RICHMOND, Va. — Maurice Hudson and Sean Cummins of Penn State University took an early lead Thursday during the Bassmaster College Series Eastern Regional tournament on the James River after catching 17 pounds, 2 ounces.
The duo utilized most of their day by staying close to the takeoff site and fishing every stage of the tide. With three bass by noon, including their biggest fish, Hudson and Cummins were pleased with their start, but knew they needed to fill their five-fish limit if they wanted to take an early lead.
“We had a good first day of practice, a lot of bites, but no big ones,” Hudson said. “We got a little nervous after Wednesday’s practice, but today was better than practice. Not as many bites, but the quality was there.”
Their 17-2 weight was anchored by a 6-pound, 5-ounce James River largemouth, which was their second fish of the day. Repeating their first-day performance is a possibility with the signs they saw on the water.
“I think there are more fish where we caught them today, so we should be able to duplicate it,” Cummins said.
The Nittany Lion anglers fished numerous spots throughout the day, and although they didn’t run far to start, they did run the tide at crucial points in order to find feeding bass. And, this team is used to running tides, as they said the James River is comparable to their home water, the Chesapeake Bay. They take a 5-ounce lead over the Ramapo College team of Andrew Annuzzi and Zachary Orsino who caught a weight of 16-13.
Annuzzi and Orsino took an opposite approach Thursday as they ran to a less pressured area and bounced around key stretches. At their first stop, they were greeted with two boats close to their main spot. After boating one quick bass, they made a move to their second spot, which yielded a couple quick keepers.
“The tide isn’t really affecting the area we are targeting, so we are confident that we can catch them no matter what the tide is doing throughout the day,” Annuzzi said.
They closed the day out by catching their biggest fish, and that put them on the fast track to second place. Sitting just 1 pound, 7 ounces behind them with a weight of 15-6 is the third-place team of Josh Cannon and Alex Frazier of Western Carolina Universiry. Frazier is half of the defending eastern regional team from last year, who took the title on Lake Norman. The weights are tight on the James River as a pound and a half separates third place and 10th.
The 78-team full field fishes Friday, and the Top 20 teams will advance to the third day of competition. Daily takeoffs are at Osborne Park at 6 a.m., and Friday’s weigh-in will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at Virginia Commonwealth University at 3:30 p.m.
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1
James River - Osborne Park & Boat Landing - Richmond, VA
5/19/2016 - 5/21/2016
Bassmaster College Series Eastern Regional
Today's Activity
# Fish Lbs - Oz
Accumulative
Name # Live # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz
1 Maurice Hudson - Sean Cummins Penn State University 5 5 17- 2 5 5 17- 2
2 Andrew Annuzzi - Zachary Orsino Ramapo College 5 5 16-13 5 5 16-13
3 Josh Cannon - Alex Frazier Western Carolina University 5 5 15- 6 5 5 15- 6
4 Wesley Fox - Cody Pack UNC Charlotte 5 5 15- 0 5 5 15- 0
5 Nathan Adams - Mason Grabowski Murray State University 5 5 14-14 5 5 14-14
5 John Teare - Christopher Campo Virginia Commonwealth University 5 5 14-14 5 5 14-14
7 Jacob Miller - Kyle Waller Ohio State University 5 5 14-11 5 5 14-11
8 Jay Emmert - Logan Brewster U. of Tennessee 5 5 14-10 5 5 14-10
9 Carson Orellana - Strayer University 5 5 14- 3 5 5 14- 3
10 Matt Allen - Daniel Bray Tennessee Tech University 5 5 14- 0 5 5 14- 0
11 Blaine Atkins - Hunter Altice Patrick Henry Comm College 5 5 13-14 5 5 13-14
12 Weston Chandler - Chase Nye East Carolina University 5 5 13- 6 5 5 13- 6
13 Jacob Crowe - Zachary Tallent Western Carolina University 5 5 13- 5 5 5 13- 5
14 Jordan Wise - Chris Phinney East Carolina University 5 5 12-15 5 5 12-15
15 Chase Johnson - Eric Leifheit East Carolina University 5 5 12-13 5 5 12-13
16 Nick Schultz - Zachary McGeehan UNC Charlotte 5 5 12-11 5 5 12-11
17 Justin St Onge - Ryan McLaughlin Haywood Community College 5 5 12- 3 5 5 12- 3
18 Pete Kenny - Taylor Godsey Christopher Newport University 5 5 11-13 5 5 11-13
19 Sam Carris - Elliot Lee Tennessee Tech University 5 5 11-11 5 5 11-11
20 Seth Winslow - Galen Creekmore Christopher Newport University 5 5 11- 9 5 5 11- 9
21 Hunter Whitman - Alec Lower NC State University 5 5 11- 8 5 5 11- 8
