The Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour made back to back stops in the Ozarks recently, with the most recent stop Arkansas’ Beaver Lake. The lake threw a little bit of everything at the pros: crystal-clear main lake water, some blown-out muddy creeks, and a mix of spawning and post spawn fish. But overall, it was a pretty mixed bag of techniques that caught the most fish… we saw everything from vibrating jigs and spinnerbaits, to Neko rigs, drop shots and as always, a little minnow shaking.
If you’re looking to stock your tackle box for the summer, and especially if you have a clear water, reservoir fishery, you need to see what these guys were throwing. And even if you fish in a weedy, northern natural lake (like I do), you can still earn something from watching the best of the best. Let’s count down the exact gear the Top 10 anglers used to cash some checks at Beaver Lake.
10. Marshall Hughes – 13-0 (6)
Hughes found a hidden spring tucked way back in a creek channel. To pull those fish off a hard-bottom spot, he started by burning a 3/8-ounce, white vibrating jig tipped with a pearl-colored Yamamoto Zako Slim. When the fish got tired of the blade, he’d follow up with a Bill Lewis ATV 1.5 squarebill in chartreuse shiner. He also dragged an occasional creature bait.
Shop the Bill Lewis ATV 1.5 at Tackle Warehouse – $8.99
9. Ron Nelson – 20-4 (10)
Nelson is a certified sniper when it comes to sight-fishing, and he spent his week hunting down spawning smallmouth in the cleanest water he could find. But unfortunately for us, he kept his secrets a little bit closer to the vest. He picked beds apart using a classic peanut butter and jelly Ned rig worm, but says he caught them on a various baits. When he couldn’t see the fish and had to blindly cast towards light spots on the bank, he mimicked the local bluegill population by swimming a ultra-natural, green pumpkin swim jig through the shallows.
8. Jacob Wheeler – 20-14 (10)
Is there a tournament Wheeler doesn’t finish in the Top 10? The dude is a machine. He played both sides of the fence this week. When he ran way up the dirty waters of the White River, he was tossing a Rapala Claptail 110 topwater and a chartreuse/white Chatterbait with a Rapala Crush City Mooch Minnow. By the afternoon, he’d run back to the clear water to hunt smallmouth with a green pumpkin Crush City Janitor on a Neko rig.
Shop the Rapala Crush City Janitor Worm at Tackle Warehouse – $6.99
7. Drew Gill – 21-7 (11)
Drew Gill is sitting at 3rd in the Bass Pro Tour AOY standings, and the Neko rig is a big reason why. A go-to for Gill this year, especially during the scope period, he was dropping a green pumpkin Big Bite Baits Nekorama down to fish holding up near standing timber in 10 to 15 feet of water. For fish holding tighter to steeper banks, he threaded a 6-inch Roboworm FAT (Aaron’s Morning Dawn) onto a drop-shot so he could drag it through the wood without snagging. He also kept a classic 5-inch Yamamoto Senko on a wacky rig handy for any bass cruising through the shallow grass.
Shop the Big Bite Nekorama at Tackle Warehouse – $5.99
6. Anthony Gagliardi – 22-14 (10)
Gagliardi targeted spawners and fry-guarders. His weapons of choice were a Roboworm straight tail on a drop-shot for the deeper fish, and an assortment of wacky-rigged soft plastics for the ones he could see in the shallows.
Shop the Roboworm Straight Tail Worm at Tackle Warehouse – $4.99
5. Spencer Shuffield – 28-6 (13)
Fishing in his home state, Shuffield followed a familiar pattern we’ve seen this year… a one-two punch of minnow shaking and finesse. When targeting deep points and isolated cover, he scoped with a 6-inch Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ (electric shad) on a 1/4-ounce head for suspended fish. For the rest of his day, he just dragged a Z-Man TRD CrawZ in the Canada Craw color on a Ned rig around pea gravel and chunky rock banks.
Shop the 6″ Z-Man Jerk ShadZ at Tackle Warehouse – $6.49
4. Zack Birge – 34-12 (15)
Birge is having a hell of a year, and he’s doing it his way: power fishing in heavy cover. Targeting flooded wood and grass, Birge chucked a 3/8-ounce white Z-Man Jack Hammer with a 4.5-inch CrushCity Mooch Minnow trailer. He backed that up with a 5/16-ounce Dirty Jigs No-Jack swim jig (white) sporting a Strike King Rage Craw. He also worked in a football jig on occasion.
Shop the Crush City Mooch Minnow at Tackle Warehouse – $6.49
3. Banks Shaw – 38-13 (20)
Shaw locked down on mid-lake points and used finesse tactics to trigger bites. His go-to was a 3/16-ounce jighead paired with a sexy shad Rapala CrushCity Freeloader. He also utilized a baby bass-colored Crush City Janitor worm on a drop-shot weight.
Shop the CrushCity Freeloader at Tackle Warehouse – $6.49
2. Wesley Strader – 55-2 (23)
Strader relied heavily on his previous Beaver Lake experience and it paid off. He landed a trio of five-pounders, which ended up being the biggest bass of the final three days, by throwing moving baits into muddy pockets and drains. A chartreuse and white 3/8-ounce Z-Man Jack Hammer with a Zoom Z-Craw Jr. trailer, and his very own custom chartreuse/white Wesley Strader EPIC Spinnerbait.
Shop the Z-Man ChatterBait Jack Hammer at Tackle Warehouse – $19.00
1. Cole Floyd – 56-0 (24)
Floyd took home the trophy by doing what he does best: rolling his sleeves up and power fishing in the muddy shallows. He found the winning stretch far up War Eagle Creek and just absolutely hammered them with 3/8-ounce black and blue Strike King Thunder Cricket with a Strike King Rage Bug trailer, and a 3/8-ounce white Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover swim jig with a matching white Rage Scounbug. Oh, and he mixed in a topwater frog just to keep things rowdy.
Shop the Strike King Thunder Cricket at Tackle Warehouse – $12.99
*This post contains links through the Tackle Warehouse Affiliate Program. While all products are independently selected by our expert Riff Outdoors team, if you use these links to make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
And for a detailed bait recommendation, specific to your exact location and waterbody right now, check out the Bass Forecast Bait Advisor. Just input your ZIP code or share your location, and Bass Forecast will give you 5 bait recommendations, a bite rating, and suggestions for peak feeding times.
Bass Forecast Bait Advisor
What is Bass Bait AI – Powered by Bass Forecast
Our advanced bass fishing algorithms analyze over 11,000 factors, including weather shifts and bass behavior, to predict what baits will give you the best chance at success for any GPS location.
Just enter your location, and it does the calculating for you. Giving you the complete bait breakdown for major and minor Bass feeding times in any bass fishing location. Click HERE to learn more.
