Place finish with 78.25″ fueled by a 17.5″ kicker. Jeff Malott took second on Loch Lomond with 75.5″ and I was fortunate enough to take third with 75″ on the evening.

The top ten:

  1. Danny Dutton
  2.  Jeff Malott
  3.  Jason Kincy
  4.  Carson McBride
  5.  Justin Phillips
  6.  Baron Meek
  7.  Tyler Zengerle
  8.  Roy Roberts
  9.  Kyle Long (What?! You had a 22.5″ bass!? 9th place??)
  10.  Josh King
Dangerous Danny Dutton danced a dandy Senko to victory in the NSKA Bella Vista night tournament.
Bella Vista Night Ops Angler Recaps

The top three anglers from the event shared where they caught them and how. Here’s the recap from Danny Dutton,  Jeff Malott and Jason Kincy.

What lake did you go to and why?

Danny – I went to Lake Ann. Never been on the lake before, but I looked at an article that showed the electric shock results of all the lakes. Looked like Ann was trending in the right direction.

Jeff – I went to Loch Lomond, until a few hours on Wednesday I had never actually fished in Bella Vista. So after limited success pre-fishing one of the smaller lakes I decided to head to the largest lake where I could cover some water and hopefully figure something out.

Jason – Did some pre-fishing and although I don’t love Lake Ann it was the place where I seemed to find the most reliable bite, and had caught a 20+ out there the week before the tournament which gave me some confidence.

Did you catch em early or late or when?

Danny – I had a limit by a 6:00. But culled 4 of them between 9:00 and 10:45.

Jeff – I caught fish steadily until dark, but really had a flurry of “good” fish the hour right before dark.

Jason – Had a decent limit by 5:00 and then tried to upgrade here and there over the next few hours. The final 15″ I caught at 11:30 and gave me an extra 1/2 inch for the night.

What did you think of the evening format and lake options?

Danny – I don’t usually fish nights but it worked out well for me this time. Liked going to Bella Vista.

Jeff – The evening format was interesting, I am not a fan of night fishing but the weather and bugs cooperated for this one so it was all good.

Jason – Night fishing is a lot of fun and something good for a change. Really enjoyed being able to be home in the morning and having some time during the day before the tourney. Bella Vista has beautiful lakes.

What did you catch em on?

Danny – I caught them on Senko in a variety of colors.

Jeff – I have always heard Bella Vista is full of 10-12 inch fish. So in a effort to avoid those I threw a 10″ worm and 1/2 oz jig almost all evening. By the end of the night my best five were all caught on the worm.

Jason – Most of my fish were on a beaver style bait rigged on an Owner 4/0 creature hook, flipped and dragged around the bank. The last few fish were on a Z-Man chatterbait with a YUM Christie Craw trailer.

How many rods do you carry on tourney day and how many are spinning vs baitcaster?

Danny – I had seven rods. Two bait casters and five spinning rods. I’m not very skilled with bait casters. But working on it.
Jeff – I usually carry eight to eleven rods on tourney day, but for this one I had nine total. Two spinning and seven baitcasting. I made a least a cast with all of them but settled in on the two mentioned above after a couple hours.
Jason – I can max out with 10 rods but carried eight on tournament night, including three spinning rods. I hate stopping to tie on baits so try to carry a rod for each bait I think will be important.
Next NWA NSKA event is a quick turnaround with a Road Runner on July 13. Watch for a preview article coming soon as the plastic armada prepares to across Northwest Arkansas.
Fish It Forward Results
A local Bella Vista tournament circuit also held an event concurrently with the NSKA night tournament. The Fish it Forward tournament featured 27 kayak anglers who also had access to all lakes. Justin Phillips took 1st place with 74.75″ followed by Baron Meek with 74.50″ and Tyler Zengerle with 73″ on the evening. The next tournament is July 27th in Bella Vista, check the FIF Facebook page for more info and sign up on TourneyX.