DENISON, Texas (April 9, 2018) – The Northeastern State University team of Cody Metzger of Wagoner, Oklahoma, and Blayke Haggard of Gans, Oklahoma, won the FLW College Fishing event on Lake Texoma on Sunday with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces. The victory earned the Riverhawk bass club $2,600 and a spot in the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. The duo said that they spent the day targeting smallmouth bass on main-lake points, about 5 to 8 miles away from the takeoff ramp at Highport Marina.
“We were wearing short sleeves in practice, but the temperature dropped to 32 degrees the morning of the tournament,” said Metzger, a senior majoring in criminal justice. “We knew that fishing for largemouth were going to be tough, so we decided to target the smallmouth.”
“We focused on the points where the wind was blowing the hardest, fishing the mid to southeastern areas of the lake,” said Haggard, a sophomore majoring in cellular and molecular biology. “We had five or six points that we rotated through that all looked very similar, fishing in 4 to 10 feet.”
The Riverhawk club cited citrus shad-colored Bandit 200 crankbaits and a prototype Bandit squarebill crankbait as their most productive lures. They said that they caught 10 to 12 keepers.
“I think our timing was really key,” Metzger said. “The key was finding the right spots and then sticking it out to find a couple of good bites. A couple of people were fishing next to us, but they weren’t staying long enough. It had to be at the right time.”
“We had great execution,” Haggard went on to say. “I caught a 4-pounder early, then three casts later Cody put a 3½-pounder in the boat. Those early fish clued us in that we were doing the right thing. It also helped that we didn’t lose any fish, all day.”
The top 10 teams on Lake Texoma that advanced to the 2019 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Northeastern State University – Cody Metzger, Wagoner, Okla., and Blayke Haggard, Gans, Okla., five bass, 19-4, $2,400
2nd: Louisiana Tech University – Spencer White and Greg Herman, both of Minden, La., five bass, 18-14, $1,000
3rd: Colorado State University-Pueblo – Danielle Dupont and Austin Miles, both of Pueblo, Colo., five bass, 18-6, $500
4th: University of Louisiana-Monroe – Jacob Andrews, Monroe, La., and Luke O’Neal, Madisonville, La., five bass, 18-0, $500
5th: University of Arkansas – Samuel Meaders, Fayetteville, Ark., and Kyle Jessie, Pearcy, Ark., five bass, 17-15, $500
6th: Northeastern State University – Caleb Gibson and Tyler Winn, both of Tahlequah, Okla., five bass, 17-14
7th: Southern Arkansas University – Drake Vines, El Dorado, Ark., and Reed Barham, Hope, Ark., five bass, 17-10
8th: Oklahoma State University – Rhett Meyer, Stilwell, Okla., and Jake Biram, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 17-4
9th: Tarleton State University – Hayden Pittman, Bergheim, Texas and Jarrett Robertson, Kerrville, Texas, five bass, 17-3
10th: University of Louisiana-Monroe – Hunter Freeman, Monroe, La., and Wesley Banks, Calhoun, La., five bass, 17-1