WABASHA, Minn. (July 22, 2019) – The Purdue University Fort Wayne duo of Connor Landis of Edgerton, Ohio, and Blake Spurgeon of Fort Wayne, Indiana, won the College Fishing tournament on the Mississippi River Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Mastadon’s bass club $2,000 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“Last year I had fished here with a different partner and we tied for sixth place, so I was excited to get up here again and I thought that we could earn another top-10 finish – I never thought we were going to win,” said Spurgeon, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering technology. “We weren’t catching huge fish during our practice, but on Friday the weather changed and the giants came out to eat.”
“We found them in heavy current, on current breaks like laydowns and overhanging trees,” said Landis, a junior majoring in business management. “We caught around 8 keepers throughout the day on Texas-rigged creature baits and tubes.”
Fishing the strong current, the Mastadon club relied on heavy ½- and ¾-ounce tungsten weights. They mentioned Berkley Pit Boss and a Missile Baits D-Bombs as being their key baits, but Landis also added a few fish on a tube. Their weigh-in limit consisted of four smallmouth and one largemouth.
“The key was just slowing down and remaining patient,” Spurgeon went on to say. “We lost a couple on their way to the boat, and we missed a few when we set the hook. We just remained calm and patient and our persistence really paid off.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2020 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Purdue University Fort Wayne – Connor Landis, Edgerton, Ohio, and Blake Spurgeon, Fort Wayne, Ind., five bass, 17-9, $2,000
2nd: St. Cloud State University – Mitchell Evans, Albert Lea, Minn., and Aidan Hansen, St. Cloud, Minn., five bass, 16-7, $1,000
3rd: North Dakota State University – Matt Stearns, Scandia, Minn., and Charles McGivern, Rosemount, Minn., five bass, 16-6, $500
4th: Murray State University – Hunter McKinley, Murray, Ky., and Brendan Bingham, Louisville, Ky., five bass, 16-6, $500
5th: University of Wisconsin – Jack Risch, Nashotah, Wis., and Matthew Mikolajczak, Lakeville, Minn., five bass, 16-5, $900
6th: Murray State University – Jordan Hartman, Murray, Ky., and Will Gentry, Utica, Ky., five bass, 16-4, $450
7th: University of Wisconsin – Sam Medo, Stevens Point, Wis., and Colin Steck, Waunakee, Wis., five bass, 15-10
8th: Northwest Missouri State University – Logan Newlin and Jacob Cacek, both of Maryville, Mo., five bass, 15-3
9th: Winona State University – Colton Haney and Chase Pomeroy, both of Winona, Minn., five bass, 15-2
10th: University of Evansville – Noah Whalen and Blake Knies, both of Jasper, Ind., five bass, 15-2