Event four on the season was the first of back to back trips to the Dead Sea for the NSKA NWA crew. Beaver Lake has actually done pretty well in recent years and put out some good limits. The northern stop was likely to be the smaller winning total over the southern stop coming up on June 22nd. With road closures, runaway docks and marinas, and summer boats everywhere, it wasn’t quite as wide open as usual in fishing options. But as usual, the NSKA anglers found a way.
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Tournament Recap
On the heels of a stormy week in Northwest Arkansas, the fishing was pretty good for some and pretty tough for others. It seemed to come down to location as a key factor – as several of the Top 10 fished within sight of each other.
Kyle Long won his second event in a row with a good 83.00″ limit! Dwain Batey was second with 80.75″, and Josh Landreth third with 80.25″ for the event. Big Bass also went to Josh Landreth for a 20.50″ largemouth.
The Top Ten Finishers:
- Kyle Long 82.00
- Dwain Batey 80.75
- Josh Landreth 80.25
- Levi Schneider 80.25
- Tyler Zengerle 80.00
- Jason Kincy 79.00
- John Hall 79.00
- Mike Zajicek 78.50
- Jobie Vongpraphanh 77.75
- Justin Brewer 77.50
Angler Roundtable
Pull up a chair and learn how the top finishers found and caught their bass. Thanks to Kyle, Dwain, Josh, and Levi for sharing their experiences with us.
Where did you go and why?
Kyle – I went to Prairie Creek. I had to leave early for my daughter’s dance recital so that was the closest place to be able to stay the longest before I had to go. And because it’s a great area of the lake.
Dwain – I fished Prairie Creek, if the event had been later in the summer I would have went further north, but because of the time of year I wanted to stay mid-lake. It’s always super busy in PC, but I felt like I could fish differently enough to still catch fish.
Josh – I fished a creek arm with the most stain I could find. Thursday evening I fished there for about an hour and found really high quality fish.
Levi – I went to Indian Creek because I knew it’d be the clearest water I could fish that also suits my strengths.
What were some of the key baits or techniques you used to catch your bass?
Kyle – Three baits got almost every bite. Fluke early, shakyhead midday, and spinnerbait late.
Dwain – I started off using a buzzbait, then caught one on a fluke, then one on a carolina rig, then a few pitching a creature bait, and even caught a key fish or two on a wake bait. Basically I was 100% junk fishing after the first run with the buzzbait stopped working.
Josh – I caught my big fish on a chatterbait in about two feet of water. Other than that, it was just junk fishing all day. Two of the fish in my bag were on a wacky rig and two were on a shakyhead. I knew from my hour of pre-fishing that if the fish were still there on Saturday, I’d be in contention.
Levi – I caught my best five on a spook and a flutter spoon but caught others on a Damiki rig and a hair jig.
Describe when you knew you might be in contention for a trophy.
Kyle – I’d say at around 1:00. Culled an inch on a spinnerbait with a 16” which doesn’t seem like much, but based on where I was and the conditions, I knew if I made enough casts in the highest percentage areas I had a chance to upgrade some more. I knew I was in contention for a Top 5 before that, but when I caught that 16 I really believed I was gonna place top three with a chance to win.
Dwain – I was on top of the leader board most of the day and having the board showing was nice, several of us had a good back and forth going towards the end of the event and even though I usually don’t look at the leader board anyway it was exciting to watch it go down real time.
Josh – When I caught the 20.5″ at 6:20am, I knew I’d have a chance if I could get enough bites. I have a feeling it was a fish I shook off on Thursday night.
Levi – Whenever I pulled up to a point and caught my two biggest on back to back casts I knew I had a shot to win because they jumped me to second at the time. Unfortunately I jumped my biggest bite off in the last 10 minutes that would’ve sealed the deal. It still stings a little but I’m always grateful for the opportunity to be in contention
What’s your favorite rod and reel setup and what do you use it for?
Kyle – That new spinnerbait rod y’all got me last year has been phenomenal. It’s without question the best quality set up I own. But after that one, it’s got to be my shaky head rod. Reel is just a spinning reel from Walmart, the rod is a BPS rod that isn’t fancy, but I sure love the way it puts them in the boat.
Dwain – I would probably have to go with an 8:1 gear ratio bait cast reel, I’m not brand loyal but I have a lot of the white BPS reels. I like a MH 7′ 6” rod with that and even though this sounds like a single rod, depending on the brand the vary wildly in how light or heavy their MH rods are. So I have several different brands to cover different techniques. For example the way I rig and fish a fluke I need a MH rod that’s on the heavy side of MH, but for a Chatterbait I might go with a MH rod that is more on the light side of MH.
Josh – My equipment needs an overhaul, honestly. I spend a lot of time on the river, and the river is hard on stuff. And I’m cheap. So, I don’t have the best equipment. If I could avoid ever having a spinning rod in my hand, I would. So those need to be thrown in the trash. Right now, my favorite setup is a 7′ MH TPO Professional rod that I won in a drawing at the Classic in 2022. It’s paired with an old RevoX reel. I’ve been using it as my chatterbait rod. Pretty soon, I’ll swap over to using it for topwater. It’s just a good utility setup.
Levi – My favorite combo is my flutter spoon setup which is a 8.3:1 Johnny Morris platinum with a 7’6” MH bass pro cranking stick that’s equipped with 17lb fluorocarbon.
Heavy Hitters
There were some good fish caught on Beaver Lake, but only one 20, so it didn’t do too much to shake up the Heavy Hitters race. This was Landreth’s second 20 of the year, so it definitely puts him in a good position to move up. With four events left, it is still pretty much anybody’s to win.
Green means it is a “great” score and yellow means a “good” score – no color means it needs replaced by another score if possible.
Angler of the Year Race
It has been an unusual season so far, with all four events being won by only two anglers. This has resulted in a couple of leaders, but others have also had consistent top finishes. With four events to go and the ability to drop two, there SEVERAL anglers in serious contention. More importantly, almost the entire field has a chance for the Top 25 and a Classic spot. Theoretically, with four events to go, an angler would only have to keep two of their first two scores. It’s going to go down to the wire!
Green means it is a “great” score and yellow means a “good” score – no color means it needs replaced by another score if possible.
Yakpots in NW Arkansas
Summer Yakpot season is underway, with the first one of the summer at Hwy 412 ramp on Wednesday, June 5 at 6:00pm. We will set up a Yakpot schedule for the next 2-3 months. Stay tuned! In the interim, be sure to join the NWA WEEKLY YAKPOT FACEBOOK GROUP to stay on top of days and locations going forward.
Next Event
The next event is Beaver Lake South on June 22nd. Go sign up now on TourneyX!