RICHMOND, Va. — Maurice Hudson and Sean Cummins of Penn State University maintain the lead Friday at the Bassmaster College Series Eastern Regional fishing tournament on the James River after landing four fish worth 11 pounds, 8 ounces.
With a two-day total of 28-10, Hudson and Cummins take a 7-ounce lead into the final day of competition. Even though the duo extended their lead, it wasn’t easy as they had many opportunities to fill their five-fish limit, but couldn’t hold on to their fifth keeper.
“We started out rough,” Hudson said. “We lost multiple fish including one that was about the size of our (6-5 big fish) from Day 1. If we can get out there and get the bites we did Friday then we should be just fine.”
It took Hudson and Cummins roughly two hours before they boated their first keeper, and they believe the shift in weather directly affected the number of bites they got. Thursday was a cloudy and windy day, while today featured high skies and bright sunshine.
“I hope that the forecasted rain and wind will put a ripple on the water,” Cummins said. “The wind should help us get bit with our moving baits.”
This week’s tournament has featured a weather change each day, and the 78-boat field has had to adapt to the changing conditions as well as the tide, which changes by an hour daily. The team of Jacob Miller and Kyle Waller of Ohio State University caught 13 pounds, 8 ounces Thursday and jumped into the second.
Today, the duo ran around on a shallow gravel bar and partially damaged their outboard. After only fishing productively for three hours on Friday they managed to bring 13-8 to the scales. Fortunately for them, Waller’s family is coming in to town and will bring his boat for them to use on Championship Saturday.
“The tide hasn’t been a factor for us this week,” Waller said. “I think we are fishing for spawning bass or bass that recently spawned, so our area is replenishing for the most part.”
They have relied on a one-two punch for the most part this week, and with the sunny skies Friday, they cashed-in with their slower presentations. With the incoming weather they expect their moving bait bite to pick up.
Carson Orellana of Strayer University is in third place and within striking range heading into the final day; a familiar spot for the solo angler. In 2015, he had a shot at the win in an Eastern regional on Lake Norman. Orellana grinded through numerous 12 to 13-inch keepers on Friday to weigh 13 pounds, 5 ounces. He has yet to catch a big fish on either tournament day, but he’s hopeful that a rainy final day will bring that big bite he needs.
“I am confident because my best day of practice was in the pouring rain,” Orellana said. “My only concern is that I’ve been fishing the same water the last few days, and I don’t know if it is replenishing or not. Maybe the incoming weather will bring some fresh fish up to the cover I’m fishing.”
After Friday’s weigh-in the field was cut to the Top 20 teams. Those teams will battle it out on Saturday at the James River for the Top 13 spots and a berth to the national championship. Takeoff will start at 6 a.m. ET at Osborne Landing and weigh-in will be on Virginia Commonwealth’s campus at 3:30 p.m. ET.
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 2
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 4 4 11- 8 9 9 28-10
2 Jacob Miller - Kyle Waller Ohio State University 5 5 13- 8 10 10 28- 3
3 Carson Orellana - Strayer University 5 5 13- 5 10 10 27- 8
4 Garrett Paquette - Zak Fadden Schoolcraft College 5 5 15- 9 10 10 26-11
5 Justin St Onge - Ryan McLaughlin Haywood Community College 5 5 13- 0 10 10 25- 3
6 Tyler Woolcott - Cody Wilson Emby-Riddle Aeronoautical University 5 5 16- 8 10 10 24-13
7 Michael Corbishley - Austin Warmus East Carolina University 5 5 15- 3 9 9 24- 5
8 Chase Johnson - Eric Leifheit East Carolina University 5 5 11- 5 10 10 24- 2
9 Weston Chandler - Chase Nye East Carolina University 3 3 10-10 8 8 24- 0
10 Matt Allen - Daniel Bray Tennessee Tech University 5 5 9-12 10 10 23-12
11 Sam Glenn - Cameron Baker UNC Charlotte 5 5 12- 7 10 10 23-12
12 Zander Monk - Kolton Hawks UNC Charlotte 5 5 13- 7 10 10 23-11
13 Hunter Whitman - Alec Lower NC State University 5 5 12- 3 10 10 23-11
14 Josh Cannon - Alex Frazier Western Carolina University 3 3 8- 3 8 8 23- 9
15 Jordan Wise - Chris Phinney East Carolina University 5 5 10- 4 10 10 23- 3
16 Zachary Castano - Aaron Sollenberger UNC Charlotte 5 5 16-14 8 8 22-15
17 John Teare - Christopher Campo Virginia Commonwealth University 3 3 7-11 8 8 22- 9
18 Pete Kenny - Taylor Godsey Christopher Newport University 5 5 10- 8 10 10 22- 5
19 Nick Schultz - Zachary McGeehan UNC Charlotte 5 5 9- 9 10 10 22- 4
