Photo by Kyle Jessie/B.A.S.S.
LINCOLN, Ala. — Lucas Smith and Dalton Mize patiently waited for their moments of opportunity and executed a flawless game plan to win the Strike King Bassmaster College Series Wild Card Tournament on Logan Martin Lake with a two-day total of 28 pounds, 2 ounces. After placing sixth on Day 1 with 12-13, Smith and Mize added 15-5 — the event’s second-heaviest bag, behind Day 1 leaders Jonathon Garbacz and Kevin Dunahoo of the University of North Georgia, who weighed 15-7 in the first round.
Turning in two limits of spotted bass, Smith and Mize earned a first-place prize of $1,294 and a berth in the Bassmaster College Series National Championship at South Carolina’s Winyah Bay, Sept. 2-4.
“This means the world to us because I know how many great fishermen are in this event,” Smith said. “We’ve had a lackluster year, so this is incredible.”
Mize said he and his partner knew the bite windows would come later in the day. Having faced a similar scenario on Day 1, they knew success would require tenacity and a big-picture vision.
“Both days started off really slow; yesterday we didn’t have a fish until 11 o’clock and today we had one 2-pounder at 11,” Mize said. “It was just a grind out there.”
Currently current: The winners were waiting for Alabama Power to start generating current, as the increased water flow dependably positioned bass and put them in a feeding mood. They filled the day’s earlier hours by fishing shallow cover.
“We had a few key laydowns that we would fish with 1/8-ounce shaky heads and redbug-color Zoom Trick Worms,” Mize said.
Smith said their best laydowns were positioned on the main river. The fish, he said, seemed to be holding in the cover prior to the current starting.
“We had a few offshore schools that were really close to the Lincoln area and that’s what helped us make the key culls,” Mize said. “There were a few different schools and the depth really varied. It was from 6 to 8 feet and some were deeper than 15 feet, but 15 seemed to be that key area.”
The winners caught their offshore bass on shad colored Rapala DT14 crankbaits. Smith said their 12-pound monofilament was a key element, as it allowed them to get their crankbaits down quickly.
Once the offshore bite started, Smith and Mize got their work done in short order.
“Yesterday was more of a grind than today; we didn’t have a limit until nearly weigh-in time,” Smith said. “Today we found one of those magical schools around 11:30 and caught 20 to 30 fish off of it.
“We really thought we needed a bag in the 17- to 18-pound range today. We left some fish out there yesterday to have a bag like we had today, but we didn’t think that it was possible with what we caught today.”
Second place: Tommy Sendek and Cal Culpepper of the University of Montevallo (Ala.) finished second with 26-8. A Day 1 bag of 12-14 put Sendek and Culpepper in fifth place and today they added 13-10.
“We had dialed in what brushpiles we wanted to hit today. We took into consideration it’s Saturday on the Coosa River and knew we were going to have some boat traffic,” Sendek said. “The brushpiles had to be big and fresh — recently dropped in 8 to 15 feet.
“We knew we were going to have to catch them early because that boat traffic and the wind was going to affect our bite. We got off to a good start and dialing in what brushpiles we wanted to fish made us more efficient.”
Culpepper said he and Sendek caught their fish on Texas-rigged Zoom Mag II and a 1/2-ounce Arkie jig with a big skirt and a big trailer.
“I know a lot of guys were talking about how they couldn’t get bit on those baits — and it was a tough bite; we only caught seven keepers each day,” Culpepper said. “I think what separated us was that we committed to it. We knew if we got five bites on them, they’d be a little better quality.”
Third place: Victor Alford and Logan East of Bryan College took third with 25-2. Their daily weights were 12-5 and 12-13. Running upriver, the anglers targeted current breaks and rock drop-offs and caught their fish on 5-inch Zoom Swimmers in the blueback herring color. They also fished 1/2-ounce Berkley football head jigs with Strike King Rage Craw trailers in summer craw.
“We were sitting on the backside of current and stroking a swimbait,” East said. “Sometimes we’d miss a bite and we’d stroke it a few more times and they’d take it.
“There was a 10- to 15-minute deal and we had our limit and that was it. On Day 1 we had our limit about 10 to 15 minutes after takeoff. Today, it was about 25 minutes because we had a later flight.”
