Well, the Crucible on Beaver Lake certainly lived up to its name. What is a Crucible? Well, it’s a really super hot pot  metals or other substances are melted or subjected to very high temperatures. Sounds like the 100 degree weather this past weekend on the lake. A Crucible also means an intense test, challenge, or ordeal that pushes a person to their limits. Sound familiar?

That’s the Dead Sea in early September, which can be tough on a good day, but throw in 100+ degree heat and the chaos of a holiday weekend, and you’ve got a recipe for a brutal grind on the water. On September 5th, 36 anglers braved the blistering temperatures and heavy recreational boat traffic to prove there are still big bites to be found when the conditions are brutal.

A massive thank you to all the anglers who competed, and an extra shoutout to our business sponsors, Lewis Automotive Group and Eco Fishing Shop, for making this event possible. The Crucible on Beaver Lake is a tradition, and always one of my favorite events of the year. Anyone can catch fish when it is easy, the Crucible makes you earn it. Overall stats tell the story, Fish Per Angler is a low 3.66 and the top of the leaderboard was below most recent events on Beaver Lake, or elsewhere.

Tournament Results

By the Numbers:

• Total Anglers: 36
• Fish Per Angler (FPA): 3.66
• Caught At Least One Fish: 89%
• Limited (5 Bass): 42%

Josh Landreth takes home the 1st place trophy with a 81.75″ bag, capitalizing on an early topwater bite to turn an ordinary day into his first victory since 2023. Dwain Batey proved once again that if the river areas are in play, he’s a threat to win, taking 2nd place, continuing his strong season overall. Levi Schneider continued his remarkable steady season by taking 3rd place, marking his 6th top-3 finish of the year. The results at the top of the Crucible were razor-thin and every half-inch mattered!

Top Ten Anglers:

1. Josh Landreth – 81.75″
2. Dwain Batey – 81.25″
3. Levi Schneider – 80.50″
4. Jason Kincy – 79.75″
5. John Hall – 79.50″
6. Tony Sorluangsana – 74.75″
7. Jamie Shumate – 74.50″
8. Chris Robbs – 73.75″
9. Justin Wright – 73.50″
10. Chris Jones – 73.25″

Big Bass / Heavy Hitters

Josh Landreth anchored his winning bag by taking home the Advanced Automotive Big Bass award with an absolute giant 20.0″ fish for this time of year. Justin Wright also hauled in a massive 20.0″ fish on a tough day, but unfortunately lost out on the Big Bass tiebreaker to Josh.

Other prize winners included Chris Robbs, who took home the trash fish pot with an enormous gar. Jason Adams won the second side pot for the last fish caught in the 2026 season at 2:29 PM – just under the wire!

Angler Roundtable

The three top performers recovered from heat stroke and took a few minutes to tell us about their day — Josh Landreth (1st), Dwain Batey (2nd), and Levi Schneider (3rd) — broke down Beaver Lake during the late-summer grind.

What area did you fish and why did you pick it?

• Josh Landreth (1st): I fished up the War Eagle. It’s the area I’m most comfortable with on all of Beaver. I knew the floor there was pretty high for me, cause I know it so well. Was hoping some bigs would be around.
• Dwain Batey (2nd): I spent my day fishing up the White River. With the tournament falling on Labor Day weekend, I knew there was going to be a lot of recreational boat traffic on the main lake, and I really didn’t want to spend the day fighting that traffic. Heading up the river gave me a chance to get away from some of that and focus more on fishing.
• Levi Schneider (3rd): I went to Indian creek because it’s historically treated me well.

What were some of your main baits or techniques?

• Josh Landreth (1st): My 2 big fish and another in my bag were on the Whopper Plopper. 1 on a crankbait. My final cull came on a Ned rig.
• Dwain Batey (2nd): I definitely went into full “junk fishing” mode for this event. I caught fish on a pretty wide variety of baits rather than relying on one specific pattern. I caught fish on more than one crankbait, a jig, a spinnerbait, and even an Urchin bait. It was one of those days where I had to keep mixing things up and fish what was in front of me.
• Levi Schneider (3rd): I caught all my fish on either a 5/8 oz Beast Coast Baby Dozer football jig and a Yamamoto Dagger Minnow on a 1/4oz jig head.

What was your key fish catch and how did it go down?

• Josh Landreth (1st): I already had a good bag working early and felt like I had a chance at a trophy. But the 20” fish I caught mid morning was definitely the key fish. I was floating down a shoal area and saw something big chasing bait 20 yards or so up ahead. I thought maybe it was a striper… I got in range, made a long cast with the Plopper. It landed just past the commotion. The fish swung at it twice and missed. The third time, I still couldn’t tell if it was hooked but gave a big hookset. And got her. All this was in 6” of water.
• Dwain Batey (2nd): I had two 17.5-inch fish that were both really important to my finish. The first one ate my crankbait right at the kayak… The second 17.5-inch fish was a completely different story. It was hooked strangely, and the way it fought made me think I had snagged a carp in the tail. I honestly didn’t even believe it was a bass until I got it into the net.
• Levi Schneider (3rd): I’d say I had two key fish first being one of my 15” smallies I caught on my first cast that confirmed the fish I was after were in the area I was In and then the 17.50” smallie that jumped me up a lot. She pretty much rocketed off a tree and smoked my dagger minnow.

Question 4: Do you believe heavy boat traffic has an impact on fishing conditions? Why or why not?

• Josh Landreth (1st): There was no boats where I was. That was definitely part of the plan and success.
• Dwain Batey (2nd): I wasn’t really concerned about the heavy boat traffic hurting the fishing itself. My main concern was safety. On a holiday weekend, especially on a lake with a lot of recreational traffic, being in a kayak around that many boats can become a much bigger issue than whether the fish are going to bite.
• Levi Schneider (3rd): Yes and No but for different reasons than most would think. Yes but in a good way that pleasure boat traffic tends to scare off other fishing boats that would pressure the fish and no because those fish are typically so used to all the bigger boats flying over them they’re typically desensitized to it.

AOY & Heavy Hitter Race Update

The Classic Field is set (minus the shootout winner), and the points races are reaching a boiling point, just like the air temperatures. Levi Schneider continues to lead the Angler of the Year standings with a 27-point gap over second place. This is a big lead, but with the Classic Championship coming up, counting double points, you never know what can happen. There are still many competitors who could pull it off – but it would need to get pretty wild to change Levi’s lead. There’s still a Classic to win and trophies to hand out! The top 25 who will be fishing for the Classic title are as follows:

In the Heavy Hitters race, it’s still Levi Schneider setting the pace at 95.25″. Unless I don’t know the rules (quite possible) I think this race is over and we have a winner.

Heavy Hitters Top 10:

1. Levi Schneider – 95.25″
2. Dwain Batey – 92.25″
3. Justin Malott – 91.50″
4. Jason Adams – 90.00″
5. Kyle Long – 89.00″
6. Jason Kincy – 88.75″
7. James Haeberle – 88.75″
8. Fanny Phomsopha – 88.50″
9. Terrill Standifer – 88.25″
10. Josh Landreth – 88.25″

If you did not qualify for the Classic but fished 4 events and are a member, registration for the Classic Shootout next Saturday is open. See you on the water for the final showdown!