LAKEPORT, Calif. (May 20, 2019) – The Chico State University duo of Carson Leber of Dixon, California, and Chad Sweitzer of Chico, California, won the College Fishing tournament on Clear Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Wildcats’ bass club $2,000 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“We ran south and fished near Rattle Snake Island, mostly rock and offshore in 12- to 20-feet-of-water,” said Sweitzer, a junior majoring in accounting. “It was a tough tournament to get bigger fish. We caught a ton of solid 2- to 3-pounders, then Carson caught a big 5½ to 6-pounder and that was the difference maker for us.”
The duo said that they caught the majority of their fish with ½-ounce brown and purple Pepper Custom Baits Football jigs with brown and purple Strike King Rage Craws.
“Near the end of the day we started throwing a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait on offshore grass and we caught around 10 keepers,” said Leber, a senior majoring in concrete industry management. “It was awesome and I wished we would have tried that a little earlier. But, our key bait throughout the day was definitely the jig.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2020 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: California State University-Chico – Carson Leber, Dixon, Calif., and Chad Sweitzer, Chico, Calif., five bass, 17-9, $2,650
2nd: New Mexico State University – Ty Faulconer, Santa Clarita, Calif., and Daylon Smith, Frazier Park, Calif., five bass, 16-11, $1,200
3rd: California State University-East Bay – Yuan Liu, Hayward, Calif., and Zane Kazaka, Clearlake, Calif., five bass, 15-4, $500
4th: Washington State University – Madden Tobeck, Eatonville Wash., and Nathan Baespflug, Sumner, Wash., five bass, 14-9, $500
5th: California Polytechnic State University – Hugh Cosculluela, The Woodlands, Texas., and Patrick Ellis, San Diego, Calif., five bass, 13-15, $500
6th: Sonoma State University – Josh Hanna, Danville, Calif., and Logan Green, Arroyo Grande, Calif., five bass, 13-11
7th: California Polytechnic State University – Wyatt Debusk, Paso Robles, Calif., and Dane Morris, Agoura Hills, Calif., five bass, 13-5
8th: California Polytechnic State University – Ryan Scarcella, Gilroy, Calif., and Sam Morita, Sebastopol, Calif., five bass, 12-8
9th: California Polytechnic State University – Hadyn Evans, Lower Lake, Calif., five bass, 12-5
10th: University of California-Merced – Kalib Caples, Sebastopol, Calif., and Herbie LeBlanc, Merced, Calif., five bass, 12-4