2022 Strike King Bassmaster College Series Wild Card Tournament at Logan Martin Lake 6/17-6/18
(BOATER) Standings Day 2
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Lucas Smith - Dalton Mize Jacksonville State University 250
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 15-05 Total: 10 28-02
2. Tommy Sendek - Cal Culpepper University of Montevallo 249
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 13-10 Total: 10 26-08
3. Victor Alford - Logan East Bryan College 248
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 12-13 Total: 10 25-02
4. Ryan Branch - Kopeland Rosser University of Montevallo 247
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 10-10 Total: 10 24-05
5. Grayson Morris - Cade Holcomb University of Montevallo 246
Day 1: 5 11-09 Day 2: 5 12-05 Total: 10 23-14
6. Parker Greer - Andrew Shadle Baylor University 245
Day 1: 5 14-03 Day 2: 5 09-05 Total: 10 23-08
7. Hunter Keller - Wesley Smith Catawba Valley Community College 244
Day 1: 5 10-13 Day 2: 5 12-11 Total: 10 23-08
8. Andrew Vereen - Connor Cartmell Coastal Carolina University 243
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 12-10 Total: 10 23-01
9. Lane Bailey - Justin Eggers Catawba Valley Community College 242
Day 1: 5 11-05 Day 2: 5 11-07 Total: 10 22-12
10. Logan Parks - Tucker Smith Auburn University 241
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 08-09 Total: 10 22-11
11. James Willoughby - Jacob Pfundt University of Montevallo 240
Day 1: 5 10-00 Day 2: 5 12-07 Total: 10 22-07
12. Cody Griffith - Drew Jennings Auburn University 239
Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 11-05 Total: 10 22-07
13. Cy Casey - Tanner Hadden Emmanuel College 238
Day 1: 5 11-10 Day 2: 5 10-06 Total: 10 22-00
14. Colton White - Jack Alexander University Montevallo 237
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 09-04 Total: 10 20-11
15. Drew Traffanstedt - Dakendrick Patterson University of Montevallo 236
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 10-05 Total: 10 20-10
16. Vince Maffei - Andrew Ready Webber International University 235
Day 1: 5 09-10 Day 2: 5 10-15 Total: 10 20-09
17. Cole Zagrzebski - Logan Paul Western Michigan University 234
Day 1: 5 08-10 Day 2: 5 11-09 Total: 10 20-03
18. Tyler Cain - Cole Dodson University of Montevallo 233
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 09-10 Total: 10 20-01
19. James Romig - Colton Morris Florida Gateway College 232
Day 1: 5 10-13 Day 2: 5 09-01 Total: 10 19-14
20. Brody Robison - Carson Miller University of Montevallo 231
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 10-01 Total: 10 19-13
21. Cole Thompson - John Heacock University of North Alabama 230
Day 1: 5 09-06 Day 2: 5 09-13 Total: 10 19-03
22. Clent Blackwood - Bryar Chambers Wallace State Community College 229
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 4 07-07 Total: 9 19-02
23. Cole Holloway - Taylor Mcmullen Emmanuel College 228
Day 1: 2 06-04 Day 2: 5 12-08 Total: 7 18-12
24. Caleb Bridges - Jacob Davidson Bryan College 227
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 06-14 Total: 10 18-12
25. Reese Melven - Hunter Waldrop University of South Carolina 226
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 3 07-13 Total: 8 18-12
26. Clayton Primrose - Fisher Davis Etbu 225
Day 1: 5 11-05 Day 2: 4 07-00 Total: 9 18-05
27. Brady Duncan - Stevie Mills Carson-Newman University 224
Day 1: 5 10-10 Day 2: 5 07-08 Total: 10 18-02
28. Dawson Cowden - Nathan Coffman Lousiana State University- Shrev 223
Day 1: 5 08-14 Day 2: 5 09-00 Total: 10 17-14
29. Caleb Barrow - Reese Kingston Brewton Parker College 222
Day 1: 5 11-10 Day 2: 3 06-03 Total: 8 17-13
30. Hayden Marbut - Garrett Warren Auburn University 221
Day 1: 4 05-02 Day 2: 5 12-09 Total: 9 17-11
31. Cole Rankin - Storm Cline Carson-Newman University 220
Day 1: 5 06-15 Day 2: 5 10-09 Total: 10 17-08
32. Cameron Tullis - Brett Jolley East Texas Baptist University 219
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 5 08-13 Total: 10 17-02
33. Jordan Brewer - Conner Crosby Auburn University 218
Day 1: 5 07-14 Day 2: 5 09-03 Total: 10 17-01
