Tennessee Tech Takes Lead on Day One of the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship
OutdoorHub 05.23.14
Day one of the 2014 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Cabela’s did not disappoint bass fishing fans who saw Tennessee Tech University bring in a hefty five fish limit weighing 28.09 pounds! This let them take an almost two pound lead over defending champion Bethel University. Sitting in third is another powerhouse college team, as well as a local favorite, the University of North Alabama who caught 25.01 pounds — leaving them slightly more than three pounds behind the leaders going into the final day.
The event being held in McFarland Park, on shores of Lake Pickwick and Wilson, has brought together collegiate anglers from all over the nation who are vying for the most prestigious title in college bass fishing this week. With one final day of fishing left on Friday there are still quite a few teams that can catch a giant final day limit….which is possible on this world class fishery and would move them into contention for the title.
Landon Anderson and Tyler Arms from Tennessee Tech University are fishing this event and body of water for the first time and they certainly didn’t fish it like rookies as they hefted a five fish limit weighing 28.09 pounds to the scales in front of a loud crowd. They told the crowd that their day started off poorly with them losing several fish including one they judged as being close to eight pounds before settling in and catching their best five. They further stated that they left them feeding and feel really good about their chances tomorrow despite this being their first time here. They promised to share details of their pattern tomorrow, it’s worth noting that Tennessee Tech has a strong history as a school at this event with two 2nd place finishes.
Settling, into second place is one of three teams from last year’s champions Bethel University. All three of their teams are currently in contention but the one closest to lead is also one with the most experience here. Dewey Swims and Cody Ross who have a strong history dating back to last year when they were the leaders after day one before slipping slightly on the final day. Both Dewey and Cody are seniors this year and have a lot of experience in this situation, they are widely regarded as one of the pairs of anglers in college fishing. They both feel really confident about their position having not over fished any of their spots and not even visiting several of them. They feel they have about 15 places that they could win off of and only visited three of them today. Their limit was highlighted by Dewey’s big bass of the day — weighing slightly over 9 pounds and earning him the Abu Garcia Big Bass of the day award. They really wanted to thank their parents, teammates, the school and all the sponsors of college fishing for this great opportunity to go fishing.
In third place is another team that was picked to do well this week – the University of North Alabama Lions who have been excited about this event all season long as their campus is literally just minutes away from the ramp. In addition they have been in the hunt all year long for the Cabela’s School of the Year race and have a chance to win both that and the BoatUS Championship with a good finish this week. Wesley Anderson and Cody Harrison of the UNA Bass Team said they are fishing deep with Strike King crank baits which is their strength and reported catching several big limits of fish before they pulled off their key spots by 10:30AM.
Sitting in fourth is another team who has a lot of experience at this event – the University of Georgia. Not only does the Georgia bass team already have a past BoatUS Championship Title to their credit, they also were in contention last year to win this event. Byron Kinney and William Tread stated their confidence is high right now as they are coming off a big win last week at an FLW College event in Georgia, and that they culled several times before leaving their fish biting to save them for the final day.
Many of the anglers reported great fishing which was expected at this world class fishery in Florence, Alabama which is playing host to this event for the 3rd year. College anglers all week long have been reporting great fishing, and it was evident that they we’re not telling fishing stories as the weigh in wrapped up. The top ten teams are listed below and complete standings can be found here.
- Tennessee Tech University – Landon Anderson & Tyler Arms
- Bethel University – Cody Ross & Dewey Swims
- University of North Alabama – Wesley Anderson & Cody Harrison
- University of Georgia – Byron Kenney & William Treadwell
- Mississippi State University – Justin Atkins & Grant Galloway
- University of North Alabama – Jack Roberson & Evan Horne
- Louisiana Tech University – Matthew Loetscher & Caleb Boudreaux
- Bethel University – Zach Parker & Matthew Roberts
- Kansas State University – Nathen Kozlowski & Lance Maldanado
- Bethel University – Dalton Wilson & Randall Morris
Day 2 will kick off in the morning with the final weigh in scheduled to start at 3:00PM with the Champion for this year to be crowned around 5:00PM. Fans can follow on the live blog as well as watch the weigh in at:
www.CollegiateBassChampionship.com
