LUFKIN, Texas — Travis McGuire and Layne Bynum of Texas Tech University brought a huge limit of five bass weighing 28 pounds, 10 ounces to the scales today and jumped into the lead of the Bassmaster College Series Central Regional tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The Texas Tech anglers cashed in with a major bounce-back effort after struggling on Thursday. The teammates only managed 12-14 on the first day, but they stuck with their instincts and probed a deep-water spot for the biggest catch of the event so far.
McGuire and Bynum utilized a 10-2 trophy largemouth to anchor their catch, which also featured another big bass in the 8-pound range. Those two giants dwarfed the trio of 3-pounders that completed their limit, but big bites like those are crucial on a fishery like Sam Rayburn.
“We didn’t do a single thing different than on Thursday,” McGuire said. “I think the cold front that came through gave our big fish ‘lockjaw,’ but they bit today and that’s what matters.”
The pair knew they were in the right place, however, because they could see the bigger bass on their sonar screens, even though they couldn’t get them to bite the first day. The spot they’re fishing isn’t on any standard mapping system, but rather an area that McGuire found years ago fishing another tournament. This week they checked the area and after getting an 8-pound bite in practice, they knew big bass still lived there. The Red Raider teammates caught plenty of fish throughout the day, but there were evident spurts where the catching turned on.
“We caught the 10-pounder this morning and then we caught a 4-pounder,” Bynum said. “Then we went about two to three hours without a fish. We filled our limit with ‘average’ keepers and then caught the 8-pounder near the end of the day.”
The University of Louisiana-Lafayette also vaulted up the leaderboard with 26 pounds, 13 ounces on Friday and jumped from 40th place into second. With only four bass the first day, it seemed that all was lost for Lawrence Kuznik and Dakota Moore, but they scrapped their gameplan and fished deeper to charge into the runner-up position.
“We were fishing shallow in practice, and the temperature dropped 5 degrees from the end of practice to the first day of competition on Thursday,” Moore said. “I think it pushed our bass out deeper somewhere. We went to a new area at the end of Thursday and caught enough to have confidence today.”
The Ragin’ Cajun anglers caught bass throughout the day. Adjusting to the current weather conditions helped Kuznik and Moore stay in the vicinity of heavyweight bass.
Thursday's leaders Tyler Craig and Spencer Lambert of the University of Louisiana at Monroe dropped to third after posting 15-13 on Friday and only trail the leaders by 1-3. Murray State University’s Hunter Mills and Jordan Hartman caught 18 pounds and moved into fourth with 39-14. Rounding out the Top 5 was the team of TJ Tucker and Bennett Pierce of Arkansas Tech University with a two-day total of 37-13. The 115-team field at the start of the event was cut to the Top 20 teams for the final day on Saturday. Those teams will battle it out for eight more hours on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in hopes of qualifying for the Bassmaster College Series National Championship in summer. The Top 17 teams will advance to the championship.
Saturday’s Top 20 takeoff will be at 7 a.m. CT at Cassell Boykin Park, and the final weigh-in begins at 4:15 p.m. on the campus of host university Stephen F. Austin.
Bassmaster College Series Central Regional1/26/2017 - 1/28/2017Sam Rayburn Reservoir - Cassells-Boykin - Lufkin, TXSTANDINGS BOATER DAY 2 Name # Fish, # Live, Lbs – Oz, Accumulative # Fish, # Live, Lbs – Oz1 Travis McGuire - Layne Bynum Texas Tech University 5 5 28-10 10 10 41- 82 Lawrence Kuznik - Dakota Moore University of Louisiana at LaFayette 5 5 26-13 9 9 40-103 Tyler Craig - Spencer Lambert University of Louisiana at Monroe 5 5 15-13 10 10 40- 54 Hunter Mills - Jordan Hartman Murray State University 5 5 18- 0 10 10 39-145 TJ Tucker - Bennett Pierce Arkansas Tech University 5 5 18-12 10 10 37-136 Dillon Harrell - Dustin Moreno Sam Houston State University 5 5 11-10 10 10 36- 27 Brandon Simoneaux - Colby Ogden Lamar University 4 4 14-12 9 9 35-118 Colt Benedict - Reed Foster Dallas Baptist University 