BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (Feb. 12, 2017) – The Bethel University team of Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio, and Carter McNeil of Abbeville, South Carolina, won the College Fishing tournament on Lake Seminole Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 28 pounds, 1 ounce – the third-largest five-bass limit ever weighed in the 10-year history of FLW College Fishing. The victory earned the Wildcats bass club $3,250 and a spot in the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“Carter and I have fished quite a few events together, and we’ve had a couple of second place finishes, but it feels great to finally earn a win,” said Floyd, a junior majoring in business management. “We were targeting hydrilla in the deep ditches and we had a milk run of six different areas that we fished throughout the day.
“Our worst spot in practice actually turned out to be the best spot during the tournament,” Floyd continued. “It was a long ditch, with two lanes that the fish were using as a highway as they were coming in to spawn. We caught around 30 fish, and all of our limit that we weighed in on stage came out of there. We probably caught three 20-pound limits throughout the day, and we were throwing back 4½-pounders.”
“We were throwing Strike King Red Eye Shads – I was throwing a craw-colored and Cole was throwing a bone white-colored,” said McNeil, also a junior majoring in business management. “The area had a high population of fish and we’d make long casts and reel it back, then stop and let it sink. Most of the bites came on the fall.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2019 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Bethel University – Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio, and Carter McNeil, Abbeville, S.C., five bass, 28-1, $3,250
2nd: Bethel University – Kyler Chelminiak, McKenzie, Tenn., and Ricky Harris, Berea, Ky., five bass, 21-6, $1,410
3rd: Kennesaw State University – Payton Morgan and Dexter Gordy, both of Woodstock, Ga., five bass, 19-11, $500
4th: Daytona State College – Tyler Woolcott, and Devin Dellacava, both of Port Orange, Fla., four bass, 19-11, $700
5th: University of North Alabama – Triston Crowder, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and Lake Blasingame, Killen, Ala., five bass, 19-1, $500
6th: Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College – Benjamin Chandler, Fort Gaines, Ga., and Richard Jordan, Concord, Ga., five bass, 18-2
7th: University of Alabama – Caiden Sinclair and Hunter Gibson, both of Hoover, Ala., five bass, 18-1
8th: Mississippi State University – Tucker Adams, Smithdale, Miss., and Cody Peak, Centreville, Miss., five bass, 17-11
9th: Bethel University – Brad Ableman, McKenzie, Tenn., and Kristopher Queen, Catawba, N.C., five bass, 17-3
10th: Calhoun Community College – Christopher Lupo, Huntsville, Ala., and Bradley Lynn, Athens, Ala., five bass, 17-1