Lankford & Miller from Murray State College Take Day 1 Lead at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open

Top Ranked Carson-Newman University is in 2nd and 3rd Ranked LSU-Shreveport is in 3rd

RUSSELLVILLE, AR (October 12, 2024) – Day 1 of tournament competition is complete at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open, the second stop of the Association of Collegiate Anglers’ historic 20th season.  262 of the top teams in collegiate bass fishing competed on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR for the no-entry-fee, nationally televised event.  This is the second stop of the 2024-25 season of the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series.   This weekend’s event boasts a total payout of over $20,000 in prizes and contingencies, as well as double points to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

Braden Lankford and Tityn Miller from Murray State College take the Day 1 lead with 17.16 pounds.  The team from a junior college in Tishomingo, OK put together a pattern that has them atop the field that features 21 of the Top 25 ranked schools in the nation.  Miller & Lankford hold a close to half pound lead over 2nd place.

Sitting in 2nd place are Drake Hemby and Andrew Turner from number one ranked Carson-Newman University.  The anglers brought in 16.67 pounds of Lake Dardanelle bass.  That quality limit has them well within striking distance entering the final day of tournament competition, as well as in position to earn their team valuable points towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

Rounding out the Top 3 is a two angler duo from 3rd ranked LSU-Shreveport.  Bryant Martin & Tripp Bowman weighed in 16.47 pounds.  That limit of fish has them less than a pound and a half behind the leaders.  

For complete Day 1 results click here.

Over 262 teams competed on Day 1 of tournament competition at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open.  Teams found a great deal of success out on Lake Dardanelle.  Anglers reported catching bass on a variety of tactics in a multitude of different areas.  Quality limits were aplenty, as the Top 3 are all separated by less than a pound, and 1st through 13th are within two pounds of each other.  Teams will have the opportunity to make a big jump up the leaderboard if they can manage to bring in a quality weight on Day 2.

The AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open is the second ACA double points event of the season to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.  As mentioned before, 21 of the Top 25 ranked teams are on-hand competing at Lake Dardanelle this weekend.  Several of the top ranked teams are represented in the Top 10 of the Day 1 tournament standings.  Top ranked Carson-Newman has a team in 2nd, 3rd ranked LSU-Shreveport’s highest-placing team is in 3rd, and 7th ranked University of Montevallo has three teams in the Top 10. Number one ranked McKendree University has one team in the Top 10, along with both UNA and Campbellsville being represented as well.

Day 2 of the tournament will be key in defining which teams have success at this major double points tournament.  Schools that are able to earn over 3,000 points this weekend will have a great shot at making big moves in the race for the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

Live coverage for Day 2 of tournament competition will start early tomorrow morning with the live blog on the ACA website.  Starting around 1:00 PM tomorrow afternoon, live weigh-in will be streamed here.  Also, be sure to follow along with all of the ACA social media channels for additional coverage.