The fourth stop of the 2026 NSKA NWA season, presented by Southtown Sporting Goods, brought the tournament trail back home to northwest Arkansas. This time, the field descended on the river arms and winding bluffs of Beaver Lake South. After a beautiful tournament day on Tenkiller, this event forced anglers to contend with a massive, atmospheric variable: a relentless, soaking rainstorm.
Conditions were anything but comfortable. Anglers faced soggy skies, high humidity, and water temperatures hovering in that transitional post-spring phase. For many, a downpour like this signals a fast-moving power fishing bite. But Beaver Lake has a reputation for being finicky, and the torrential downpours had the opposite effect on the bass, forcing some competitors in many areas to dial back the speed and pick up a grind mentality to secure their limits, while anglers in the river seemed to be able to keep ripping and running to catch fish.
By the Numbers
- Total Anglers: 44
- Total Fish Submitted: 308
- Fish Per Angler: 7.00
- Anglers with at least one fish: 93% (41 of 44)
- Limit percentage: 75% (33 of 44 anglers brought in a 5-fish limit)
The Leaderboard (Top 10)
The standard of competition on this trail remains razor-thin and is a slug-fest every event. Fractions of an inch once again decided who took home the heavy checks and who went home with a wet kayak. Seth Jones took first place with 87.00″, with James Haeberle taking second with 85.75″, and Justin Malott finishing third with 83.75″ on the day.
- Seth Jones – 87.00″
- James Haeberle – 85.75″
- Justin Malott – 83.75″
- Cole Sikes – 81.75″
- Tyler Zengerle – 81.00″
- Josh Landreth – 79.50″
- Dwain Batey – 79.25″
- Chris Jones – 77.75″
- Kyle Long – 77.75″
- Fanny Phomsopha – 76.50″
Big Bass & Side Pots
The Advanced Automotive Big Bass honors belonged to runner-up James Haeberle. He fooled a gorgeous 19.25″ largemouth out of a shallow creek arm, earning him $132 in cash plus a custom swimbait from GiffGlidez Custom Swimbaits.
On the completely opposite end of the spectrum, Josh Goforth won the smallest bass side pot, cashing a $42 check for a microscopic 7.50″ monster.
The Eco Fishing Shop Trash Fish award went to Tyler Zengerle for wrestling a beautiful 26″ striped bass into the kayak.
Angler Roundtable: Top 3 Q&A
As is tradition, our top three finishers gathered around the kayak launch ramp and talked about their day. Awesome sportsmanship to take us all along with them on their winning patterns.
1. What part of south Beaver Lake did you fish, and why did you go there?
- Seth Jones: I launched at Beaver Shores so I could focus on bluffs in or around the thermocline.
- James Haeberle: I went to Twin Bridges because I checked the water color the evening before and it looked good. Plus, it’s only a 15-minute drive for me.
- Justin Malott: I launched out of Beaver Shores since it’s an area I’m familiar with and have had success fishing in before.
2. It was destined to be a very rainy day. How did that impact your game plan?
- Seth Jones: Knowing the rain was on the way, I decided to try some shallower docks in hopes that some fish would move up.
- James Haeberle: I was actually excited to see the rain and clouds for tournament day. Especially this time of year when I know the fish will be chasing bait. Bad weather usually works well with my style of fishing.
- Justin Malott: I was pretty excited when the rain rolled in. I thought it would set up a solid spinnerbait bite, but when it started pouring, I struggled to get anything going.
3. What were the main techniques you used to catch your fish?
- Seth Jones: I noticed during practice that some docks had several fish of different sizes, but often the smaller fish would pick the bait up first. To remedy this, I switched to 1/4 and 1/2 oz shaky heads. When a small fish picked it up, they felt the heavy weight and dropped it, letting the big fish grab it right behind them.
- James Haeberle: The only bait that produced quality bites for me was a Strike King Sexy Dawg topwater in sexy shad. I was able to fish it all day with the weather we had.
- Justin Malott: I junk fished for most of the day, mixing it up and catching fish on a little bit of everything—worms, swimbaits, jerkbaits, you name it. Eventually, I had to slow down and start dragging my bait when the downpour killed the fast bite.
4. How’d you catch your biggest bass?
- Seth Jones: I decided to target the front of docks directly under the walkway cables where most boaters avoid casting. Three of my final fish came from this method.
- James Haeberle: I saw a big tree washed up in a small creek in a couple feet of water. I threw my topwater around the root ball several times and gave up to fish up the creek. On my way back out, I made one last cast at the deeper water around those roots, and she came out and hammered it.
- Justin Malott: I spotted two smallmouth blowing up on shad right against the bank. I already had a 3-inch swimbait in my hand, cast right at them, and it got smoked almost instantly.
Ketch Angler of the Year (Top 10 Standings)
What a difference a soggy day on Beaver makes. Taking advantage of the chaos, Justin Malott has made a move to the top of the rankings. By backing up his hot streak with a 98-point showing, he has officially seized the AOY lead with 375 total points. He is arguably the hottest angler on the trail right now, but breathing room at the top is nonexistent.
Tyler Zengerle and Beaver South champion Seth Jones are practically breathing down his neck, tied for the runner-up spot just two points back at 373 points. Levi and Kyle are lurking just behind, within 10 points in the lead. AOY is still up for grabs for lots of anglers.
AOY Standings (Top 10)
- Justin Malott – 375 pts
- Tyler Zengerle – 373 pts
- Seth Jones – 373 pts
- Levi Schneider – 365 pts
- Kyle Long – 364 pts
- John Hall – 356 pts
- Dwain Batey – 355 pts
- James Haeberle – 353 pts
- Josh Landreth – 349 pts
- Jason Adams – 346 pts
Crucial AOY Trends
- The Logjam at the Top: Only 11 points separate 1st from 5th. Malott, Zengerle, Jones, Schneider, and Long have all proven they can score big points in any given event.
- Sleepers: Every week there’s a new leader, proves nobody is safe. On the flip side, keep an eye on James Haeberle (8th – 353 pts) and Dwain Batey (7th – 355 pts). They both used huge scores at Beaver South to put themselves squarely in the conversation.
Arvest Heavy Hitters (Top 10 Standings)
We also have a massive shakeup in the big fish race. Jason Adams, who has used his 21-inch giant from the season opener to bully the field all year, has finally been passed by Levi.
Defending AOY champ Levi Schneider went to work at Beaver South, landing an 18.50-inch kicker to bring his four-fish cumulative total to a very strong 74.00 inches, sliding past Adams by a single inch.
The biggest upward moves came from Justin Malott and Dwain Batey, who are now tied for 3rd place at 72.25 inches. Both of them found massive 19.25-inch bass in the rain at Beaver South to rocket up the leaderboard.
Heavy Hitters Standings (Top 10)
- Levi Schneider – 74.00″
- Jason Adams – 73.00″
- Justin Malott – 72.25″
- Dwain Batey – 72.25″
- Tyler Zengerle – 70.75″
- Seth Jones – 70.50″
- Jeff Malott – 69.25″
- Josh Landreth – 68.75″
- Nate Higgins – 68.25″
- Kyle Long – 68.25″
The upcoming Road Runner is when anglers will drop several giants on the board. We’ll see after that event who are the contenders and who are the pretenders.
Up Next: Get ready for a change of pace. We are switching to an MLF-style Road Runner format on June 27th. No keeping fish in a digital livewell all day—every ounce and every score counts in real-time. This is going to completely change how the field strategizes!