Jason Burroughs finishes with 52-6 to win the Bass Cat Boats NPFL Stop 6 Season Finale at Lake Dardanelle powered by MillerTech Batteries.

Originally scheduled for the cooler waters of Lake George in New York, Stop Six moved to a warmer climate in Arkansas to finish the 2026 season, and warmer it was. Lake Dardanelle showed out with both the fishing and the heat, as near-record temperatures throughout practice and competition made an already difficult September bite even tougher. But when the heat was on, South Carolina angler Jason Burroughs delivered under pressure.

Burroughs got off to a strong start with 17-10 on Day One to sit fourth, then added 15-10 on a tougher Day Two to remain in fourth place. With many expecting the bite to get even tougher on Finale Friday, Burroughs delivered, cracking 19-2, the biggest bag of the tournament, to finish with 52-6 and seal the victory.

Ray Hanselman stayed in the mix all week, opening with 16-5 before a slightly slower 15-11 on Day Two. On Finale Friday, Hanselman made his move, bringing 17-5 to the scales to finish with 49-5 and put himself in second place.

Scott Suggs went the opposite direction of a fishery that seemed to get tougher each day. After opening with 14-8, Suggs improved to 16-14 on Day Two and got even better on Finale Friday with 17-7. He never stumbled, steadily climbing throughout the event to finish with 48-13.

Brock Mosley finished fourth with 48-5, capping off a consistent week on Dardanelle. Moving into fifth was Hunter Sales, who entered the event fighting for a spot in the 2027 NPFL Championship and finished with 47-7. Rickey Morris’ 6-9 from Day One held up through Finale Friday to claim Big Fish honors for the event.

 

Burroughs Frogs His Way to Victory

Jason Burroughs went to bed Thursday night with a decision to make. For two days, he had started with a bladed jig to put fish in the boat before turning to a frog to upgrade his weight. With one day left and a shot at the win, Burroughs still wasn’t sure. As he blasted off, he made the call: go all-in on the frog.

The decision paid off in a big way. Burroughs committed to the frog throughout Finale Friday and produced 19-2, the biggest bag of the tournament, to seal the victory. Better yet, much of it played out on LIVE Coverage, giving fans a front-row seat as Burroughs worked his way to the top of the leaderboard one blowup at a time.

Burroughs found his main area in practice, a flat where he was fishing a bladed jig, and started the first two days of the event there. On Day One, he caught three fish in the bladed jig area. On Day Two, he caught two. His secondary area was a lily pad field with a small channel or trail running through the middle, and that was where the frog bite began to take shape.

“Going into the first day, I thought the ChatterBait deal was going to be my primary area,” he said. “My goal after the St. Lawrence River, getting locked out, was to do enough to get paid and make the Championship. It was kind of a blessing in disguise. I had no idea how good the frog area was.”

By the final day, Burroughs knew things could get fast and furious. On Day One, he caught two frog fish in 20 minutes. On Day Two, he caught three in 30 minutes, and none of that action came before 11 a.m. On Finale Friday, the morning bite did not disappoint.

“After Day Two, it started to click,” he said. “I caught those frog fish super quick. In practice, I got three bites with the hooks cut off and left. I knew it had potential to get wild, and it did. I had hardly even fished that whole area the first two days. It worked out in that regard.”

The final day produced 25 bites, with steady action throughout the day. However, it took a little time to get going, and the quality bites were harder to come by. His first limit weighed around 12.5 pounds, but that checked off both of his biggest goals, so the rest of the day he was playing with house money.

“I knew early I had made the Championship and made the top 10,” he said. “I was pumped. I turned around, and on my next pass through those pads I caught two big ones, putting me around 16 pounds. Then it got a hair slow for a bit.”

With his final hour approaching, Burroughs made another pass through the narrow channel in the lily pads. Over that time, he culled three more fish, building his final weight and sealing the deal.

“I came here with no grass or vegetation back home,” he said. “But I knew I wanted to fish fast and trigger reaction bites and fish around that type of cover. I was working the frog fast and the bladed jig. I went with the SPRO Kicking Frog, not a walking frog. This week was amazing. I came here and had no idea what I was on. It’s incredible to end the season like this, and now I have 14 hours to think about it driving home.”

 

Grass Game Pays Off for Hanselman

Despite never fishing Dardanelle before this week, once Ray Hanselman heard there may be some grass in the lake, that was all it took. In practice, he combed the lake until he found it and never looked back.

“In hot, dirty water, that is what I like to do,” he said. “Generally, they will be there, and the key is making them bite. I love to fish that way, and this week was right in my wheelhouse. I learned as the week went on that the best areas were not the hard edges, but the irregular places. They just seemed to hold more fish.”

