Having experience on a fishery is often regarded as a good thing for tournament competitors. But can it help in Phoenix Fantasy Fishing? We’re about to find out.
The Bass Pro Tour will head to Beaver Lake Thursday through Sunday for Yuengling Light Lager Stage 5 Presented by YETI. JT Kenney happens to be very familiar with the Arkansas fishery. Kenney competed on Beaver Lake 16 times during his FLW Tour career, including a fifth-place finish there in 2016.
The MLFNOW! color commentator will look to put that Beaver Lake knowledge to use to gain some ground in this year’s new Fantasy Fishing game – Beat JT Kenney Presented by 13 Fishing. All Fantasy Fishing players who submit a lineup for Bass Pro Tour events are automatically entered into the competition. You gain points for each place you finish above JT at each event and lose points if you finish below him. The player with the most points at the end of the season will earn a snazzy championship belt plus a premium prize package from 13 Fishing.
Here are JT’s picks for Stage 5. For a chance to beat him, be sure to submit your lineup before lines in at 7:45 a.m. CT on Thursday.
PICK YOUR TEAM I BEAVER LAKE BREAKDOWN
Flight 1
JT’s picks: Ott DeFoe, Brent Ehrler, Takahiro Omori, Wesley Strader, Jacob Wall
I’m building my team for Beaver Lake around a combination of anglers that have strong history on the fishery from the FLW Tour days as well as some guys that are fishing well lately. Brent Ehrler was an easy starting point because he checks both boxes. Ehrler should be plenty familiar with the lake having fished nine MLF events there, and he’s putting together yet another strong season in 2026. He’s made the Top 10 at back-to-back events, including a fourth-place finish at REDCREST just down the White River at Table Rock Lake.
Wesley Strader is another angler with lots of history on Beaver. In fact, he has the most tournament starts on the fishery of anyone in the field with 20. He’s had a solid season, too. I expect “The W” to keep it rolling. Ott DeFoe has some Beaver experience, too, but I’m more so picking him because he’s always on my short list when bass are spawning or near the spawn, which I think will be a big player at this event. You simply can’t ignore what Takahiro Omori has done this year. I expect he’ll lock his vibrating jig in his hand and run up to the upper reaches of one of the creek arms, just like he did for his win on Hartwell and his runner-up finish at Table Rock. Lastly, I’m going back to the well with Jacob Wall. I picked him for REDCREST and he did fine, but I still feel like he’s due for a breakout event. Unlike all my other picks in this group, he’s probably never seen Beaver Lake before; but sometimes, that’s a good thing. Call him my dark horse pick for this event.
Flight 2
JT’s picks: Zack Birge, David Dudley, Spencer Shuffield, Bryan Thrift, Jacob Wheeler
At this point, it feels like Zack Birge can’t miss. Fun fact: I have picked him for my Fantasy Fishing team for every event this season except Hartwell – which, incidentally, was the only event he hasn’t made the Championship Round. You’re welcome, Zack. Jacob Wheeler is another angler who needs no explanation other than he’s on fire right now (as usual).
Aside from those two, I’m continuing to go heavy on Beaver Lake experience. David Dudley has a fantastic track record on Beaver, including a win in 2012. That event was almost the exact same time of year as this one, so he should have a pretty good idea of where to start. Same goes for Bryan Thrift, who won there in 2011. Last but not least, Spencer Shuffield doesn’t quite have the same track record as far as MLF tournament success on Beaver, but he’s an Arkansas guy who has spent a ton of time on the Ozark lakes, all of which fish pretty similar. He’s also coming off yet another good event at REDCREST, where he finished eighth.