As September arrives, anglers on the Ozark reservoirs like Beaver Lake face a unique challenge. The intense heat of summer is gone, but the water hasn’t fully cooled, creating a tricky time to find and catch bass. The fish are often scattered, sometimes staying in deep water and other times moving to the shallows to follow baitfish. This change of seasons makes for an unpredictable tournament day with unpredictable results.
This past weekend, anglers converged on Beaver Lake, a 28,000-acre reservoir in the Arkansas Ozarks. Known for its clear water, rocky cliffs, and extensive shoreline, it is a favorite for those targeting largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass. The lake’s diverse environment, from deep timber-filled coves to steep rocky points, makes for a complex fishery with many options. Beaver Lake was the perfect setting for the final event of the season for the Natural State Kayak Anglers (NSKA), the 2025 Beaver Lake Crucible, which was sponsored by Cherokee Casino.
Tournament Results
Your NSKA president, Josh Landreth, shared the results after the event:
A gorgeous day on Beaver Lake yielded some mixed results but some monster bags!
All results are pending a 24 hour protest period, and nothing is official (including Classic qualifiers) until that protest period is over.
Levi Schneider absolutely smashes’em with a winning total of 91.25″ including nearly identical 19.5’s which also earned him Big Bass honor. This is Levi’s second win of the season, and gets him one step closer to his season long goals. What a day!!! We talked at the weigh-in that this may be the biggest one day total on Beaver Lake in NSKA history. We’ll need Jason Kincy to weigh in on that! (Kincy believes that is correct!) Either way, what an incredible day!! Congratulations Levi. He takes $600 for 1st place, Big Bass, and 2 hourly Big Bass.
Justin Brewer stays hot as well with back to back 2nd place finishes. He had a total of 87.0″ which would win on Beaver Lake nearly any other day besides today. Justin said at the weigh in that he had his first crankbait bite of the season. He also had matching 19.5’s like Levi. I didn’t even realize it at the weigh in, but the event Big Bass had to go all the way to the third kicker, because both Levi and Justin had 2 19.5’s. Justin wins $285 for 2nd place and hourly big bass.
Dwain Batey got off to a super hot start and finished 3rd with 86.25″. Another amazing Beaver Lake total that had to settle for 3rd on the podium. It’s awesome to see Dwain taking home hardware. He wins $193 for 3rd place and hourly big bass.
1st off the podium and last check cashed goes to Josh Landreth with 84.0″. I can tell you that that’s about what my goal was for the day, and I certainly did not expect 84.0 would not earn a trophy. Wow. What a day!! I get $130 for 4th and 2 hourly Big Bass.
After the top 4, there was a substantial drop in the standings. The rest of the top 10 included:
5th: James Haeberle 77.5
6th: Tyler Zengerle 77.25
7th: William Atchison 77.25
8th: Jimmy Chokbengboun 77.25
9th: Tony Sorluangsana 74.25
10th: Maurilio Gutierrez 72.75
Josh Landreth won trash fish with a 30″+ striper.
John Evans won the second side pot which was given to the last fish caught in our 2025 regular season. John snapped his photo of a 13″ bass at 2:59.58!! Now that’s a buzzer beater!
Kyle Long also won an hourly Big Bass prize with a 17.75″.
We also gave 3 $42 free entries as door prizes thanks to our sponsors. The door prize winners were John Hall, Nate Higgins, and Mandie Adams.
Thank you so much to Moments by Mandie Photography for taking our weigh in photos throughout the season!
Angler Roundtable
Some familiar anglers are once again going to share how they dominated on the water! Thank you to Levi, Justin, and Dwain for dropping some knowledge on us!
1. What part of Beaver did you go to and why?
Levi – I went to Indian Creek because I know it like the back of my hand and it just sets up very well for how I like to fish.
Justin – I chose to fish the south end of the lake. I’m a dirty water power fisherman and that works best with dirtier water. The south end is usually the best place to find that.
Dwain – I chose to fish the White River mainly to avoid the heavy pleasure boat traffic. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was the right call this time of year since I hadn’t done any pre-fishing, but I decided to commit to it anyway.
2. What were some of the key baits or techniques that led to your success?
Levi – I had a multiple off-the-wall presentations tied on but the key players for me this go around were a Berkley Choppo, a deep diving jerkbait, various jig head minnows and lastly my reliable flutter spoon. I also applied the Strike Force crappie scent to everything.
Justin – Usually do pretty good on topwater in this tournament but it just wasn’t producing so I picked up the squarebill and first cast after picking it up, caught a 16” fish and then a few casts later caught my first 19.50”. Decided to keep it locked in and it turned out to be the deal.
Dwain – All of my fish came in the first two hours on topwater. After that early bite faded, I was able to catch fish throughout the day on other baits, but I never found another quality bite that helped me cull. My only real pattern was focusing on main river channel bends with wind.
3. How have you been approaching pre-fishing this season and if you have done it how has it helped?
Levi – At the start of the year I was just going into every event with some or little practice just sort of fishing with the flow and it was working. However after I lost my freak giant smallie in the last hour of the Tenkiller event and I knew we were going to Table Rock next that combo sort of hit a nerve that I needed to shake. Ever since that moment I’ve dedicated all of my free time to practice for each event from daylight to dark and it resulted in my biggest bag ever on both Table Rock Beaver.
Justin – I have not pre-fished for a single tournament. Just showed up and went fishing.
Dwain – It’s been a tough season for me, but I don’t believe the lack of pre-fishing is the reason behind it.
4. Do you look at the leaderboard during the event to see how it’s going, and why do you or why do you not?
Levi – I like to check the leaderboard periodically just to know how I’m keeping pace with the rest of the field plus it’s a great indicator on if I just need one more big one or if I need to make a serious adjustment to start making multiple culls.
Justin – Yes. I check it regularly. I just like to know what I’m up against. Whether it be me leading and what I’ve got to do to stay on top or for if I’m behind what I’ve got to get to gain some ground.
Dwain – Normally, I don’t check the leaderboard. This event was an exception, though, because I was sandbagging three good fish and didn’t submit them until later in the day.
AOY Race and Top 25 Classic Field!
The Angler of the Year race is winding down, but the Classic counts double and could still play a role. Levi is in the lead and has a cushion, but a disaster of a Classic combined with a top finish from a few others could result in a change at the top! If Levi can finish in the Top 10, AOY is likely his to win. The rest of the Top 25 is below, including some rookies and some old-timers. Should be a challenging and fun two days on Beaver Lake.
If you didn’t qualify, don’t forget about the Classic Shootout, a one-day event where the winner gets invited to the big party!
Heavy Hitters
The Heavy Hitters competition is concluded for the regular season, and Levi Schneider is your champion for 2025! As usual it was a tight race down the stretch, but Levi did what he needed in the final event to seal the deal. Congratulations to Levi, our 2025 Heavy Hitter!