22 Sam Glenn - Cameron Baker UNC Charlotte 5 5 11- 5 5 5 11- 5
23 Joshua Fletcher - Bryson Peed East Carolina University 5 5 11- 4 5 5 11- 4
24 Garrett Paquette - Zak Fadden Schoolcraft College 5 5 11- 2 5 5 11- 2
25 Nick White - Sean Coast The Apprentice School 5 5 10-12 5 5 10-12
26 Zachary Bodford - Alex Hinkle NC State University 5 5 10-11 5 5 10-11
27 Mark Adams - Kile Quick Virginia Tech 5 5 10- 9 5 5 10- 9
28 Tyler Dixon - Hunter Hatcher Virginia Tech 5 5 10- 7 5 5 10- 7
29 Kelly Johnson - Matt Reid Appalachian State University 5 5 10- 4 5 5 10- 4
29 Zander Monk - Kolton Hawks UNC Charlotte 5 5 10- 4 5 5 10- 4
31 Andrew Helms - Taylor Thomas UNC Charlotte 5 5 9-11 5 5 9-11
32 Josh Cook - Rob Hendrick Western Carolina University 4 4 9- 9 4 4 9- 9
33 Dylan Jackson - Erik Struder Virginia Commonwealth University 5 5 9- 7 5 5 9- 7
34 Hunter Fulcher - Andrew Day U. of Kentucky 5 5 9- 6 5 5 9- 6
35 Jason Ashe - Justin McClure Western Carolina University 5 5 9- 4 5 5 9- 4
36 Matt Pastino - Michael Manning East Carolina University 5 5 9- 3 5 5 9- 3
37 Michael Corbishley - Austin Warmus East Carolina University 4 4 9- 2 4 4 9- 2
38 Jacob Osborne - Hunter Massie West Virginia University 5 5 8-13 5 5 8-13
39 Benjamin Hager - Christohper Cordova UNC Charlotte 5 5 8-11 5 5 8-11
40 Brian Travers - Caleb Unger Liberty University 5 5 8- 8 5 5 8- 8
41 Bentley Manning - John Berry Tennessee Tech University 5 5 8- 7 5 5 8- 7
42 Tyler Woolcott - Cody Wilson Emby-Riddle Aeronoautical University 5 5 8- 5 5 5 8- 5
43 Kyle McHenry - Tyler Barnes West Virginia University 5 5 7-13 5 5 7-13
44 Skye Riggleman - Alex Williamson Liberty University 5 5 7-10 5 5 7-10
45 Bryce Owen - Greg Burchfield NC State University 5 5 7- 8 5 5 7- 8
46 Darrell Pease - Justin Anderson Virginia Commonwealth University 3 3 7- 7 3 3 7- 7
47 Tripp Norris - Spence Hutcheson NC State University 3 3 6-13 3 3 6-13
48 Jackob Leonard - Daniel Smathers Liberty University 3 3 6-12 3 3 6-12
49 Trevor Lewis - Lucas Harrison Georgetown College 3 3 6- 9 3 3 6- 9
50 Tate Clements - Gavin Draper Eastern Kentucky University 3 3 6- 2 3 3 6- 2
51 Jerris Bush - Jake Powell East Carolina University 3 3 6- 1 3 3 6- 1
51 Zachary Castano - Aaron Sollenberger UNC Charlotte 3 3 6- 1 3 3 6- 1
53 Jake Thompson - Tyler Maschal Virginia Tech 3 3 6- 0 3 3 6- 0
54 Parker Dixon - Nicholas Newberry UNC Charlotte 2 2 5-15 2 2 5-15
55 Gerald Ramsey - Kolby Kindley Haywood Community College 4 4 5- 9 4 4 5- 9
56 Mark Moran - Zach Browning Glenville State College 3 3 5- 9 3 3 5- 9
57 James Shank - Clayton Frey Penn State University 2 2 5- 7 2 2 5- 7
58 Corey Smith - Cantley Krafft Virginia Tech 3 3 5- 5 3 3 5- 5
59 Mack Hicks - Aaron Creech Alice Lloyd College 3 3 5- 2 3 3 5- 2
60 Dylan Whitmore - Gary Nix The Apprentice School 2 2 5- 1 2 2 5- 1
61 Charlie Sipe - Ethan Howell Appalachian State University 3 3 5- 0 3 3 5- 0
62 JR Little - Sam McLamb NC State University 2 2 4- 7 2 2 4- 7
63 Christian Chavez - Western Carolina University 2 2 3- 9 2 2 3- 9
64 Joe Mullins - David Maples Virginia Tech 2 2 3- 6 2 2 3- 6
65 Qiurun Chen - Johns Hopkins University 2 2 3- 4 2 2 3- 4
66 William Ray IV - Michael Resor Western Carolina University 2 2 3- 2 2 2 3- 2
67 Andre Vicari - Ryan Worth Ramapo College 2 2 2-15 2 2 2-15
68 Andrew Green - Anne Arundel Comm College 1 1 2- 7 1 1 2- 7
69 Kain Fadeley - Sid Hoover Ohio State University 1 1 1-11 1 1 1-11
70 Ryan Rainey - Austin Frazier UNC Greensboro 1 1 0-15 1 1 0-15
71 Lee Blackmon - Trey Sweeting UNC Greensboro 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
71 Matthew Combs - West Virginia University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
71 Shawn Combs - Hans Mikellsoo Georgetown College 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
71 Kevin Deley - Tommy Arena West Chester University of PA 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
71 Ian Hardesty - Milton Sheesley Virginia Tech 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
71 Branden Newcome - Michael Shughart West Virginia University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
71 Elliott Roberson - William Adams Virginia Tech 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
71 RC Sutton - Andrew Davis Virginia Tech 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Name City,State Lbs-Oz
BIG BASS
Day
1 Jay Emmert - Logan BrewsterKnoxville, TN 7- 8
Day # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
TOTALS
# Fish
1 284 284 637-13 43
2 0 0 0- 0 0