YOUNG HARRIS, Ga — On Day 1 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship, Eastern Washington University’s Nick Barr and Jarred Walker put together an astonishing five-fish limit that left locals scratching their heads as to how out-of-towners — they’re geographically the farthest team from Lake Chatuge — could amass a 19 pound, 4 ounce five-fish limit.
For Barr and Walker, however, the day in Georgia might as well have been a day on their home lake, Potholes Reservoir.
“Being from Washington state, Chatuge lays out a lot like my home lake does. It plays a lot to our strengths — finesse fishing,” Barr, a senior, said. “I heard that the lake was clear, but when I looked, I could only see 4 feet deep, and that’s dingy for Washington. We can see 20 feet usually. But still, this is the closest thing you guys have got on the East Coast that’s like home.”
Barr, who has served as a smallmouth guide in Washington for the past three years, said the biggest factor in their success today was patience.
“A lot of guys were fishing too fast. Even though they were throwing a drop shot or something, they’d flip it out, then reel it back up a few seconds later. That’s too fast,” he said. “We caught fish in areas where we shared water with other guys by working super slow.”
“It’s a soft plastic, so the less you move that bait, the more natural it’s going to look,” Walker added.
Though they fished slowly, they hurriedly rotated among several spots they had located in practice.
“We didn’t have time to come down here and plant brushpiles like some guys did or Side Image (study through their electronics) the whole lake, we had to get here and get to it right away, so we got here and got to work, and it’s paying off so far,” Barr said.
Barr and Walker are currently enjoying a 5 pound, 10 ounce lead over the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s Nick LaDart and Brian Eaton, who sit in second with 13-14.
“Me and Nick are in unfamiliar territory,” Eaton said. “This is the first time I’ve ever fished a drop shot rig in my life. It’s the same for him. I’m not used to fishing with 8-pound-test line, so this is way different than Louisiana.
“We spent the whole practice graphing brushpiles and found a bunch we liked and would hit ’em, and if they were there in three or four casts, great. If not, we moved on. I guess since we’ve never fished like this before a little bit of luck helped, too.”
In third are local favorites, Young Harris’ Brad Rutherford and Matthew Peeler. The duo is more familiar with Chatuge than any other team and refuse to let a 6-plus-pound deficit sway their courage.
“It’s not good out there right now by any means, so you’ve got to slow down and stay persistent. The big ones are there, and the ticket to catching them is to stay cool, calm and patient the whole day, and you can slowly upgrade to a good bag,” 22-year-old Peeler said. “We’re not worried at all right now. We’re right where we want to be.
“You absolutely cannot win a tournament on the first day, but you can definitely lose one. Our goal was to go out there and do what we do, and we’re in a good position right now. It was a good feeling to get out there and execute, especially since there’s a big ‘X’ on our back. We’ve just got to keep it up and see what happens.”
Rounding out the Top 5 are, in fourth, Alex Pisarski and Justin Gangel of Cal State Long Beach with 13-6; and in fifth, Jordan Lee and Shane Powell of Auburn University.
Carhartt Big Bass of Day 1 goes to Florida State University’s Cody Spears and Charles Fee, who caught a 5-15.
TV coverage of the Championship will air in August on ESPNU in two parts. The first will be Sunday, Aug. 11, noon to 1 p.m. ET. The second part will air Sunday, Aug. 18 in the same time slot. They will be preceded by an Aug. 4 show from noon to 1 p.m. ET that recaps how the anglers qualified for the Championship through the five Regional Conference events.
Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship
8/1/2013 - 8/3/2013
Chatuge Reservoir - The Ridges Marina - Young Harris, GA
STANDINGS DAY 1
Today's Activity Accumulative
Name # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz
1 Nick Barr - Jarred Walker Eastern Washington University 5 5 19- 4 5 5 19- 4
2 Nick LaDart - Brian Eaton La Monroe 5 4 13-14 5 4 13-14
3 Brad Rutherford - Matthew Peeler Young Harris College 5 5 13-11 5 5 13-11
4 Alex Pisarski - Justin Gangel Cal State Long Beach 5 5 13- 6 5 5 13- 6