20 Mark Adams - Kile Quick Virginia Tech 5 5 11- 9 10 10 22- 2
21 Seth Winslow - Galen Creekmore Christopher Newport University 5 5 10- 3 10 10 21-12
22 Josh Cook - Rob Hendrick Western Carolina University 5 5 11-15 9 9 21- 8
23 Jason Ashe - Justin McClure Western Carolina University 5 5 12- 1 10 10 21- 5
24 Sam Carris - Elliot Lee Tennessee Tech University 4 4 9- 3 9 9 20-14
25 Joshua Fletcher - Bryson Peed East Carolina University 5 5 9-10 10 10 20-14
26 Jay Emmert - Logan Brewster U. of Tennessee 3 3 5-14 8 8 20- 8
27 Blaine Atkins - Hunter Altice Patrick Henry Comm College 4 4 6- 9 9 9 20- 7
28 Mack Hicks - Aaron Creech Alice Lloyd College 5 5 15- 3 8 8 20- 5
29 Hunter Fulcher - Andrew Day U. of Kentucky 5 5 9- 2 10 10 18- 8
30 Andrew Annuzzi - Zachary Orsino Ramapo College 1 1 1-10 6 6 18- 7
31 Andrew Helms - Taylor Thomas UNC Charlotte 5 5 8-10 10 10 18- 5
32 Kelly Johnson - Matt Reid Appalachian State University 4 4 7- 5 9 9 17- 9
33 Wesley Fox - Cody Pack UNC Charlotte 1 1 1-14 6 6 16-14
34 Bryce Owen - Greg Burchfield NC State University 5 5 9- 0 10 10 16- 8
35 William Ray IV - Michael Resor Western Carolina University 5 5 13- 2 7 7 16- 4
36 Jacob Crowe - Zachary Tallent Western Carolina University 1 1 2- 8 6 6 15-13
37 Benjamin Hager - Christohper Cordova UNC Charlotte 4 4 7- 1 9 9 15-12
38 Tyler Dixon - Hunter Hatcher Virginia Tech 3 3 5- 1 8 8 15- 8
39 Dylan Jackson - Erik Struder Virginia Commonwealth University 2 2 6- 0 7 7 15- 7
40 Corey Smith - Cantley Krafft Virginia Tech 4 4 10- 0 7 7 15- 5
41 Kyle McHenry - Tyler Barnes West Virginia University 5 4 7- 8 10 9 15- 5
42 Darrell Pease - Justin Anderson Virginia Commonwealth University 4 4 7-12 7 7 15- 3
43 Nathan Adams - Mason Grabowski Murray State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 14-14
44 Trevor Lewis - Lucas Harrison Georgetown College 4 4 8- 2 7 7 14-11
45 Nick White - Sean Coast The Apprentice School 2 2 3- 4 7 7 14- 0
46 Matt Pastino - Michael Manning East Carolina University 3 3 4- 9 8 8 13-12
47 Skye Riggleman - Alex Williamson Liberty University 4 4 6- 0 9 9 13-10
48 Dylan Whitmore - Gary Nix The Apprentice School 3 3 8- 2 5 5 13- 3
49 Tripp Norris - Spence Hutcheson NC State University 3 3 6- 3 6 6 13- 0
50 Jacob Osborne - Hunter Massie West Virginia University 2 2 2-15 7 7 11-12
51 Zachary Bodford - Alex Hinkle NC State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 10-11
52 Parker Dixon - Nicholas Newberry UNC Charlotte 2 2 4- 5 4 4 10- 4
53 James Shank - Clayton Frey Penn State University 2 2 4- 3 4 4 9-10
54 Brian Travers - Caleb Unger Liberty University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 8- 8
55 Bentley Manning - John Berry Tennessee Tech University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 8- 7
56 JR Little - Sam McLamb NC State University 2 2 4- 0 4 4 8- 7
57 Jackob Leonard - Daniel Smathers Liberty University 1 1 1- 9 4 4 8- 5
58 Jerris Bush - Jake Powell East Carolina University 2 2 2- 4 5 5 8- 5
59 Mark Moran - Zach Browning Glenville State College 2 2 2- 4 5 5 7-13
60 Gerald Ramsey - Kolby Kindley Haywood Community College 1 1 2- 0 5 5 7- 9
61 Andrew Green - Anne Arundel Comm College 3 3 4-12 4 4 7- 3
62 Tate Clements - Gavin Draper Eastern Kentucky University 0 0 0- 0 3 3 6- 2
63 Jake Thompson - Tyler Maschal Virginia Tech 0 0 0- 0 3 3 6- 0
64 Charlie Sipe - Ethan Howell Appalachian State University 0 0 0- 0 3 3 5- 0
65 Kain Fadeley - Sid Hoover Ohio State University 3 3 2-14 4 4 4- 9
66 Branden Newcome - Michael Shughart West Virginia University 2 2 4- 2 2 2 4- 2
67 Christian Chavez - Western Carolina University 0 0 0- 0 2 2 3- 9
68 Joe Mullins - David Maples Virginia Tech 0 0 0- 0 2 2 3- 6
69 Qiurun Chen - Johns Hopkins University 0 0 0- 0 2 2 3- 4
70 Andre Vicari - Ryan Worth Ramapo College 0 0 0- 0 2 2 2-15
71 Ryan Rainey - Austin Frazier UNC Greensboro 1 1 1-13 2 2 2-12
72 Shawn Combs - Hans Mikellsoo Georgetown College 2 2 2- 8 2 2 2- 8
73 Lee Blackmon - Trey Sweeting UNC Greensboro 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
73 Matthew Combs - West Virginia University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
73 Kevin Deley - Tommy Arena West Chester University of PA 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
73 Ian Hardesty - Milton Sheesley Virginia Tech 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
73 Elliott Roberson - William Adams Virginia Tech 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
73 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
2 Mack Hicks - Aaron Creech London, KY 7- 5
Day # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
TOTALS
# Fish
1 284 284 637-13 43
2 222 221 495-15 26
3 0 0 0- 0 0