34. Tyler Campbell - Brandon Martin Emmanuel College 217
Day 1: 4 05-10 Day 2: 5 11-06 Total: 9 17-00
35. Brenton Godwin - Hunter Odom University of Montevallo 216
Day 1: 5 09-13 Day 2: 5 07-01 Total: 10 16-14
36. Wes Kinard - Dillan Olvera Shelton State Community College 215
Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 4 07-05 Total: 9 16-14
37. Tommy Dunaway - Seth Jones Florida Gateway College 214
Day 1: 3 07-04 Day 2: 5 09-08 Total: 8 16-12
38. Jonathon Garbacz - Kevin Dunahoo University of North Georgia 213
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 1 01-03 Total: 6 16-10
39. Branden Burrill - Jaret Bailey Western Michigan University 212
Day 1: 5 08-07 Day 2: 5 08-02 Total: 10 16-09
40. Hunter Jones - Dayton Scott Columbia State Community College 211
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 4 07-13 Total: 9 16-02
41. Gabe Brown - Alex Cooke University of South Carolina 210
Day 1: 5 07-11 Day 2: 5 08-04 Total: 10 15-15
42. Spencer Black - Grant Harris Catawba Valley Community College 209
Day 1: 4 09-14 Day 2: 4 05-14 Total: 8 15-12
43. Jase Smith - Reed Rambo Georgia College and State Univer 208
Day 1: 4 05-13 Day 2: 3 09-14 Total: 7 15-11
44. Zach Williams - James Broderick Mississippi State University 207
Day 1: 5 05-14 Day 2: 5 09-07 Total: 10 15-05
45. Jack Dice - Jeramy Evans Liberty University 206
Day 1: 3 04-13 Day 2: 5 09-14 Total: 8 14-11
46. Evan Sutton - Maxwell Trotter McKendree University 205
Day 1: 4 08-04 Day 2: 4 06-07 Total: 8 14-11
47. Allen Powe - Jonathan Combs Georgetown College 204
Day 1: 5 06-13 Day 2: 5 07-08 Total: 10 14-05
48. Kaden Proffitt - Cason Ragsdale East Texas Baptist University 203
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 2 03-15 Total: 7 14-00
49. Matthew Wilson - Southern union state community c 202
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 1 02-01 Total: 6 13-15
50. Gus McLarry - Jared West Texas A and M Commerce 201
Day 1: 5 10-12 Day 2: 2 02-14 Total: 7 13-10
51. Jameson Jenkins - Cameron Loveless Texas A&M 200
Day 1: 5 07-06 Day 2: 4 06-01 Total: 9 13-07
52. Jacob Frazier - Austin Smith Carson-Newman University 199
Day 1: 5 09-01 Day 2: 3 04-04 Total: 8 13-05
53. Brayden Nichols - Ty Gentry LSU Shreveport 198
Day 1: 3 04-13 Day 2: 5 08-08 Total: 8 13-05
54. Dawson Andrews - Wyatt Ensminger Southeastern Louisiana Universit 197
Day 1: 3 07-01 Day 2: 3 05-10 Total: 6 12-11
55. Carson Palmer - Chase Hastings Carson-Newman University 196
Day 1: 5 09-11 Day 2: 2 02-15 Total: 7 12-10
56. Garrison Forrester - Preston Hatz Auburn University 195
Day 1: 4 06-01 Day 2: 5 06-06 Total: 9 12-07
57. Conner Johnson - Tyler Greenlee Georgetown College 194
Day 1: 5 09-04 Day 2: 2 03-00 Total: 7 12-04
58. Jake Kimbrough - Chandler Pruett Blue Mountain College 193
Day 1: 1 04-06 Day 2: 5 07-00 Total: 6 11-06
59. Carson Maddux - Auburn University 192
Day 1: 1 01-14 Day 2: 4 08-15 Total: 5 10-13
60. Mason Bohland - Brady Metzger Purdue University 191
Day 1: 2 02-11 Day 2: 5 08-00 Total: 7 10-11
61. Cole Taylor - Hunter Temples Lander University 190
Day 1: 4 05-15 Day 2: 2 04-08 Total: 6 10-07
62. Cody Monlezun - Atlan Pfluger Texas A&M 189
Day 1: 4 06-07 Day 2: 2 03-01 Total: 6 09-08
63. Corey Yaden - Hunter Richie Brewton Parker college 188
Day 1: 1 02-04 Day 2: 4 07-01 Total: 5 09-05
64. Kaden Liles - Benson Dowler University of North Alabama 187
Day 1: 4 06-09 Day 2: 1 02-11 Total: 5 09-04
65. Carter Koza - Lee Koza Carson Newman University 186
Day 1: 4 06-12 Day 2: 2 02-05 Total: 6 09-01
66. Hagan Marlin - Tanner English University of Montevallo 185
Day 1: 5 08-15 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-15
67. Garrett Huddleston - Riley Voltz Auburn University 184
Day 1: 4 05-11 Day 2: 2 03-02 Total: 6 08-13
68. Zane O'Domirok - Brandon Sales 183
Day 1: 5 08-11 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-11
69. Tristen Dubbs - Colin Pflederer Grace College 182
Day 1: 3 05-07 Day 2: 2 03-04 Total: 5 08-11
70. Henry Mcpherson - University Of Alabama 181
Day 1: 5 08-09 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 5 08-09
