Water levels in May on Beaver Lake have been following a familiar pattern in 2021, carrying on a year over year over year tradition. High water along with a week of rain for the four straight time prior to an NSKA event made for daily changing water conditions. If you look at the past three years on Beaver Lake in May, you should prepare to fish in high water – which is a good thing on the Dead Sea.
The past two tournaments I’ve had to work really hard to understand what’s going on with the lakes. After a terrible start to the year I needed to ensure a decent finish. This meant a lot of driving around of Beaver Lake the week prior to the event, and the weekend prior I hit two of my go-to areas on Beaver Lake South with horrifically bad pre-fishing results. This told me I needed to do something else…that the river area felt like it was dead for the most part and the action would be down lake toward the Hwy 12 bridge. The results I think showed this to be mostly true at the top.
Beaver Lake South Tournament Results
We had a really strong field for this one, including some top anglers who came in from NSKA Central and RVKA. Love the fact they came up! May is a great month to fish Beaver Lake because of the elevated water levels, still some spawning or fry guarders present, and with some color in the water – it gives an angler a better chance of getting them shallow. Of the 53, a really strong 70% turned in a limit for the day, and I suspect that everyone who got on the water turned in at least one keeper.
I was fortunate to catch enough to take the win with 87.75″, followed by Christa Hibbs with 84.25″, and then Justin Brewer with 82.75″ for third place. Big Bass was a good battle, where Christa and Justin both caught a 21.75″ and Christa won the tiebreaker to take the prize. (Justin beat me in a tiebreaker for third place on Table Rock, so he’ll be OK. Ha!)
Here is your top ten from Beaver Lake South:
- Jason Kincy – 87.75
- Christa Hibbs – 84.25 (RVKA)
- Justin Brewer – 82.75
- Jeriamy Vann – 81.00
- Chris Jones – 79.75 (RVKA)
- Garrett Morgan – 76.00 (NSKA Central)
- Josh Goforth – 75.75
- Roy Roberts – 75.50
- Michael Burgess – 75.25
- Jeff Malott – 75.00
Angler Roundtable
So how’d the top finishers for the event do it and what are their thoughts on Beaver Lake? I joined Christa Hibbs, Justin Brewer and Jeriamy Vann in this recap discussion. Here’s the scoop:
What part of the lake did you fish and why?
Jason – After doing a lot of looking around, I decided that dirty water was going to be the key to a chance to win. Monte Ne gets really dirty when it rains hard in Rogers, and I’ve fished it quite a bit because it is the closest part of the lake to my house. Took a chance and it paid off.
Christa – I fished the Horseshoe Bend area for the event. I decided on this area because in the past it’s always fished well for me and held good fish each time I’ve fished it.
Justin – I put in at the War Eagle Marina and fished pockets on the main channel swing. That was my pattern at Table Rock so I tried to duplicate it at Beaver. Only difference was that I didn’t get the dirty water I was hoping for.
Jeriamy – I went just south of the HWY 12 bridge Saturday. Really wanted to fish a stretch that I had never fished before and this area looked really nice on the maps that I had studied all week.
Describe how you caught your biggest bass of the day, and what on?
Jason – After catching several keepers early on a spinnerbait, the bite started to slow as the rain cleared off. Wanted to keep throwing a moving bait so chose a white chatterbait. On a long cast that landed right next to a bush, it immediately got heavy and could tell that she was wrapped up in a bush so I just tried to keep some pressure on and she eventually came out. Second 20″ fish that morning, only the second time that’s happened to me in a tournament. Was very lucky.
Christa – My biggest bass of the day was the 21.75 that came around 7 am. I’d missed a bunch of fish just swatting at the buzzbait that morning, so I decided to put a trailer hook on. Three casts later, that big one hit it. Once in the net I noticed it was only hooked by that trailer hook. I luckily adjusted just at the right time.
Justin – My biggest bass came on a wacky rigged Yum Dinger. I pretty much kept it in my hand all day with the hope that eventually I would come across a big female or some decent males still on beds. It took me all day but I eventually found the big female and then a bonus male with her.
Jeriamy – I caught a 19.25″ which was my biggest of the day on a Santone Rattling Jig Black, Blue and Purple with a (CRAWL) trailer. I eased up real quiet to some floating debris and submerged trees in the back of a pocket and had just enough room to make a pitch across to the bank and work the bait along big root ball. I twitched the jig a few times and she came out from under the wood and crushed it.
Beaver Lake showed out a bit on Saturday, what are your thoughts on the lake as a fishery?
Jason – My grandfather, dad and his brothers fished Beaver Lake from when it was formed, and took me there when I was a kid so I will always have soft spot for this lake because of that. It’s a tough place at times but I really like the challenge of a changing lake rather than when people can just hit their honey holes. I joke about it being the Dead Sea, but it’s all in fun, you can catch’em there! For NWA it is our premier fishery and a beautiful place that we are lucky to have nearby.
Christa – I’ve always enjoyed fishing Beaver Lake. It may not always kick out the 20+ inch fish like a lot of other lakes, but I’ve had some awesome fun fishing days out there. In this tournament it produced some nice ones. I think with the heat of the summer not quite here yet, the higher water level, and cloud cover we had on tournament day helped keep those big ones out roaming and more vulnerable. Congratulations to all the top finishers!
Justin – I know many people call it the Dead Sea but other than a couple of trips I’ve always enjoyed the lake. Especially if I can find some dirtier water it’s always put up good limits for me.
Jeriamy – I’m pretty biased about Beaver lake. It’s my favorite with Lake Ouachita being a close second. I was a little surprised at the number of fish caught Saturday, but then I realized that I shouldn’t be with all the sticks in this NSKA group.
Video recap of my day on Beaver Lake, including baits my best five were caught on:
Heavy Hitters Standings
The Heavy Hitters pool is starting to take shape as we’re now four events in. As a reminder, anglers take their top fish from five events, so there’s a long way to go. This week was a real plus for me and Jeriamy getting some big ones on the board to make up some ground. Kyle Long still leads and is in a good spot, with Roy Roberts and Josh Howard on his tail. Again, don’t sleep on those with 20s on the board like James Haeberle, Tyler Zengerle and Cole Sikes. They are still in great shape.
NSKA Classic / AOY Race
The top 25 finishers in AOY will make the end of season Classic Championship. It’s too early to tell much, but let’s take a look at who’s “in” as of today. Keep in mind it’s the top six events with two drops, so a lot is going to change. Everyone has a chance to get in at this point. For overall AOY – Dwain, Michael and Roy are still in the best position, but any angler with two scores above 95 is likely still a threat to close the gap.
Next Up – Pumpback
We’ll do a preview for Pumpback next week – it’s a really weird and cool little lake (More formally known as Chimney Rock Lake). If you haven’t been there, be sure to mark your calendar for June 5 to experience this pool of giant smallmouth and largemouth bass.