The Eastern Kentucky
University (EKU) bass team won its second college fishing title, back-to-back in fact, at the 2011 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Open on Kentucky Lake out of Paris, Tenn. last Thursday.
with each team consisting of up to six anglers and three boats. EKU
claimed the Open title in 2010 when Tyler Moberly and Kyle Raymer
competed as a single boat team. This year, Tyler and Kyle, along with
teammates Jonas Ertel, John Smith, Matt Salmons and Will Pope, fished as
a three boat team and combined their talents and knowledge of Kentucky
Lake to successfully defend their Open title with a total weight of
42.73 pounds for two days and three bass per boat per day allowed.
located several schools of suspended bass, catching more than 100 fish per day,
including 50 small keepers. The pair also fished a spot that
yielded some better quality bass using swimbaits. Although their
teammates weren’t catching big numbers of bass, they succeeded in
catching some bigger fish from ledges with worms and jigs that helped
propel the EKU team to victory. The EKU anglers wish to thank J&J Marine,
who repaired an electrical problem with one of the boats at no charge
following the first day of competition.
23.83 pounds on day one, The University of North Carolina-Charlotte team amassed a
tournament total of 41.27 pounds, which was good enough to claim second
place on Friday. Teammates, Eric Self, Tyler Beam, Shane Lehew and Adam Waters
shared three sweet spots located on main river ledges that produced
approximately 100 bass, with most in the 2 1/2-pound range. The
majority of the bass the team brought to the scale were caught using a
combination of Strike King 6XD crankbaits, 12-inch Berkley Power Worms and
watermelon craw ER football jigs.
weight of 39.45 pounds, the University of North Alabama bass team stayed
close to Paris Landing Marina and maximized their fishing time. The
team caught all their bass from three sweet spots. One was a 20 feet deep
river ledge, another was a shell bed positioned on an island point and
the third spot was a sharp point on a river ledge that dropped from 10 to
19 feet and featured heavy cover. A combination of football jigs and
Carolina rigged soft plastics proved effective for tempting more
than 150 bass to bite. The team explained that they utilized their
Lowrance HDS Structure Scan units to locate the fish and their HydroWave
units to activate the schools of bass.
University of Tennessee-Knoxville, secured the Costa overall big bass
and Berkley day one big bass awards for his team by landing a 9.49-pound
lunker on a spot that teammate, David Lambert, located during the Open
event last year. The big bass was fooled with a Carolina rigged Berkley
Power Worm and was positioned on a shell bed located on a river ledge
that dropped from 13 to 15 feet.
Tennessee-Chattanooga team claimed the Berkley day two big bass award
when Robby Crosslin boated a 7.54 pound bass that was coaxed into biting
a Carolina-rigged Berkley Power Worm.
For complete standings, photo album and additional information, please visit CollegiateBassChampionship.com