The Texas pro started each morning in the area he felt held the most fish and had a limit before 10:00 a.m. Once he felt good about his weight, he left it alone and fished other places. On Finale Friday, after another solid start, he made his milk run but saved plenty of time to return in the afternoon.

“I messed around a little bit and came back in there this afternoon. I was trying to burn it down,” he said. “I caught seven more nice fish later today. On Day One, that’s what cost me. They were smoking a buzzbait in practice, and they missed it. I lost several big fish that probably would have put me over 20 pounds, and after four fish, I stopped throwing it. My heart couldn’t take it.”

Down went the buzzbait and out came the bladed jig and Strike King Hybrid Hunter. Each day, Hanselman kept the buzzbait honest but rotated baits to keep the fish interested. His bites decreased as the week went on, but he did enough to secure a Championship berth and finish runner-up to close out the season.

“Never being here before, I was not sure how these fish replenished, and I did a good job saving fish. I just finished a little short,” he said. “But overall, this was my wheelhouse. I love fishing grass like this. When I found it, I was super excited. It was a great week.”

 

Work Sharp Angler of the Year

KJ Queen entered the season finale with a seven-point lead over Zack Birge, and despite a strong surge from Birge over the final two days, his Day One struggles proved too much to overcome. Queen did exactly what he needed to do, staying consistent throughout the week and finishing 16th with 40-10 to seal the 2026 Work Sharp NPFL Angler of the Year title. More to come on Queen’s championship season.

 

Final Leaderboard:

Jason Burroughs 52-6

Ray Hanselman 49-5

Scott Suggs 48-13

Brock Mosley 48-5

Hunter Sales 47-7

Josh Butler 45-8

Bill Lowen 44-7

Brad Staley 43-11

Wes Logan 43-5

Jason Williamson 42-15

Scott Canterbury 42-14

Matthew McBee 42-2

Joey Bloom 42-1

Luke Clausen 41-4

Jacob Powroznik 41-2

KJ Queen 40-10

Logan Latuso 40-1

Gary Adkins 40-0

Mitchell Webb 39-14

Garrett Smith 39-11

Brad Whatley 39-8

Troy Roder 39-5

Kyle Glasgow 39-3

Austin Garland 38-10

Dustin Williamson 37-14

Matt Herren 37-11

Scott Wiley 37-6

Gerald Spohrer 37-1

Kevin Rogers 36-14

Greg Vinson 36-9

Cliff Crochet 36-5

Randall Tharp 35-15

William Fletcher 35-1

Timothy Reams 34-9

Joseph Lineberry 34-1

Adam Savage 33-7

Andy Morgan 32-5

Zack Birge 31-4

Nick Brown 31-0

David Williams 30-11

Gerald Swindle 29-9

Shane Lineberger 29-6

Drew Cook 28-15

Josh Hooks 28-14

Harmon Davis 28-13

Russ Lane 28-10

Derek Lehtonen 28-9

Fred Roumbanis 28-6

Jared Lintner 28-0

Greg Hackney 27-0

John Cox (GA) 26-6

Quentin Cappo 26-4

Paul Browning 25-11

Jason Reyes 25-6

Hunter Baughman 25-3

Brandon Cobb 24-8

JT Russell 24-3

Christopher Whisenant 24-3

Lavoyd Lemmond 24-1

Alex Davis 24-0

Darrell Davis 23-14

Chris Baker 23-4

Ryan Satterfield 23-1

Jason Meninger 20-11

Todd Goade 20-0

J Todd Tucker 19-13

James Niggemeyer 19-10

Lendell Martin 19-8

Stacey James 18-2

Harry Moore 18-2

Mike Quinlin 18-1

Pete Ponds 16-6

Chad Grigsby 16-6

Jordan Osborne 15-5

Chip Harrington 14-14

Barron Adams 14-9

Rickey Morris 14-5

Buddy Gross 14-1

Chad Marler 13-9

Alton Wilhoit 12-6

John Cox (FL) 11-15

Dylan Freeze 11-6

Richard Cooper 11-1

Troy Broussard 10-14

Darrel Robertson 10-9

Jon Canada 10-7

Michael Comeau 9-12

Travis Jewell 8-14

James Watson 7-11

Jason Wilson 7-4

Josh Watkins 6-3

Dustin Reneau 5-12

Charlie Apperson 5-12

David Wootton 5-8

Keith Bardolf 5-1

Sean Alvarez 4-5

Johnnie Adams 4-2

Wesley Gore 3-5

Corey Casey 2-2

Ron Johnson 1-15

Tim Cales 1-11