COLUMBIA, S.C. (April 16, 2015) – The Liberty University team of Travis Rulle of Denver, North Carolina, and Caleb Eppler of Sachse, Texas, took the lead after day one of 2015 FLW College Fishing National Championship Thursday with five bass weighing 22 pounds, 2 ounces. The Flames duo will begin day two with a 3-pound, 3-ounce lead in the three-day tournament on Lake Murray that features 45 of the top college bass fishing clubs from across the nation competing for a top award of a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower outboard and entry into the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup.
“We did a good job working as a team,” said Travis Rulle, a junior majoring in Business Management and Finance. “We both caught a lot of fish but I was fortunate enough to catch the big one.
“We came into this event with a good game plan and a lot of preparation, we just hope it comes to fruition.”
The kicker fish that Rulle spoke of weighed in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces and allowed the team to cull for about 4 pounds. The early bite was key for them – they had a limit by 8:30 a.m. and it was about 9:00 a.m. when they caught the anchor for their sack.
“I wasn’t just holding the net,” said Caleb Eppler, a graduated senior in Exercise Science. “Travis just smoked me on the big one. We really didn’t think the bite would be on today with this cold front that rolled in, but everyone was catching fish, not just us. The weather is probably going to be our biggest challenge at this point but we have a plan for every condition.”
The team said they were running a couple of patterns that mainly consisted of fishing shallow. All of the fish came in 3 to 10 feet of water. Not wanting to give-up too many specifics they indicated they were fishing the main lake and a few creeks. When asked for a bait that they did not throw they replied a frog and an umbrella rig. They also added that they were probably the only team not throwing an umbrella rig.
The top 10 teams after day one on Lake Murray are:
1st: Liberty University – Travis Rulle, Denver, N.C., and Caleb Eppler, Sachse, Texas (five bass, 22-2)
2nd: Eastern Kentucky University – Kyle Raymer, Brandenburg, Ky., and Ethan Snyder, Vine Grove, Ky. (five bass, 18-15)
3rd: Colorado Mesa University – Kennedy Kinkade and Josh Worth, both of Grand Junction, Colo. (five bass, 18-10)
4th: Winona State University – Wyatt Stout, Winona, Minn., and Cade Laufenberg, Stoddard, Wis. (five bass, 17-8)
5th: Auburn University – Ben Curry, Hayden, Ala., and Timmy Ward, Sylacauga, Ala. (five bass, 17-8)
6th: University of South Carolina – Patrick Walters, Summerville, S.C., and Gettys Brannon, Columbia, S.C. (five bass, 17-6)
7th: University of Louisiana-Monroe – Blake Alford and Tyler Stewart, both West Monroe, La. (five bass, 17-4)
8th: Lamar University – Quinton Evans, Orange, Texas, and Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas (five bass, 17-2)
9th: Tennessee Technological University – Matt Allen, Bloomington Springs, Tenn., and Zach Youngblood,, Silver Point, Tenn. (five bass, 16-11)
10th: Lamar University – Cameron Lafleur, Orangefield, Texas and Justin Royal, Vidor, Texas (five bass, 16-8)
Overall there were 198 bass weighing 542 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 45 college teams Thursday. The catch included 34 five-bass limits.