This year’s edition of the NWA NSKA Road Runner had one of the largest areas in-bounds in several years. With a 55 mile radius in play, the Jackson Safety Systems Road Runner meant kayak anglers had more than 100 public water options to choose from for the day! Conventional wisdom was that the May event would yield bigger totals than the heat of the summer – did that come true?
Tournament Results
Being a 10 fish event, it’s a little difficult to evaluate the overall fishing vs an average NSKA NWA event. We do have the last couple of years for a comparison, but as mentioned above this one was in July and not May. In 2023 the average Fish Per Angler (FPA) was 9.06 in 2023, and in 2024 it was 8.02 FPA. First three places in 2023 were 170.75, 170.50, and 155 – how did that compare to this year’s event?
Kyle Long took first place with 173.25, Dwain Batey was second with 170.75, and Jake Simmons third with 166.00 on the day. Big Bass was a 22.00 monster caught by Jacob Wilkie. He caught in on Little Sugar Creek on a fluke, and on a lightweight rod it was quite a battle!
So, overall, May 2024 gets the slight edge over July of 2023.
The Top Ten Finishers:
- Kyle Long – 173.25
- Dwain Batey – 170.75
- Jacob Simmons – 166.00
- Josh Landreth – 164.00
- Jason Kincy – 160.00
- John Hall – 157.75
- Andrew Newsom – 157.50
- Tyler Zengerle – 157.25
- Levi Schneider – 157.00
- Jacob Wilkie – 151.75
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Angler Roundtable
The top finishing anglers share their secrets of how they did it on tournament day. Thank you to Kyle Long, Dwain Batey, Jake Simmons and Josh Landreth for sharing with us!
1) Where did you go to fish and why?
Kyle – I went to Pumpback. I love that place so much. I know it’s been pretty bad but I also remember what it’s like when it’s good so I wanted to take the risk. I hadn’t prefished at all so it was 100% a gut feeling call. I was prepared to move if it didn’t work out but I didn’t have to.
Dwain – I started at Siloam Springs City Lake, no surprise there. I had plans to move midday to another lake, but by that time I was already too tired to move so I just kept grinding it out.
Jake – I really wanted to go to Spavinaw but I just never had a chance to get over there and get a permit so I wound up at Pumpback which is just five minutes from the house.
Josh – I went to Siloam City Lake. I had pre-fished there about 10 days prior to the event and had 173″ with two dinks in less than four hours. I also pre-fished Spavinaw and had a great day there too, but it was a long drive. I knew I’d kick myself if Siloam produced the winner and I didn’t try, even though I was worried about not being able to find 10.
2) What were some of your main baits and techniques that performed for you?
Kyle – Spinnerbait was the only thing I could get bit on early. After the shad spawn was over though, it kinda went pretty dead. Later in the day, the wacky worm on steeper “bluffier” type banks got me two huge culls.
Dwain – I caught most of my fish on a topwater, and a few pitching, and late in the day when everything was slow I found a cull or two with a wacky rig.
Jake – I started off with a buzzbait and had a bunch of blowups but they just never would get it, I switched to a fluke and that’s what things took off. I caught them early working it right on the top of the water, as the day went on I had to fish it deeper in the water column.
Josh – I caught all my fish on either a chatterbait or shaky head rigged with a senko style worm, both in practice and during the event. Exactly like Dwain said, I had planned to fish until mid-morning and then leave if things weren’t going great. I expected to catch quality, but didn’t know if I could get enough bites. The day was kind of the opposite. I caught 5-6 small fish early, but wasn’t finding the quality.
3) What was the key fish you caught and talk a bit about that catch.
Kyle – I had a good bag already but I had a few 14’s I wanted to get rid of. It had been several hours between good bites but I saw a fish blow up on something in front of me. I tossed a wacky worm in there and let it soak for a while. It finally bit and that clued me into slowing down which got me three other big bites later in the day.
Dwain – I caught my key fish on a topwater very early and it’s always good to knock out a kicker really early in the day for confidence.
Jake – My key fish was the first one I caught, it gave me confidence in a fluke and was my first fluke fish ever.
Josh – At about 10:00, I was trying to decide whether to stay or go, and I caught a 17.75″ on a chatterbait. After that, I slowed way down in the same area with the shaky head and caught a 20″ within minutes off the same patch of grass and filled my limit from there. It was a cool bite too. When I set the hook, the fish took off into the grass, pulling drag. Fun bite! I didn’t get a bite for the last two hours.
4) In retrospect, was there a bait or technique you should have used?
Kyle – In retrospect, I don’t think I would have done one thing different. It was a magical day and I had a blast all day long.
Dwain – I didn’t fail to utilize any bait or technique, but I did have some issues with getting fish in the kayak, I lost quite a few fish that would have helped me significantly, most of them very early so they didn’t seem nearly as significant at the time but later on they were sorely missed at the end of the day. I usually have to analyze why I lose fish and try to adjust something, rod, line size, drag, hook or bait choice to improve for next time. But honestly I don’t think any of the fish I lost were due to equipment or technique, just how the fish were biting funny that day and after my first two events I’m more than happy to finish up on the podium.
Jake – My regret comes from not spending enough time on the water in general. I lost a 7lber early because I didn’t realize how hard I have to set the hook with a fluke. I lost a 17+ right after and learned pretty quick!
Josh – In hindsight, I should have changed things up. Another angler was fishing a flat and caught a few good fish in the afternoon. I just didn’t know how to do that and didn’t want to invade his area. But going two hours to end the day without a bite, I should have done something different. I lost a 20″ ish and an 18″ ish as well. Like Dwain said, they were just biting weird that day. The bite was so light, and I just didn’t get them stuck good.
Heavy Hitters Standings
Three events in and there aren’t many 20s on the board, which means there is a lot of opportunity for anglers to get in the race. Everyone is 100% in the running because it is only best five fish and you have five more events to go. Here are the top 20 after three events:
Angler of the Year Race
Here are your current top 25 anglers, and there’s a long way to go in the Angler of the Year race. Several anglers are very much in it, and really almost everyone is because you can drop two events. While interesting to look at, these rankings don’t mean much at this point. But, I should point out I’m in front of Kyle Long, which does matter. 😉
Next Up
The next event is on June 1 – Black Creek Electric Beaver Lake North. Check it out and get signed up today. Time to head to our home lake for some fun tournament action.