SENECA, S.C. (March 17, 2016) – The Dallas Baptist University team of Zackery Hines of Clyde, Texas, and Reed Foster of Combine, Texas, took the early lead after day one of the FLW College Fishing National Championship on Lake Keowee College Cup Thursday. The Patriots duo weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 3 ounces and will begin day two with a slim 6-ounce lead over the second place team from Texas A&M University.
The three-day tournament features 54 of the top college bass fishing clubs from across the nation competing for a top award of a Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower outboard engine and entry into the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.
“We knew that we had a decent limit today, but we really didn’t think that we were going to be leading after day one,” said Hines, a senior majoring in Marketing. “This is a great feeling, but also very nerve wracking.”
The Dallas Baptist duo said that started the day targeting bass on docks and points from 10- to 20-feet deep. They caught an estimated 25 to 30 spotted bass before moving to shallow water to target the bigger largemouth bass that were moving onto beds.
“We had found a couple of bedding fish in our practice period, so we marked the waypoints and planned to target them during the tournament,” Hines said. “We picked off two today and saved a few for tomorrow. In a three-day event it becomes very important to manage your fish, so that’s what we are trying to do.”
“We’ve been looking forward to this tournament for a long time,” said Foster, a junior majoring in Nursing. “We were on the water as early as we could be for practice and drove from the lower end of the lake to the upper end, just graphing with our electronics and looking for fish. It paid off for us today.”
The Patriots bass club was tight-lipped about their bait selection, not wanting to divulge any tips in the multi-day event, but did hint that they were catching their spotted bass on moving baits and their bedding fish by flipping soft plastics.
“I think tomorrow the key is going to be patience,” Foster went on to say. “We’re going to do the same thing we did today – put an early limit in the boat and then go shallow to try and coax the big girls to bite.”
The top 10 teams on Lake Keowee after day one are:
1st: Dallas Baptist University – Zackery Hines, Clyde, Texas, and Reed Foster, Combine, Texas, five bass, 15-3
2nd: Texas A&M University – Josh Bensema, Willis, Texas, and Matthew McArdle, Crosby, Texas, five bass, 14-13
3rd: Bethel University – Kristopher Queen, Catawba, N.C., five bass, 14-10
4th: Adrian College – Jarrett Martin, Gallipolis, Ohio, and Jacob Bayer, Westfield, Mich., five bass, 14-9
5th: Pennsylvania State University – Matt Bakewell, Brownsville, Pa., and Tyler Smith, Pine Grove, Pa., five bass, 14-7
6th: Adrian College – Jeff Morton, Troy, Mich., and Nickolas Marsh, Commerce Township, Mich., five bass, 14-3
7th: Colorado Mesa University – Josh Worth, Grand Junction, Colo., and Kennedy Kinkade, Alpine, Utah., five bass, 13-13
8th: Tarleton State University – Jacob Beyer and Dakota Ebare, both of Stephenville, Texas, five bass, 13-1
9th: Georgia Highlands College – Jake Akin, Power Springs, Ga., and Eric Fisher, Dallas, Ga., five bass, 12-13
10th: Southeastern Oklahoma State University – Dwight Camp, Talihina, Okla., and Jonathan Furlong, Bixby, Okla., five bass, 12-4
Overall there were 261 bass weighing 554 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 53 college teams Thursday. The catch included 50 five-bass limits.
The FLW College Fishing National Championship awards the top team a $30,000 prize package, including a Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower outboard engine and one entry into the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup. The Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing, will be held August 4-7 on Wheeler Lake in Huntsville, Alabama, and will offer a collegiate angler the opportunity to compete for a top award of $300,000.
For the first time ever in FLW College Fishing competition, the winning team will compete against each other Sunday day in a one-day fish-off on an undisclosed body of water. The two anglers will weigh in prior to the final weigh in of the Walmart FLW Tour event at Lake Hartwell. The team member with the largest one-day stringer will advance to the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off each day from South Cove County Park, located at 1099 S. Cove Road, in Seneca at 7:30 a.m. EST. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at South Cove County Park beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at Green Pond Landing, located at 470 Green Pond Road in Anderson, at 3:15 p.m., prior to the day 3 weigh-in of the FLW Tour event at Lake Hartwell.