Tag Archives: Lake Sequoya

NSKA

NSKA NWA Road Runner Recap / Roundtable / Heavy Hitters

The first tournament of 2021 had some familiar and some new names in the top 10 as anglers to the road, seeking out the best water they could for this event. Shogun (thanks!) was the sponsor of the Road Runner and the radius for the event was 50 miles from the Shogun restaurant in Fayetteville.

A warming trend during the week were capped off by a serious round of thunderstorms and heavy rain in the northern part of the radius on Friday night. This made for some tough decisions on where to go. Because of the storms and rain, el presidente Taylor Frizzell wisely moved the start back an hour that morning.

Road Runner Results

With the event coming early in the season combined with rainy and stormy weather, participation was a respectable 73 anglers. Overall, 35 of 73 (48%) anglers turned in a limit, while 63 of 73 (86%) turned in at least one bass. This is on par with the last two Road Runners held in March, and in fact a bit up from last year.

Once again, one lake showed up as usual in the Road Runner. Siloam City Lake produced the win again. In five of the last six NWA Road Runners, Siloam City Lake has been the winning lake – 2018, 2019, 2020 (2nd RR) and 2021. Additionally, in these same six events Siloam City Lake has put NINE anglers in the top four spots.

Sam McClish’s 20.25″ bass looks like its downed some beer and wings right before this pic. It won Sam a NSKA 20+ sticker. Dwain Batey and Cole Sikes got’em too!

Event favorite, Dwain Batey, took first place with 93.25″ and Big Bass of 21.5″ to take home some good $$. Sam McClish took 2nd place with a strong 86.50″ while Carson McBride jumped back into things with 86.25″ for third place. The rest of the Top 10 were Michael Burgess, Roy Roberts, Ian Howard, Heath Berner, Cole Sikes, Justin Wright and Michael Sandlin. See the full results on the TourneyX tournament page.

My day was a disaster, marked by poor site selection followed by poor judgment and poor execution. If you haven’t seen the video of the debacle, check it out on YouTube.

Angler Recaps

Good news for those of us who didn’t do as well, the top four anglers sat down to share their secrets for finishing in the money! Kayak anglers are a different breed and one of the awesome things about our club is the willingness to share and help others. Here’s what Dwain, Sam, Carson and Michael had to say:

1. Where did you go and why?

Dwain – I chose Siloam Springs City lake, there were a lot of good options within the radius, but having just came from fishing the Hobie event in Broken Bow I didn’t have much time to pre-fish, so picking some random place especially this time of year didn’t feel right. I was able to fish a couple hours on Tuesday and Wednesday and just checked a few baits. As soon as I would catch a fish I’d put that bait up and switch to something else. I got bit on 3 baits in practice.

Sam – I pre-fished 3 other lakes the last couple weeks, but with the shad kill I was skunked each outing. I went to Lake Atalanta for a couple hours the weekend before the tournament and caught a few 14s on a jig and chatterbait.

Carson – I went to Lake Sequoyah, I have a lot of time on the water there and feel very confident during a road runner style event.

Michael – I started off at Mills Creek on Table Rock. My research for spring time screamed this would be a good cove to fish and catch some big girls. It had a channel creek running into it. Deep banks and a feeder creek.

2. Did the big rain the night before affect your fishing area?

Dwain – Yes, but in a positive way. This time of year City Lake gets a lot of floating slime that really hampers fishing with moving baits. Well Tuesday pre-fishing it wasn’t that bad, and I caught a few fish on a crankbait, but the very next day it was so bad I couldn’t throw a crankbait at all. So the rain actually pushed some of that stuff on through with the current and let me actually fish a crankbait during the event.

Sam – With the rain I had planned for it to really help push the fish to the banks, I was wrong. I paddled around trying to figure out my next move and kept graphing fish in the 25-30ft range on steep drops.

Carson – The big rain the night before majorly affected the whole lake, with the white rivers running into it, the lake progressively got muddier throughout the day, so I tried to stay away from the mud line by fishing the very north end of the lake all day.

