Bethel University Claims Day 1 Big Bass Lead
Murray State and University of Tennessee Martin Trail Closely Behind
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Early mornings are part of fishing, and Day 1 of the Cabela’s Collegiate Big Bass Bash Presented by Berkley meant a very early morning for the 436 collegiate anglers who launched at the Paris Landing State Park for the start of the event. Once anglers were released to start the day on Kentucky Lake, it didn’t take long for many boats to make the journey back to the launch for the first of four weigh-ins. Several six plus pound bass were weighed during each of the first two sessions, however, the third session truly kicked the competition into high gear as Kentucky Lake began to show off.
KJ Queen of Bethel University idled into Paris Landing for the Session 3 weigh-in which was presented by Cabela’s knowing that he was about to shake up the leaderboard with the 7.52lb bass swimming in his livewell. With a bass weighing more than a pound over the previous leader, he set the bar high for the rest of the event. Queen was confident, but knew that when over 430 anglers are on a body of water of such high caliber, that nothing is guaranteed, especially in the Big Bass format.
“It was very tough and slow fishing as we expected,” said Queen, “but I think the changing conditions actually helped our bite overall. We fished the south end of the lake primarily, which was about a fifteen minute run from the boat launch.”
As many anglers found success on shallow, rocky banks throwing something moving like a crankbait or a rattle trap, Queen found his best success dragging a three quarter ounce jig on the steep main creek banks.
For his first place finish in Session three, Queen won a $1,000 Cabela’s Gift Card; however, Queen also found success dragging a jig more as he has was able to place in another session with another bass weighing in at 5.27lb bass. If the Bethel University Sophomore is able to hold on to his lead, then Queen will also be able to win a Gill IN6 Rainsuit Jacket, an additional $1,000 Cabela’s Gift Card, a Mustang PFD, a HydroWave H2, one Pair of Costa Sunglasses, and a $100 Ranger Wear Gift Card.
Lancaster Cleans House in Second Overall Big Bass
Winning the Day 1 Session 4 Presented by Garmin, Murray State’s Ryan Lancaster brought a 6.71lb bass to the scales that earned him a Garmin EchoMap Chirp 93sv, Valued at $1199 plus a $200 Cabela’s Gift Card.
“It was cloudy all day so we ran south to find water clarity that was the best we could find, which was around six to twelve inches,” said Lancaster. “Initially the conditions really had an impact on our day as we had planned to throw A-rigs, but once we saw the water clarity we picked up a spinnerbait and went to work.”
Kentucky Lake is over 180 miles long so anglers have a few options to fish some different locations to say the least.
“We caught a majority of our fish between Paris and Danville, but we ran all the way to New Johnsonville,” Lancaster said. “We searched for laydowns most of the day and were able to get quite a few fish off of them with a white and chartreuse spinnerbait in less than five feet of water.”
Lancaster added that he was very pleased with the teams’ performance as Murray State had many schools weigh in fish over five pounds and that he looks forward to catching more tomorrow.
Fuller Takes Third
Dylan Fuller of the University of Tennessee-Martin was also able to find success in Day 1 Session 4 Presented by Garmin as he weighed in a 6.56lb bass that earned him a Garmin Epix watch valued at $550, plus a $100 Cabela’s Gift Card.
It was tough for us today,” said Fuller. “We went shallow looking for some big female prespawners. We focused on throwing rattle traps in the dingy water.”
Fuller and his partner also made the long run to New Johnsonville and were able to boat six fish throughout the day. Though the quantity might not have been there, the quality bites did come, on a red rattle trap.
The remaining top ten overall Big Bass leaders are as follows:
4. Sam Carris, Tennessee Tech – 6.50
5. Bentley Manning, Tennessee Tech – 6.43
6. Cody Huff, Bethel University – 6.36
7. Logan Smith, Mississippi State University – 6.35
8. Mike Corbishley, Eastern Carolina University – 6.32
9. Curtis Lilly, McKendree University – 6.24
10. Gavyn Bridges, University of Tennessee – Chattanooga – 6.11
10. Jacob Hall, Austin Peay State University – 6.11
Be sure to check out the From the Water Live Blog for the complete Session Results and for live updates throughout the day!
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From the Water Live Blog
