Spring has sprung in Northwest Arkansas and on Beaver Lake. After seven straight days of warm, consistent and sunny weather – the fishing should have been set up for success in the Capps Men’s Cuts Beaver Lake North event.
The boundary for the event went from the Hwy 12 bridge down lake to the dam. Water is high, about has high as it can be, and clear. Making it an interesting spawn season. The first event on Beaver this year was a return to a stingy lake, where breaking 85 was difficult. What would we see in round two?
Tourney Results
Overall, the fishing on the day was not great for an April tournament. The fish per angler ratio of 4.46 was a big drop-off from last year’s April event on Beaver Lake and Table Rock, which posted a 5.95 and a 5.45 FPA, respectively. A strong 86% caught at least one bass, but a middling 54% turned in a limit.
Jacob Webber took first place with 84.25″, while Levi Schneider took 2nd with 82.50″ and Jason Coleman third with 81.75″ on the day. Levi also won Big Bass with a 21.25″ monster for this fishery. A 21″ or bigger is pretty eye opening on the Dead Sea.
Your complete Top Ten for this event:
- Jacob Webber 84.25
- Levi Schneider 82.50
- Jason Coleman 81.75
- Tyler Zengerle 79.50
- James Haeberle 78.50
- Wayne Johnson 78.25
- Justin Malott 78.00
- Anthony Bertschy 77.50
- Ryan Paskiewicz 77.25
- Justin Brewer 77.25
Angler Roundtable
Pull up a camp chair and get around the fire for story time…the top anglers for this event, Jacob Webber, Levi Schnieder, and Jason Coleman are here to tell us the secret to tackling what was a fairly difficult spring day on Beaver Lake.
What part of Beaver did you choose and why?
Jacob – I decided to fish near Ventris. I’ve fished there the last few Beaver North tournaments and have gotten somewhat familiar with the area. There was one specific area that I thought would be good this time of year.
Levi – I chose to go to Indian Creek because I’ve had success there in the past. Plus I knew it held good Smallmouth and Largemouth so I figured more than one pattern could work.
Jason – I fished up around the Rambo area. I chose that spot because there’s several deep narrow arms with multiple spawning pockets in each. I’ve fished the area a lot and it’s well protected when the wind kicks up.
Any particular patterns or baits that worked for you on the day?
Jacob – The only thing I could really get bit on was a fluke. I started off throwing a buzzbait, but after throwing to a couple spots that looked too good to not have a fish I picked up the fluke. Caught one first cast and then another a few casts later. Each one was hooked deep in the roof of the mouth so I stuck with the fluke most of the day. I caught all my Largemouth in the first hour in the back of the creek arm, but then it slowed down. I caught quite a few spotted bass in some pockets off the main creek arm throughout the day, but nothing that helped.
Levi – I just kept rotating between a white chatterbait, a PB&J finesse jig and a swing head – all equipped with a YUM Spine Craw trailer. Used the chatterbait to cover water up higher in the water column, jig to flip into cover and around docks, and the swing head to cover water on the bottom.
Jason – I threw a Neko rigged Strike King finesse worm all day. All my keepers were caught around deeper structure in the spawning pockets
What’s the story on your biggest fish from the tournament?
Jacob – I’m not sure if this was the biggest since they were all about the same size, but I had netted one and and set the net down with the fish still in it. I was moving some stuff around to clear some space to take a picture and I heard a flop followed by a splash. I looked up and the fish had jumped back in the water. Fortunately it was hooked good so I got to fight that one a couple times.
Levi – I planned on fishing the very back of one particular cove but decided to scope out a cove I had some luck at before just to see what it looked like on livescope and didn’t see much so I moved on. Then with a few minutes until lines in I decided to start at the point of the cove I was closest to and within five minutes of lines in, the 21.25″ smoked my chatterbait and I didn’t have much issue getting her in since she was hooked well. That fish set the tone for the day.
Jason – My big fish came late in the morning. No crazy story just got lucky with a good fish. I’m happy with anything over 14″ on Beaver.
Do you have any superstitions you pay attention to in fishing or tournaments?
Jacob – I really don’t have any superstitions.
Levi – I consider some pairs of clothing and hats to be “luckier” than others but I always realize how not true it is. I do believe catching a fish on your first cast is good luck especially since that happened to me on Pumpback last year. It’s also important to grab breakfast at Casey’s before every trip, or it is bad luck otherwise. And finally, I don’t really believe in the banana In the boat deal but I also don’t eat a lot of bananas so no worries there.
Jason – No superstitions… but I do believe in Karma…I was eating my sandwich Saturday and the Ziplock baggie blew out of my yak. It was blowing away fast and I really contemplated trying to run it down or let it go. I thought to myself that if I didn’t get I’d be cursed the rest of the day. My next cast after picking it up was a 16.25. Karma.
Angler of the Year Race
Now that we’re three events in, things are getting a bit more clear in the AOY race. Some different names at the top of the list right now, can they hold on the rest of the year? Zengerle is sitting on top right now with Josh and Jacob close behind. Defending AOY champion Kyle stepped on the rake this week, but he’ll probably bounce back on Table Rock. Don’t sleep on Haeberle who has one of the best two scores combos on the list. It’s great to see how many good anglers we have, lots of fishing to go!
For the Classic Top 25, it’s a murky picture now and will be for several more events. After three events everyone who has fished them all will have to keep at least one score in their season total, because you can only drop two. Some of us (me included) need to get after it to make the cut!
Heavy Hitters
History would say that an angler who gets off to a hot start with three big fish in the first three events will go on to win the Heavy Hitters crown. This is good news for Josh Landreth, who is off and running with the lead so far. He is the only angler with two green-rated catches. One more 19+ in the next event and he may just lead the rest of the way. Lots of big fish opportunities left on the schedule though. I think we’ll know who the real contenders are after the next event – and I’ll start handicapping the race.