3. General approach that worked for you, techniques, etc,?

Dwain – I started out by demoralizing Kyle and Cole by catching 4 fish in the first 16 minutes within sight of them throwing the new Skirmish Baits AIM7 jerkbait in my Batey Shad color. You have to set the tone for the day, you know? In all seriousness, I couldn’t believe those fish were in that spot, much less eating the jerk bait on command, but it really did help me mentally the rest of the day to pull up and look like I knew they’d be there. Then that stopped working, and I didn’t catch the 5th fish for a while, finally figuring out what I mentioned above that the slime wasn’t as heavy and I could throw my crankbait. Well I caught one pretty quickly on that for my limit fish. I culled all of those early fish starting with a 17” on a ned rig at 10:33 am, and then one about every half hour up to an hour, to cull to my final total at 1:06 pm. The last 4 culls were all on the flat sided crankbait, wasn’t one of mine, didn’t even have custom paint on it. The fish were off the edges of spawning flats feeding up as they waited on “go time” which isn’t far off if these warm temperatures hold up at least for these smaller lakes anyway.

Sam – The only option I had at that point battling the crosswind was to tie on an A-Rig.

Carson – I threw a jig all day long around lay downs and rock and that is what I threw all day long basically, never even had a ned rig tied on.

Michael – After 5 hours and only 1 good fish to show for it that creek wasn’t producing for me. When I arrived at my 2nd location the rain pretty much blew out every spot I fished the week before. I found a bank wall with the same setup and started to throw a jig. My 3rd cast and I got bumped, was the only thing I needed to know I was in the right area and throwing the right color. I also caught them early on a jerkbait and on a craw colored crankbait.

4. What was your key fish and anything special about the catch?

Dwain – After my jerk bait bite stopped working, I picked up the ned and caught a17” fish that was in my final bag, but that didn’t produce anything else, and I had just stopped running that down a full bank to give it a legitimate shot to work, and when I pulled off that bank I picked up the flat sided crankbait and hurled it out in a slightly deeper spot where fish have been known to stage and caught the 21.50″ which gave me confidence to keep throwing that flat side. From there I caught one almost an hour later that was a good cull, then about 30 minutes later again with a good cull, then another hour and my final cull all on that same flat sided bait. The main key was just believing that they’d show up as the day went on, and having the confidence to wait them out.

Carson – I had 2 key fish actually, very late in the day I decided to do something big, I have a spot I can go to and normally feel good about catching a good one or two but wasn’t confident because of the rain, I said screw it and made the move anyways, that’s where I caught a 19.75″ and a 17.75″ in the last hour of the whole thing, bumped me from 74 inches to 86.25″ total.

Sam – I’d like to say my key fish was catching my 20.25″ but it had to be the first fish I caught that was a 16” it helped confirm (1) Those were definitely bass at 30ft and (2) they were hungry. That bite was hot from 10:15 ’till about 12:30. I caught about 11 fish in that timeframe doing that. I didn’t get a single bite before then or after that.

Michael – Highlights of my day was watching a coyote swim across the cove chasing a deer and getting checked by the game warden for the first time ever.

Dwain Batey’s Big Bass, I like how the top fins are at full attention!

Heavy Hitters Update

Well, I’m off to a bad start on this one. Need to get a good fish in the Road Runner to get things going. Here are the current standings, with Cole and Brian and Jason off to a great start! Who will be crowned this year’s Heavy Hitter? Still time to enter since you have 7 events left and only need best 5, check out the rules and how to sign up.

Next Up – MLF on Beaver Lake

How many “Beaver Lake Specials” can you catch? Those 12-inchers can win this one for you if there are enough of them. Get ready and see you on the water.

NSKA, Tournaments

NWA Roadrunner – NSKA Preview

The Natural State Kayak Anglers (NSKA) hit the road for the next tournament to be held on Saturday, May 13 – with a Northwest Arkansas road runner event. Because of recent flooding, the River Run was postponed until later in the season and the road runner moved up in its place. Many lakes are in play and are good options for this choose your own adventure kayak fishing tournament.

Participants may choose from almost any publicly accessible body of water within a 30 mile radius (with the exception of Bella Vista lakes) including some newly approved lakes for this season. The NSKA NWA Road Runner is one of my favorite events because it allows everyone to choose an option that fits their style, and should result in a decent overall winning total.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Here are some of the primary options anglers will be considering for tournament day:

Lake Bob Kidd – I haven’t fished this lake much but it has been in the mix each time there’s been a road runner. There are some big bass in this lake and if you like vegetation and wood structure, it is a great option.

Lincoln Lake – To me this is the undisputed “Big Bass” lake in Northwest Arkansas. On average you will catch a bigger fish here than anywhere else. If it is on, the winner will likely come from Lincoln Lake.

SWEPCO Lake fatty.
SWEPCO Lake fatty.

