Price & Ruckman from Top Ranked Carson-Newman Take Day 1 Lead at the Hartwell Slam
Brayden Nichols & William Tew from 8th ranked LSU-Shreveport are in 2nd, and Dalton Mollenkopf & Derek Rodriguez from 14th ranked Adrian College are in 3rd
ANDERSON, SC (April 13, 2024) – Saturday marked Day 1 of tournament competition at the first Association of Collegiate Anglers event of 2024 on the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series. 220 of the top collegiate fishing teams, including 23 of the Top 25 ranked programs in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, took to Lake Hartwell in search of the best five bass they could catch. Cason Price & Brayden Ruckman from number one ranked Carson-Newman stake claim to the Day 1 lead with a five bass limit weighing 19.56 pounds. Brayden Nichols & William Tew from 8th ranked LSU-Shreveport are in 2nd with 18.87 pounds, and Dalton Mollenkopf & Derek Rodriguez from 14th ranked Adrian College are in 3rd with 18.61 pounds.
View the complete tournament standings.
Carson-Newman entered the Hartwell Slam ranked number one in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Following the first day of competition at Lake Hartwell, the top ranked school in the National Rankings occupies 1st place in the Hartwell Slam. Cason Price & Brayden Ruckman weighed in 19.56 pounds on Day 1. The duo leads 2nd place by more than half a pound.
Carson-Newman’s next highest-placing team is currently in 18th. With the opportunity to capitalize on double points at this ACA event, two high finishes have the potential to yield approximately 3,000 points in total at the Hartwell Slam.
As it pertains to the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, teams ranked in the Top 25 had strong showings on Day 1 of tournament competition. 1st through 29th in the Day 1 standings are from school bass fishing clubs/teams that are ranked in the Top 25. With this being the final ACA double points event of the 2023-24 season before the triple points Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, teams are vying for valuable points that could define their success as the top ranked team, or also finish the season ranked in the coveted Top 25.
Day 1 of tournament competition presented anglers with warming temperatures, minimal clouds, and breezy winds.Lake Hartwell showed out in a major way, as 99% of the field weighed in fish, bringing a total of over 1,000 bass to the scales. Anglers reported catching bass on a variety of presentations, including sight fishing for spawning bass.
Conditions on Day 2 are going to set up very similar to the way they did today. This means that anglers should be able to go out and duplicate the patterns they had success with on the first day of competition.
Live coverage on Day 2 will begin bright and early with the live blog, and weigh-in will be streamed live starting at 1:30 PM.
The ACA would like to thank Visit Anderson and the staff at Green Pond Landing for their continued support this week, helping to make the event run smoothly and providing a great facility!
