Tournament Day 1 Live Blog updates brought to you by Ranger Boats will be added throughout the day! Check back for photos, reports from the water, and more.
Thursday, May 25 – Carson-Newman University – 12:56pm
Carson-Newman University who is sitting in the 5th place spot for the year when it comes to School of Year Standings qualified five teams to be here at Lake Hartwell this week. This team from Carson-Newman of Caz Anderson and Will Harris currently has a five fish limit that is reportedly over 11 pounds. Now that they have long time cameraman Cody Prather in the boat with them, they’ll be looking to have a late day upgrade with the camera rolling.
Thursday, May 25 – Adrian College Culling – 12:35pm
Thursday, May 25 – Lost One – 12:00pm
Thursday, May 25 – Pics from the Water – 11:00am
Thursday, May 25 – ‘Run & Gun’ Pattern – 10:20am
The ‘run and gun’ pattern still appears to be the key tactic for a lot of the teams here on Lake Hartwell. As typical this time of the year the early morning clouds have burned off and the skies are now bright blue. The winds are right around 10 MPH. This will likely change some of the team’s tactics. We expected this after talking to several of the teams that said the early bite to catch a limit would be key to change tactics. This may cause several of the teams to slow down their pace and grind it out in a few areas.
Thursday, May 25 – On the Water Action Heats Up with Erskine College – 9:45am
The on the water action is certainly heating up. The camera teams are reporting several limits from teams they’ve been covering. Some of the highlights are seen in this post that include Erskine College culling. This is the team of Lane Clark and Austin Parr who are it appears culling up for ounces. Both the fish on the balance beam appear to be spotted bass which isn’t surprising since a lot of teams said a limit of spots isn’t hard to do but finding bigger largemouth may be a challenge.
Thursday, May 25 – How Many Spots Will Anglers Hit? – 8:48am
Lake Hartwell is well known as a lake that anglers might need to hit 30, 40, 50 or more spots in a day to find active fish. We’re seeing a lot of teams covering water in that manner pulling up to a spot making a few casts and then either catching a fish or moving on quickly to another spot. As seen here, several teams are making moves but we also see the 22nd Ranked Lander University team of Britt Myers and Tyler Anderson landing their 3rd keeper of the day.
Thursday, May 25 – Predictions – 8:30am
Predictions this week for winning weight over the two days of fishing have ranged between 35 and 38 pounds. During events like this, being consistent is a key to top finishes, however, the fickle nature of the blue back herring, which is a main bait fish in this body of water, can make you a hero one day and a zero the next day as the wolf packs of bass that feed on the herring can be nomadic and tough to catch at times. It will be interesting to see how this event unfolds weight-wise, but even at this early stage of the event the buzz is how a team can come from behind to win by having a decent day one and landing on the right school on day two.
Thursday, May 25 – It’s a Keeper for Emmanuel College – 7:48am
10th Ranked Emmanuel College landing what appears to be a nice keeper. Most all the teams that have camera teams on them have reported fish catches, which follows what we heard during practice in regards to getting bites. Most teams said catching 8 to 10 pounds wasn’t hard but getting over 15 pounds might be tough. When the weigh-in starts at 2:00 PM EST today, we’ll see who has figured out the patterns the best. You can watch the weigh-in by using the Outdoor Action TV app.
Thursday, May 25 – Campbellsville University’s Gill & Raney – 7:22am
The Campbellsville University team of Drew Gill and Karsten Raney have been able to target a few keepers early this morning offshore using the Garmin Live Scope to help dial in where to cast. Several teams have been talking about this style of fishing using a mix of baits to allow them to pick apart areas on Lake Hartwell.
Thursday, May 25 – School of the Year – 6:28am
The Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia is the most sought-after title in college fishing. It’s a season long race that rewards the best teams in college fishing based on how they finish after competing in a variety of events all over the nation. Leading this year is the University of Montevallo who is seeking an unprecedented 3rd straight title.
This is always a major story line at this event which is worth triple points. Montevallo likely only needs a couple strong limits on day one to secure enough points to win the title, but if we learned anything in these types of series is to expect the unexpected. In addition, there are lot of teams vying to maintain their ranking in the top 25 in the nation. We will cover this storyline extensively as the week unfolds.
Thursday, May 25 – Day 1 is underway – 6:05am
Day one of the 18th annual BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops is underway. It’s slightly overcast this morning with temperatures at takeoff in the upper 50’s. The anglers are hoping to capitalize on the early top water bite here on Lake Hartwell before mixing in a variety of other baits. Camera teams are being deployed all over the lake to capture the action for the upcoming episodes of the series, and we’ll have live coverage as reports come in all day long here and on the various social media channels.
Thursday, May 25 – Good Morning! The Boat Ramp is moving!
Good Luck to all the anglers competing in the 2024 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops at Lake Hartwell | Anderson, SC!
Thursday, May 25 – Tournament Competition Begins!
Good morning from Green Pond Landing on the Shores of Lake Hartwell for Day 1 of tournament competition at the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops! The 18th edition of college fishing’s longest running National Championship event will begin at 6:00 AM (ET) with the start of official takeoff. The full field of elite collegiate anglers will compete for two days in hopes of claiming a National Championship, as well as finishing the season as high up in the rankings as possible for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Stay tuned to the live blog for updates, as camera crew members will begin the day with several of the highly ranked teams in the nation!