5 5 12- 9 10 10 35- 09 Tyler Rivet - Cameron Naquin Nicholls State University 5 5 14-10 10 10 35- 010 Corbin Davis - Michael Rollert Texas A&M University 5 5 16- 4 10 10 34-1511 Dawson Cranford - Charles Norris University of Louisiana at LaFayette 5 5 11-12 10 10 34- 812 Matthew Bowden - Barton Courtney Texas Tech University 5 5 13- 5 10 10 33-1413 John Moore - Clark Mannas Texas A&M University 5 5 15- 9 10 10 33- 914 Hunter Freeman - Thomas Soileau University of Louisiana at Monroe 5 5 17- 6 10 10 33- 515 Aaron Belgard - Logan Laprarie Northwestern State University 5 5 19- 0 10 10 32-1416 Trent Newman - Zackery Hines Dallas Baptist University 5 5 19-11 10 10 31- 917 Justin Seeton - Dakota Ebare Tarleton State University 5 5 15-11 10 10 31- 618 Philip Gottsponer - Ethan Stokes Arkansas Tech University 5 5 11- 7 10 10 30-1119 Turner Mason - Kaito Ajiro Colorado State University 5 5 17- 9 9 9 30- 620 Stetson Overton - Cason Kelley Tarleton State University 5 5 16-12 10 10 30- 621 John Jay - Grant Pietsch Texas A&M University 4 4 8-10 9 9 30- 322 Tyler Woods - Robert Tweed Stephen F Austin State University 5 5 13-10 10 10 30- 123 Stephen Thomas - Luke Potter Lamar University 5 5 18- 2 10 10 30- 024 Colby Simmons - Brandon Barber East Texas Baptist University 4 4 18- 0 9 9 29-1425 Caleb Young - Marshall White University of Texas at Tyler 5 5 16-15 10 10 29-1226 Chris Zins - Zach Holliday University of Central Oklahoma 5 5 12-12 10 10 29- 527 Cody Barchenger - Garrett Bradford Stephen F Austin State University 5 5 11-11 10 10 29- 428 Taylor Tindall - Elijah Cain LA Tech 5 5 19-11 10 10 29- 029 Alex Murray - Trent Manuel McNeese State University 5 5 11-13 10 10 28-1230 Tucker Sargent - Wyatt Young Tarleton State University 5 5 17- 0 10 10 28- 931 Josh Bensema - Bradley Fleming Texas A&M University 5 5 12-12 10 10 28- 932 Bo McGraw - Nathan White Texas A&M University 5 5 15- 9 10 10 28- 833 Garret Whitley - Clayton Godfrey Stephen F Austin State University 5 5 13- 8 10 10 27-1534 Brennan Soileau - Garrett McDonald LA Tech 5 5 16- 0 10 10 27-1435 Phillip Borel - Dustin Nash Northwestern State University 5 5 16- 2 10 10 27-1336 Josh Dugger - Jake Dugger Arkansas Tech University 5 5 10- 5 10 10 27-1037 Tyler Stewart - Nick Joiner University of Louisiana at Monroe 5 5 16-13 10 10 27- 238 Eric Hanna - Jack Minnix Oklahoma State University 5 5 11-12 10 10 27- 139 Jay Lawson - Wyatt Frankens Stephen F Austin State University 5 5 11-10 10 10 26-1440 Chad Poulsen - Jared Penton East Texas Baptist University 5 5 15- 9 10 10 26- 641 Cameron Simmons - Dexter Flick Oklahoma State University 5 5 14-11 9 9 25-1542 Dalton Warrington - Kooper Marsh Southwestern Oklahoma State University 5 11- 3 10 10 25-1443 Bates Enmeier - Brady Lobue Oklahoma State University 5 5 11-11 10 10 25-1044 Justin Cooper - Johnny Ledet Northwestern State University 5 5 13- 0 10 10 25-1045 Will Hughes - Chandler Hayes Stephen F Austin State University 5 5 12-11 10 10 25-1046 Hunter Fluitt - Maverick Jaggers UAM-CTC 5 5 10-10 10 10 25- 847 JP Kimbrough - Jared Rascoe LSU Shreveport 5 5 11-14 10 10 25- 248 Alex Torkleson - Dillon Roberts Rogers State University 5 5 8-14 10 10 24-1449 John-Michael Brattlof - Dakota Cline Stephen F Austin State University 5 5 9- 6 10 10 23-1050 Jacob Keith - Brett Clark East Texas Baptist University 5 5 10- 8 10 10 23-1051 Logan Wilson - Chance Cobb Tarleton State University 5 5 11- 6 10 10 23- 652 Ryan Wood - Nathan Wood Dallas Baptist University 3 3 7- 4 8 8 22-1353 Dakota Sparks - Levi Sharp LSU 5 5 11- 5 10 10 22-1254 Gregory Green - Trevor Fox Northwestern State University 3 3 7- 0 8 8 22- 655 Douglas Bell - Levi Harger Southern Arkansas University 3 3 7- 3 8 8 20-1256 Nicholas Cantarella - Evan Cook Texas A&M University 3 3 11- 0 8 8 20-1057 Hutton Leppert - Tanner Mizell Northwestern State University 3 3 5-13 8 8 20- 858 Kyle Pasket - Jackson Carrell Sam Houston State University 4 4 6- 7 9 9 20- 859 Adam Deakin - Levi Kirk Colorado State University 3 3 8- 1 8 8 20- 760 Collin Bode - Colby Bryant Sam Houston State University 5 5 12-14 9 9 20- 561 Chris Bradley - Andy Thurston Southwestern Oklahoma State Univers 5ity 5 10-14 10 10 20- 062 Hunter Wellan - Jacob Curtis LA Tech 5 5 9-11 10 10 19-1463 Jose Palma - Andrew Madison University of Central Oklahoma 5 5 10-13 10 10 19- 