LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. (Feb. 12, 2018) – The Oregon State University team of Eric Kennedy, of Woodland, California, and William Eschliman, of Eugene, Oregon, won the FLW College Fishing tournament on Lake Havasu Saturday with four bass weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Oregon State Bass Fishing Club $2,000 and a slot in the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“This is the first time either of us had ever been to the lake – the first time I’d ever been to Arizona,” said Kennedy, a senior majoring in Agriculture Management. “We only caught three fish in the two days of practice, but we stuck to what we knew and it worked out for us on Saturday.”
The duo said that they ran up the river, past Castle Rock, and caught fish on reactions baits and finesse worms on drop-shot rigs. They targeted fish that were holding on natural structure such as rock and submerged wood.
Kennedy said one of the reaction baits they used was a chartreuse-colored Strike King KVD HC Shallow Squarebill 1.5 Crankbait. When the bait bounced off the submerged logs they would get bit.
According to Eschliman, a senior majoring in Fishery and Wildlife Science, the finesse worms they used were from their sponsor Western Fishing Operations. Because of the water clarity, the team focused on bright colors like neon shad and morning dawn, tipped with a chartreuse tail.
“We didn’t think we were going to win. We thought we only had around 7 pounds,” said Eschliman. “Our fish ended up weighing more than we anticipated.”
The top 10 teams from Lake Havasu that advanced to the 2019 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Oregon State University – Eric Kennedy, Woodland, Calif., and William Eschliman, Eugene, Ore., four bass, 9-9, $2,000
2nd: California Polytechnic State University – Sam Morita and Aren Abrahamian, both of Sebastopol, Calif., three bass, 8-12, $1,000
3rd: California State University-Chico – Chad Sweitzer, Chico, Calif., and Tyler Firebaugh, Danville, Calif., three bass, 7-0, $900
4th: New Mexico State University – Ty Faulconer, Las Cruces, N.M., and Daylon Smith, Frazier Park, Calif., two bass, 6-3, $500
5th: Northern Arizona University – Levi Wittrock and Gunnar Stanton, both of Boulder City, Nev., three bass, 6-1, $700
6th: Grand Canyon University – Joseph Dwyer, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Tommy Sendek, Tucson, Ariz., two bass, 5-11
7th: Northern Arizona University – Jake Hartzler, Flagstaff, Ariz., and Jonah Simminger, Tempe, Ariz., one bass, 4-14
8th: California Polytechnic State University – Clayton Lauchland, Lodi, Calif., and Christopher Leclair, Saugas, Calif., one bass, 3-10
9th: Arizona State University – Adam White, Paradise Valley, Ariz., and Logan Mueller, Gilbert, Ariz., two bass, 3-3
10th: California Polytechnic State University – Alec Pitts, Santa Rosa, Calif., and Hugh Cosculluela, The Woodlands, Texas, one bass, 2-15