5 Jordan Lee - Shane Powell Auburn University 5 5 13- 5 5 5 13- 5
6 Seth Hausman - Weston Brierley Utah Valley University 5 5 13- 0 5 5 13- 0
7 Byron Kenney - Brian Rosso University of Georgia 5 5 12-12 5 5 12-12
7 Andrew Nutt - Zachary Wiggers University of North Alabama 5 5 12-12 5 5 12-12
7 Logan Shaddix - Ethan Flack Wallace State CC Hanceville 5 5 12-12 5 5 12-12
10 Matt Lee - Chris Seals Auburn University 5 5 12- 2 5 5 12- 2
11 Tanner Parker - Trent Palmer Georgia Southern University 5 4 11-14 5 4 11-14
12 Zach Parker - Matt Roberts Bethel University 5 5 11-13 5 5 11-13
13 Sam Starr - Alex Fulkerson Kansas State University 5 5 11-12 5 5 11-12
14 Cody Griffey - Joe Wilkerson Christopher Newport University 5 4 11-12 5 4 11-12
15 Jacob Hardy - Jake Lawrence Bethel University 5 5 11- 8 5 5 11- 8
16 Nicholas DiCamillo - Jesse Wilkinson New Mexico State University 5 4 10-10 5 4 10-10
17 Jacob Nummy - Tom Frink AUM 5 5 10- 4 5 5 10- 4
18 Andrew Loberg - Brandon Walker Chico State 5 5 9-15 5 5 9-15
19 Jody White - Sean Snow Virginia Tech 5 5 9-12 5 5 9-12
20 Jackson Grabeel - Joseph Reilly Western Illinois University 5 5 9-10 5 5 9-10
21 Carson Rejzer - Chris Carwile Virginia Tech 5 5 9- 6 5 5 9- 6
22 Cody Ross - Dewey Swims Bethel University 5 2 9- 6 5 2 9- 6
23 Cody Spears - Charles Fee FSU 3 3 9- 5 3 3 9- 5
24 Blake Deron - Brett Preuett La Monroe 5 5 9- 4 5 5 9- 4
24 Dawson Lenz - Evan Horne University of North Alabama 5 5 9- 4 5 5 9- 4
26 Justin Atkins - Lowell Gann Mississippi State University 5 5 9- 3 5 5 9- 3
27 Colt Farris - Hunter Randolph Tarleton State University 5 5 9- 1 5 5 9- 1
28 Justin Darley - Casey O'Donnell UCF 5 5 8-14 5 5 8-14
29 Shane Lehew - Eric Self UNC Charlotte 5 5 8-12 5 5 8-12
30 Zachary Blalock - Kyle Albers East Carolina 5 5 8-11 5 5 8-11
30 Zach MacDonald - Ryan Sparks Oregon State University 5 5 8-11 5 5 8-11
32 Tanner Cooper - Memo Nunez New Mexico State University 5 5 8- 9 5 5 8- 9
33 Bo Harkins - Michael Braswell Chico State 4 4 8- 9 4 4 8- 9
34 Drew Long - Cody Garrison Mississippi State University 5 5 8- 6 5 5 8- 6
35 William Shipes - Alan Horwatt Clemson University 5 5 8- 5 5 5 8- 5
36 Nick Carter - Leo Dedering UW - Stevens Point 5 5 8- 3 5 5 8- 3
37 Ben Zuk - Ethan Dhuyvetter Kansas State University 4 4 8- 3 4 4 8- 3
38 Cody Hahner - Stephen Maliborski UW - Stevens Point 4 4 7-14 4 4 7-14
39 Kyle Raymer - John Smith Eastern Kentucky University 4 4 7-10 4 4 7-10
40 Mike Huff - Nick Huff Georgetown College 4 4 7- 0 4 4 7- 0
41 Toney Lewis - Scott Sullivan Central Missouri 4 4 6-13 4 4 6-13
42 Justin Graben - Vincent Campisano Murray State 5 5 6-11 5 5 6-11
43 Kenny Johnson - Brandon Larry University of West Georgia 3 3 6- 9 3 3 6- 9
44 Ronnie Moore - TJ Chafatelli East Carolina 3 3 6- 8 3 3 6- 8
45 Paul Muzljakovich - Landon Dixon University of Oklahoma 3 3 5-15 3 3 5-15
46 Coleman Crook - Joel Gray Texas Tech 4 4 5-12 4 4 5-12
47 Nathan Cathcart - Jake Jacobs Arkansas Tech University 2 2 5-12 2 2 5-12
48 Luis Manuel Navarro Arizpe - Mario Patino Ruz Monterrey Institute of Technology 3 3 5- 7 3 3 5- 7
49 Thomas Oltorik III - Scott Heaberlin Daytona State College 3 3 5- 5 3 3 5- 5
50 Travis Wilson - Brian Lafferty Western Illinois University 3 3 4-11 3 3 4-11
51 Kyle Price - Jeremy Bedford New Mexico State University 2 2 4- 1 2 2 4- 1
52 Marshall Sandretto - Eric Logisz Milwaukee School of Engineering 3 2 4- 0 3 2 4- 0
53 Tyler Faggart - Tyler Mayhew NC State 2 2 3-14 2 2 3-14
54 Joseph Fuller - Joe Handley University of Montevallo 2 1 3-11 2 1 3-11
55 Kyle Gates - Daniel Butler St Ambrose University 1 1 3- 7 1 1 3- 7
56 Cody Garrett - Colton Cavazos Texas A&M - Kingsville 1 0 3- 3 1 0 3- 3
57 John Zeolla - Kyle Greenlaw Cal Poly State University 2 2 2-14 2 2 2-14
58 Benjamin Freeman - Dillon McGee Bethel University 2 2 2-13 2 2 2-13
59 John Hunter - Vincent Timperio Georgetown College 2 2 2- 9 2 2 2- 9
60 Nathan Martin - Robb Young University of North Alabama 1 1 1-12 1 1 1-12
61 Sean Gillenwater - Josh Collier Indiana University 1 1 1- 9 1 1 1- 9
62 Kevin Lucas - Neal Combs Seminole State College 1 0 1- 0 1 0 1- 0
63 Myles Palmer - Dalton Wilson Bethel University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
63 Jesse Scarafiotti - Tyler Scarafiotti New Mexico State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
BIG BASSTOTALS
Day Name City,State Lbs-OzDay # Fish # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
1 Cody Spears Tallahassee, FL 5-151 246 235 512- 8 35
2 0 0 0- 0 0