SHREVEPORT, La. (May 31, 2018) – The University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) duo of Thomas Soileau and Hunter Freeman, both of Monroe, Louisiana, brought a five-bass limit to the stage Thursday weighing 12 pounds, 4 ounces, to extend their lead to 1-pound, 1-ounce, with one day left to fish at the FLW College Fishing National Championship tournament on the Red River. ULM’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26-11 has paced the 168-team field thus far, with Tennessee’s Tusculum College right behind them in second place with 10 bass weighing 25-10.
The field is now cut to the just the final 10 teams at the four-day event that featured 168 of the top college bass fishing teams from across the nation competing in the internationally-televised tournament for the top prize of $30,000, including a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“Today was a lot tougher, and we’re definitely going to have to make some adjustments for tomorrow,” said Freeman. “I think the difference today was the clouds and the wind. We only had six keepers. We broke off some and lost a couple, but they didn’t feel that big. It’s weird – the fish aren’t really fighting, they’re coming straight up.”
“The wind was pretty bad today and it made fishing more difficult,” Soileau said. “We were using lighter weights, so I put a heavier one on to help with the wind, but then I stopped getting bites. Sometimes we had to make the exact same cast to the same spot three or four times in a row before you would get bit.”
The Warhawk duo said that they used four different baits Thursday to catch their six keepers, specifically mentioning a crankbait and a jig. They said that they fished backwater areas in Pool No. 4, targeting stump fields and rock piles on sandy points.
“We’re looking for anywhere the shad can gang up,” Freeman said. “In practice every fish we caught was spitting up crawfish pincers. Now there are a lot more gizzard shad around and everything is relating to the shad.
“Tomorrow we’re going back and going to really bang on our third spot,” Freeman went on to say. “We still have one spot that we have saved didn’t hit today. I’m not sure that it can kick out a big one, but I think it can kick out some keepers.”
The top 10 teams on the Red River that will advance to the final day of competition are:
1st: University of Louisiana-Monroe – Thomas Soileau and Hunter Freeman, both of Monroe, La., 10 bass, 26-11
2nd: Tusculum College – Nick Hatfield, Chuckey, Tenn., and Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-10
3rd: Bethel University – Cody Huff, Ava, Mo., and Garrett Enders, Mifflinburg, Pa., 10 bass, 22-6
4th: University of Nebraska – Jackson Ebbers, Cambridge, Neb., and Charlie DeShazer, Fremont, Neb., 10 bass, 22-4
5th: Northwestern State University – Hunter Malmay, Zwolle, La., and Robert Jones, Minden, La., 10 bass, 22-3
6th: Adrian College – Nicholas Czajka, Brighton, Mich., and Jack Hippe III, Davison, Mich., 10 bass, 22-2
7th: Murray State University – Nick Montilino, Edina, Minn., and Brock Spencer, Waynesfield, Ohio, 10 bass, 18-10
8th: University of Pittsburgh – Michael Dunn and Henry Colberg, both of Pittsburgh, Pa., nine bass, 18-10
9th: Adrian College – Cody Batterson, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, and Chase Serafin, White Lake, Mich., 10 bass, 18-10
10th: University of Missouri – Gabriel DuBois, Mason, Ohio, and Brandon Heizer, St. Louis, Mo., 10 bass, 18-9
Overall there were 357 bass weighing 576 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 124 college teams Thursday. The catch included 30 five-bass limits.