71. Lane Collier - Cody Lunsford University of North Georgia 180
Day 1: 3 03-14 Day 2: 2 04-05 Total: 5 08-03
72. Jim Mcpherson - Mississippi State University 179
Day 1: 1 01-03 Day 2: 2 06-11 Total: 3 07-14
73. Hunter Enlow - Lander University 178
Day 1: 3 06-10 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 06-10
74. Micah Goosby - Joseph Taylor Mississippi State University 177
Day 1: 2 02-07 Day 2: 2 04-00 Total: 4 06-07
75. Matthew German - Adam Hollingsworth University Of Alabama 176
Day 1: 2 03-00 Day 2: 2 02-10 Total: 4 05-10
76. Spencer Brister - Roeh Burton Lamar State College Orange 175
Day 1: 4 05-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 05-08
77. Charlie Pennington - Carson Peevy The University of Alabama 174
Day 1: 4 05-03 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 05-03
78. Cade Fortenberry - Nicholls State University 173
Day 1: 2 03-07 Day 2: 1 01-09 Total: 3 05-00
79. Lucas Bowers - Luke Willis University of South Carolina 172
Day 1: 2 04-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 04-12
80. Jonathan Goforth - James Bonnell Auburn University 171
Day 1: 1 02-02 Day 2: 2 02-08 Total: 3 04-10
81. Mary Goode - Nicholas Watson Brewton-Parker College 170
Day 1: 2 04-04 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 04-04
82. William Vega - Will Emmert Sam Houston State University 169
Day 1: 2 04-03 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 04-03
83. Ryan Bradway - Hunter Jordan Western Michigan University 168
Day 1: 2 04-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 04-00
84. Hayden Fuhr - Lander University 167
Day 1: 3 03-11 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 03-11
85. Isaac Warta - Middle Tennessee State Universit 166
Day 1: 2 03-09 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 03-09
86. Davian Smith - Jordan Turner University of Montevallo 165
Day 1: 3 02-01 Day 2: 1 01-02 Total: 4 03-03
87. Nate Triplett - Cy Lambert University of North Alabama 164
Day 1: 1 03-02 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 03-02
88. Hunter Jenkins - Dallas Baptist University 163
Day 1: 1 03-01 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 03-01
89. Logan Hicks - Preston Parker Shelton State Community College 162
Day 1: 2 02-14 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 02-14
90. K.D. Sizemore - Bryce Quick Auburn University 161
Day 1: 1 01-08 Day 2: 1 01-04 Total: 2 02-12
91. Trevor Johnston - Josh Kerr Texas AM University 160
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 02-11 Total: 1 02-11
92. Elijah Walker - Hunter Hillanbrand AUBURN 159
Day 1: 2 02-10 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 02-10
93. Jacob Butts - Mark Kershaw Erskine College 158
Day 1: 3 02-05 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 02-05
94. Mason Phillpotts - Grand Valley State University 157
Day 1: 1 01-07 Day 2: 1 00-13 Total: 2 02-04
95. Matthew Roberts - Alice Lloyd College 156
Day 1: 1 01-06 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-06
96. Brendon Brones - Ethan Tant Lamar State College Orange 155
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-00
97. Garrett Walters - Reese Walters University of Alabama 154
Day 1: 1 00-11 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 00-11
98. Syon Barnes - Jacksonville State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
98. Chase Davis - Camden Keeton CACC 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
98. Drew Deloney - University of Alabama 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
98. Trey Dickert - University of Montevallo 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
98. Dale Hansard - Seth Elkins Jacksonville State University 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
98. Ryan Michek - University of Wisconsin Plattevi 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
98. John Ortman - Emmanuel College 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
98. Walker Sahagun - University of North Alabama 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 49 363 702-05
2 41 292 572-04
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90 655 1274-09