Live Blog: 2017 Yamaha Angler Appreciation Night

Tuesday, May 23rd

All the anglers are out enjoying Yamaha Angler Appreciation Night!! Check out some of the action below.

Congratulation to Levi Sharp of Louisiana State University who won tonight’s Yamaha Angler Appreciation night casting contest. He fired a 2 in first round and then a 1 in final round to take the prize. All that time flipping and pitching at home since he was 6 years old paid off tonight.

:Levi Sharp being interviewed after his win. The footage will be seen on the Cabelea’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Television series as well as was seen live on various platforms.

Here is your top ten from the Yamaha Angler Appreciation night casting contest at BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Cabela’s. It took a score of 11 to make a flip off for the final two places to get into the top ten. Once inside the top ten it took a score of 2 to advance further into the final round. All the anglers pictured took home an Abu Garcia rod and reel combo, a custom Buff as well as packages of Trokar Hooks.

Your Top Ten From Casting Contest Above

Mississippi State in Top Ten

McKendree University in the top ten.

South Alabama made it into the top ten

The last of the demo rides wrapping up before the final ten hit the deck of this very boat to wrap up the casting contest here at Yamaha Angler Appreciation night.

Prizes Galore thanks to Yamaha

The final ten will be on board this boat for the last few flips and pitches. Who will win it?

Enjoying that ride and wind in their faces!

Members of Cabela’s collegiate contingency program posing for a group photo at tonights Yamaha Angler Appreciation Night. Looks like some serious talent in this photo.

Yamaha demo ride sign ups at Yamaha Angler Appreciation night.

One of the trickier holes on the course tonight.

Clark Wendlandt giving a demonstration as part of Garmin’s on the water demonstration of Panoptix.

On the water demo rides have been a big part of the history of Yamaha Angler appreciation night since the early years of this event.

Lined up for the demo rides on the shores of Lake Pickwick here in Florence, Alabama.

Archery at Yamaha Night? Yes, thanks to Cabela’s we added a twist to this year’s casting contest.

Yamaha Powered Demo rides in Ranger Pro Staff Boats on Pickwick.

Live Scoring of the casting contest with the Cabela’s Safe Archery event going on right underneath.

Ram Trucks on site for the college anglers to check out for their next tow vehicle.

On behalf of Garmin FLW Touring pro Clark Wendlandt is sharing insight on how to set up your boat for mapping, sonar and then maximize them on the water.

Hole two of the casting contest featured Abu Garcia spinning rod and reels.

Hole number one was just a short pitch to get the casting contest going.

Signing up for the Yamaha powered Ranger demo boat rides as well as some of the many great prizes provided by Yamaha.

Early action from the hole four during the casting contest. This one was a bit tricky with all the logs and rocks guarding the hole.

The demo rides are kicking off with this sweet Yamaha powered Ranger with a pair of matching Power Poles

Tuesday, May 23rd 4:00pm

Yamaha Angler Appreciation Night is now underway and the Yamaha Flip, Pitch and Cast event has started. All the anglers will be using Abu Garcia Rod and Reel combos on the four holes that make up the course before wrapping it up on the final hole for the top ten on a boat!

Tuesday, May 23rd 3:00pm

Anglers have 30 more minutes till they have to be off the water on this second day of practice, 3:30pm is the deadline for all anglers to have their boats off the water and on the trailer.

Yamaha Angler Appreciation Night starts at 4pm.

Tuesday, May 23rd 1:23pm

As typical of any bass tournament on any lake anywhere in the nation we’re hearing all sorts of comments about the fishing conditions. Some love it, some want sun, some want clouds and some don’t know what they want.

We’ve heard from about a dozen anglers who just came off the water recently and many are excited about ledges, some mentioned to us after being sworn to secrecy showed us a couple of baits we’ve not seen as a way to catch them this week.

Some anglers are very confident in what they’ve found on the water. Those anglers seem to be relying on tried and proven off shore patterns while others are either playing it cool or simply struggling.

From our stand point with a full day of practice still to come with a more stable weather pattern ahead that it’s possible we’ll see something new being the way to catch them this week.

Tuesday, May 23rd 1:00pm

Talking to the teams today and it seems that you will need at least 20 pounds a day to have a chance to take home first place. We are going to catch up with more anglers this evening and get their thoughts as well.