The fifth stop of the 2026 NSKA NWA season, presented by H2 Heat & Air, brought the field face-to-face with the most mentally taxing format on the schedule. This event completely abandoned the traditional five-fish safety net and dropped the trail into a pure Major League Fishing (MLF) style shootout. Would the records be broken? Would fish be caught? Yes, and yes.

The rules were clear but unforgiving: any legal bass measuring 12 inches or longer counted toward an angler’s total cumulative length. There was no ceiling. The boundary line was a strict 55-mile radius centered on Springdale, forcing a massive strategic choice of where to go hunt for bass. Anglers faced warm, humid conditions with partly cloudy skies and in many areas a nasty morning rainstorm that may have soured the mood of the bass that morning in some cases.

The geographical breakdown of where the field scattered tells the entire story of this event. If you chose the right water or region, you had a good day. If you didn’t make the right choices…your day went differently:

• The Beaver Lake Bust: 16 anglers bet their day on Beaver Lake. It turned into an absolute miss, with only 2 of those 16 managing to crack the top 20 on the final leaderboard. The Dead Sea was in full effect after morning storms rolled through.
• The Table Rock Paradise: 13 anglers opted for Table Rock. The gamble paid off across the board; the lowest-finishing angler in this group took 19th place, putting 100% of the Table Rock crew inside the top 20.
• The River Sleepers: Only two anglers decided to skip the major reservoirs entirely to hunt in flowing water. One of those river runners rode that current straight onto the podium.
• The Outliers: No other independent body of water within the 55-mile ring attracted more than a single competitor and for the most part were not a factor.

By the Numbers

• Total Anglers: 42
• Anglers with at least one fish: 88% (37 of 42)
• Limit Percentage: 62% of the field put a traditional five-fish limit or better on the board.

The Leaderboard – Top 10 Finishers

The historical standard for an MLF-style Road Runner tournament usually requires a strong day pushing toward the 380-inch mark to walk away with a trophy. This year, that baseline wasn’t just broken—it was completely left in the dust. Levi Schneider put on an absolute clinic on Table Rock, dropping a mind-boggling 475.00 inches on the field to shatter the all-time one day club record and pocket the $470 winner’s check. Jason Adams had a very strong 2nd place, beating out 3rd by more than 70 inches.

1. Levi Schneider – 475.00″
2. Jason Adams – 330.50″
3. Jake Wilkie – 255.75″
4. John Hall – 234.25″
5. Dwain Batey – 231.25″
6. Tony Sorluangsana – 228.75″
7. James Haeberle – 201.50″
8. Justin Malott – 198.25″
9. Kyle Long – 196.25″
10. Cole Sikes – 191.50″

Big Bass & Side Pots

While the top of the leaderboard was a race of pure volume, the Advanced Automotive Big Bass honors belonged to Fanny Phomsopha. Fanny fooled a 20.05″ largemouth to secure a sweet $126 cash prize along with a custom-painted glide bait from GiffGlidez Custom Swimbaits.

Proving he was clearing out everything swimming in his zone, Fanny Phomsopha pulled off a rare double-dip by also claiming the Trash Fish side pot, banking an extra $42 for wrestling a prehistoric 4-foot long gar into his kayak. Meanwhile, the $42 check for the tournament’s biggest verified Spotted Bass went to our event champion, Levi Schneider, who anchored his massive cumulative card with a solid 16.75-inch spot.

Angler Roundtable: Top 3 Q&A

Our top three finishers sat down at the ramp to detail how they handled the unique pressure of the clock and the rules. Let’s hear how Levi, Jason, and Jake made their day:

1. Where did you go to fish and why?

• Levi Schneider: I went to Emerald Beach at Table Rock because I knew it’d set up well for the every fish counts format.
• Jason Adams: I headed to Table Rock and targeted the backs of pockets with water running into them. Honestly, my first instinct was to hunt one big fish. Levi edged me out by an inch on the last event on the Heavy Hitters standings, so that was on my mind. I pre-fished Lincoln Lake on Wednesday, pulled up, and there were 16 bass boats already running a tournament. That settled it pretty quick. Mandie and I decided to stay together and fish Table Rock instead.
• Jake Wilkie: I went to the upper Illinois River. Plan was to catch as many Smallies as possible.