SWEPCO Lake – The only other lake on the list which could challenge Lincoln for large numbers of big fish. This lake’s going to be a bit warmer than some others, but hasn’t heated up too much yet for the summer. A big limit could be filled quickly here, but every once in a while these bass can get tight lipped.

Lake Elmdale – Easily accessed from I-49, this is a very popular lake, meaning it gets tons of pressure and can get quite crowded. (I counted 28 cars in the lot the last time I was there) It’s a solid lake that can at times produce good fishing, however, it has never really produced top results in a road runner style tournament. Will see what this year brings.

Crystal Lake – Gaining a lot of respect in recent tournaments, this gem of a little lake is near Decatur. I’ve fished it twice in road runners, making top five in both events. Not many giant bass like Lincoln and Swepco, but a very healthy population of keepers packed into a lake of manageable size.

Beaver Lake – Here we go…this will be interesting to see who heads to Beaver Lake and rolls the dice.  Historically Beaver Lake has factored in to the top places in road runner events – there’s no doubt it has fish and some really good ones. The person who can find some bass at Beaver might roll a seven and win this thing.

Wildcards – Some lesser known lakes are also in the mix and options for competitors: Wilson, Wedington, Lake Fayetteville, Lake Sequoya, Lake Prairie Grove and Siloam City Lake are all possibilities. (note – am told Lake Prairie Grove is currently closed)

Historical Look Back

In 2015, my first year with AKA/NSKA, the first roadrunner was earlier in the spring (April 14) and Lake Swepco was off-limits as an option. The winning angler fished the upper Beaver Lake area near War Eagle, 2nd place came from Lake Bob Kidd, 3rd place from Crystal Lake, 4th place from Lincoln Lake/Bob Kidd and 5th place from Lincoln Lake. It took close to 80″ to win this event.

In 2016, some of the same lakes produced the top results. Although I don’t have the order of finish, I do know that Beaver Lake produced the winner with approximately 86″ and Lake Bob Kidd, Siloam City Lake and Swepco Lake were in the mix for the other top finishers.

Not a real road-runner but the NWA Draw Four tournament featured Lincoln Lake, Crystal Lake, Lake Elmdale and Lake Bob Kidd. 1st came out of Crystal Lake with 2nd and 3rd coming from Lake Bob Kidd I believe.  Mid-70s was required to win this one.

NSKA Predictions

Northwest Arkansas kayak anglers Tim Hotchkin and Rob Bomstead weighed in along with me on what to expect this weekend:

What top two lakes do you think will produce the winner?

  • Jason – Based on historical data, the winner will come from Beaver Lake, Swepco or Lincoln. I’m betting Lincoln this year.
  • Tim – Swepco or Elmdale. Swepco stayed pretty clear after all the rain it’s just high from the rain. Elmdale has had alot of success lately so it will draw a lot of anglers.
  • Rob – I think Beaver or Swepco will produce the winner, although a smaller sleeper lake may surprise us all.

How does a road runner change your strategy?

  • Jason – Normally it is about finding the type of water you want to fish, but this year it is all up and dirtier than normal, so not as much of an issue.
  • Tim – It doesn’t change my strategy. If anything it helps me. I can to to whatever lake I feel confident in based on our recent weather changes and lake elevations due to all the rain.
  • Rob – Weather, water temp, water clarity, recent catches and wind all are part of the decision, however, personal confidence in a body of water and fishing how I like to fish play an important role.

Recent rains have muddied up about everywhere except Swepco, how will that affect things?

  • Jason – I think this is going to drive overall size totals higher than normal and some will catch a lot of fish. This won’t be a grind it out just for a limit in clear water event.
  • Tim – It will put a lot of stress on some anglers as their normal waters may not be fishable.  A lot of anglers may have to change their styles which could cause some anglers to try techniques they are not used to.
  • Rob – The rains definitely have changed the game plan, but good weather this week hopefully will calm things down and we should see some clearing of the water a bit.

Winning length and big bass size?

  • Jason – 86.5″ to win and a 20.75″ big bass
  • Tim – Winning Length: 78″ with a 21″ big bass
  • Rob – This group has some great anglers and I would be hard pressed not to believe someone will have them figured out. I’m going to say just over 98″ and big bass will be 22.5″

What is the key bait?

  • Jason – Spinnerbait or jig
  • Tim – Texas rigged creature bait.
  • Rob – Jig and crankbait.