564 Jake Biram - Rhett Meyer Oklahoma State University 5 5 15- 3 7 7 18-1365 Zachariah Edwards - Zach Cantwell University of Central Oklahoma 4 4 6- 9 9 9 18-1366 Scott McClellan - Adam Forester LA Tech 2 2 4- 7 7 7 18-1167 Ryan Antee - Harrison Hopkins LSU Shreveport 5 5 9- 0 8 8 18-1168 Jed Hebert - Grant Curran University of Louisiana at LaFayette 3 3 6-13 8 8 18-1069 Warren Basinger - Dalton Baker Southern Arkansas University 5 5 8- 1 10 10 18- 470 Jordan Ogle - Ladd Owens Arkansas Tech University 1 1 3- 4 6 6 18- 171 Devin Nichols - Luke O'Neal University of Louisiana at Monroe 3 3 7- 5 7 7 17- 572 Alex Edgeman - Drew Fazzino University of Oklahoma 5 5 10-15 9 9 17- 173 Blaine Timonera - Nate Sleight University of Oklahoma 1 1 2- 6 6 6 16-1374 Nate Holman - Jay Powers Northeastern State University 4 4 7- 0 9 9 16-1275 Wayne Figg - Brady McFarland Texas A&M University 2 2 6-13 7 7 16- 676 Austin Miles - Tyler Hassler Colorado State University-Pueblo 2 2 4- 5 7 7 15-1477 Connor Whisenant - Carter Henderson Texas A&M University 5 5 11- 3 8 8 15- 978 Blake Crabb - Eagan Carnes Texas A&M Corpus Christi 5 5 12- 1 6 6 15- 079 Chandler Burgay - James Marshall Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 14-1180 Mason Beatty - Noah Batts East Texas Baptist University 5 5 12- 9 6 6 14- 581 Tanner Best - John Lange Texas Tech University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 14- 382 Drew Fleming - Joe Rainwater UAM-CTC 5 5 11-13 6 6 13-1583 Lane McCartney - Tyler Hastings Rogers State University 5 5 11- 2 6 6 13- 884 Joseph Cheek - Gavin Watts UAM-CTC 3 3 0- 0 8 8 13- 785 Nick Gill - Cole Daniel University of Central Oklahoma 2 2 4-10 5 5 12- 686 Austin Anderson - Heidi Langschied Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 11-1287 Joey Tuminello - Sebastian Smith University of Louisiana at LaFayette 2 2 4- 0 5 5 11-1188 Corbin Bogart - James Proctor Tarleton State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 11-1088 Seth Hausman - Ryan Frier Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 11-1090 Cole Perilloux - Hunter Adams LA Tech 2 2 4- 5 5 5 11-1091 Ryan Gunter - Samuel Meaders University of Arkansas 0 0 0- 0 5 5 10-1492 Hogan Beckley - Koby Dortch University of Louisiana at Monroe 0 0 0- 0 4 4 10- 893 James Hovey - David Bercier McNeese State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 10- 394 Alec Castonguay - Kyle Dragulski Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 10- 195 Austin Cleveland - Kyle Everett LA Tech 5 5 9-13 5 5 9-1396 Blaise Weimer - Josh Shapland Oklahoma State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 9- 897 Jeff Ramsey - LSU Shreveport 3 3 6- 8 4 4 8-1598 Jordan Wood - Blake Smith Lamar University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 8- 999 Daniel Sparlin - Kyle Jessie University of Arkansas 0 0 0- 0 3 3 8- 6100 Cody Finkbeiner - Jon Lucas Stephen F Austin State University 2 2 3- 7 3 3 6-13101 Drake Dunlap - Will Hewat University of Arkansas 0 0 0- 0 4 4 6-11102 Justin Diehl - Hunter Jolly Sam Houston State University 2 2 4- 4 3 3 6-11103 Robert Ramsey - Tarleton State University 0 0 0- 0 3 3 6- 3104 Justin Tatum - Blake Bauer Tarleton State University 0 0 0- 0 3 3 6- 2105 Lewis Laurent - Bryce Coleman Southeastern Louisiana University 0 0 0- 0 3 3 5-15106 Matt Glad - Brent Rome Jr LSU 0 0 0- 0 3 3 5- 6107 Matthew Anthony - Taylor Barton Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 2 2 4- 9108 Tanner Smith - Matthew Lestage McNeese State University 0 0 0- 0 2 2 4- 2109 Brandon Consalus - Wayne Carillo Tarleton State University 0 0 0- 0 2 2 3-14110 Owen Richard - Mitchell Mayard LSU 0 0 0- 0 1 1 2- 6111 Dylan Matherne - Brandon Daigle Southeastern Louisiana University 0 0 0- 0 1 1 1-11112 Cody Hahn - Case Thompson Tarleton State University 0 0 0- 0 1 1 1- 9113 Landon Darden - Steven Smith Southern Arkansas University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0113 Jonathan Ham - Gannon Graves Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0113 Hunter Kaemmerling - John Forst Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0 BIG BASSDay, Name, City, State Lbs-Oz1 Colt Benedict - Reed Foster Dallas, TX 8-142 Travis McGuire - Layne BynuLmubbock, TX 10- 2 TOTALSDay, # Fish, # Live, Lbs-Oz, # Limits1 475 475 1313- 1 792 387 387 1046- 2 63