2. What were some of the main techniques or baits that worked for you?

• Levi Schneider: I caught all of my fish on a jighead minnow, spoon, and a football jig.
• Jason Adams: Early in the morning I was dragging a jig in the flowing water at the backs of those pockets and it was working. As the day went on and the fish pulled off the current, I transitioned to a drop shot around stumps. Read the fish, adjusted the presentation. Pretty straightforward day on that front.
• Jake Wilkie: Caught everything on a Ned rig and Texas rig. Current was swift so you really had to make a good cast and put it on them.

3. How did you adjust your strategy specifically for the MLF format?

• Levi Schneider: The only thing I really adjusted was the rods I brought with more finesse tactics but ultimately caught them all on my normal staples.
• Jason Adams: Time management became everything, and honestly it bit me a little. I made a move to the main lake mid-day that ended up costing me close to an hour. I borrowed Mandie’s kayak since I didn’t have my boat with the Torqeedo, and that main lake run was a lot longer than I remembered. Lesson learned. On top of that, the TourneyX app was fighting me all day in the rain. Had to close it and restart it multiple times just to get fish submitted. When you’re in a format where every fish counts and every minute matters, that’s frustrating. Those two things together probably cost me a few fish on the leaderboard.
• Jake Wilkie: When the schedule came out I knew I would be in a creek or river somewhere for this event. The heavy rain made it a tough decision but I found some clean enough water to make it work. It got very sketchy at the end of the float as the river started to rise from the rains around lines in time. Thankful I had a good buddy floating with me just in case it got unsafe.

4. How did forward-facing sonar play into your finish?

• Levi Schneider: I utilized mine a lot to be more efficient to hit my offshore targets on the first cast. I caught majority of fish on offshore cover/structure such as ledges, brush piles and rock piles so being able to ensure my bait was in higher percentage areas helped generate more bites. I had one rock pile produce 7 of my scorable fish.
• Jason Adams: Short answer, it didn’t. I was on Mandie’s kayak and she’s pretty clear about not wanting me messing with her setup, so no electronics, no motor. I was running purely on water-reading and instinct. Followed the fish from the current-fed pockets in the morning to the deeper timber cover later in the day. Sometimes you just have to trust what you’re seeing on the water.
• Jake Wilkie: No FFS just a paddle yak and a couple medium light spinning rods.

Ketch Angler of the Year Race Update

The race at the top of the trail remains tight. Justin Malott held onto the overall AOY lead by putting up a gritty 93-point performance on TourneyX, bringing his total score to 468 points.

However, his breathing room completely vanished. With his record-breaking 100-point performance, defending trail champion Levi Schneider vaulted up to just behind Justin with 465 points. Only three points separate first and second place with three events left on the schedule. Tyler Zengerle and Kyle Long remain locked within striking distance, keeping the pressure on the leaders.

AOY Standings (Top 10)

1. Justin Malott – 468 pts
2. Levi Schneider – 465 pts
3. Tyler Zengerle – 457 pts
4. Kyle Long – 456 pts
5. John Hall – 453 pts
6. Dwain Batey – 451 pts
7. Seth Jones – 450 pts
8. James Haeberle – 447 pts
9. Jason Adams – 445 pts
10. Josh Landreth – 434 pts

Arvest Heavy Hitters Standings

The big fish race continues to shift as tracking quality over five separate tour stops catches up to the field. Dwain Batey grabbed a clutch 19.75-inch kicker during the Road Runner chaos to break out of the pack and claim the standalone lead in the Heavy Hitters race with a total of 92.00 inches.

Levi Schneider sits just three-quarters of an inch behind him in second place at 91.25 inches, while Jason Adams used his solid 17-inch fish from Table Rock to hold down third place at an even 90 inches. Justin Malott and Tyler Zengerle round out a highly competitive top five.

Heavy Hitters Standings (Top 10)

1. Dwain Batey – 92.00″
2. Levi Schneider – 91.25″
3. Jason Adams – 90.00″
4. Justin Malott – 89.75″
5. Tyler Zengerle – 87.50″
6. Seth Jones – 87.00″
7. Kyle Long – 86.50″
8. Jason Kincy – 86.25″
9. James Haeberle – 84.50″
10. Josh Landreth – 84.00″

This is the first time in a few years that this thing is wide open still going into July. Due to the lack of 20s caught this season, there is a lot of room for anglers to make up ground. If you drop the smallest two fish in the current bag, the race gets tight and some new names are in the top 5-7 anglers.

Up Next

We are packing up the rigs and heading back north to standard operating procedures. Get your maps ready for Table Rock II on July 18th, where we return to standard five-fish limit rules to see who can back up their early summer patterns on deep clear-water structure.