Texas A&m Grabs Early Lead In College Bass Championship
Texas A&M’s Josh Bensema and Matthew McArdle started fast and furious on Lake DuBay, catching their three-bass limit early and leading the way on a challenging fishery.
“This morning went very well for us,” Bensema said. “We had our fish by 7 a.m., and then we decided to lay off and save them for tomorrow.”
The Texas anglers made a crucial decision on the final practice day.
“It took us three days to figure out the pattern,” McArdle said. “We are from Texas, and we have largemouth. We tried to figure out the smallmouth over the last few days and we couldn’t, so on the third day of practice, we went searching for largemouth. And we found them.”
Unlike Bensema and McArdle, who were right at home in the shallow backwaters catching largemouth, the two teams tied for second place weighed in limits of smallmouth.
JP Kimbrough and Jared Rascoe of Louisiana State University-Shreveport and Trevor Lo and Chris Burgan of the University of Minnesota are tied at 7 pounds, 15 ounces apiece. Kimbrough and Rascoe started slow Thursday morning, but steadily put together their three-fish limit.
After failing to score in areas where they had practiced, the pair moved to another area of Lake DuBay and caught what would be the biggest bass of the day for them, according to Kimbrough. When that area “started to get crowded” the pair went to yet another new spot. They didn’t fill out their limit until 15 minutes before it was time to head back to check-in.
The falling water on Lake DuBay was a popular topic backstage, but LSU-Shreveport doesn’t think it will bother their bite much, but they wonder how it could affect the anglers targeting largemouth.
Minnesota’s Lo and Burgan caught 7-15 as well and are just 2 ounces off the pace set by Texas A&M.
“We were just hoping to catch a limit going into today. We pulled up to a spot that we didn’t fish in practice and we caught them there,” Lo said. “We only culled once today, so it was slow after the flurry.”
Appalachian State’s Hunter Hill and Ethan Howell sacked up 7 pounds, 14 ounces to finish the day in fourth. Their limit bag consisted of two largemouth and one smallmouth.
Rounding out the Top 5 is Frankie Appaluccio and Logan Shaddix of the University of Alabama with 7 1/2 pounds of smallmouth bass.
The defending National Champions, Jake Whitaker and Andrew Helms of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte are tied for sixth — just 2 ounces behind Appaluccio and Shaddix — with Cade Laufenberg and Wyatt Stout of Winona State. The weights on DuBay were very close with 12th place sitting just 2 pounds out of the Top 5, which will advance to the final day.
John Garrett and Brian Pahl from Bethel University lead the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass competition with a fish weighing 3 pounds, 11 ounces.
The three-fish limit may seem odd in an age when five is the typical tournament limit, but Wisconsin allows each competitor to have three fish per day. Since four anglers are fishing the National Championship solo, tournament officials established a three bass limits for the entire field.
All of the Day 2 action from Lake DuBay will be on Bassmaster.com throughout the day and weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. CT at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Friday’s takeoff is at the Tiki Beach Bar and Grill at 6 a.m. CT.
Championship
7/9/2015 – 7/11/2015
Lake DuBay – Tiki Beach Bar & Grill – Stevens Point, WI
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1
# Fish Lbs – Oz
Accumulative
Name # Live # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz
1 Josh Bensema – Matthew McArdle Texas A&M University 3 3 8- 1 3 3 8- 1
2 JP Kimbrough – Jared Rascoe LSU Shreveport 3 3 7-15 3 3 7-15
2 Trevor Lo – Chris Burgan University of Minnesota 3 3 7-15 3 3 7-15
4 Hunter Hill – Ethan Howell Appalachian State University 3 3 7-14 3 3 7-14
5 Frankie Appaluccio – Logan Shaddix University of Alabama 3 3 7- 8 3 3 7- 8
6 Cade Laufenberg – Wyatt Stout Winona State University 3 3 7- 6 3 3 7- 6
6 Jake Whitaker – Andrew Helms UNC Charlotte 3 3 7- 6 3 3 7- 6
8 Tyler Rivet – Allyson Marcel Nicholls State University 3 3 6- 9 3 3 6- 9
9 Justin Singleton – Zac Bennett Georgia College & State University 3 3 5-13 3 3 5-13
10 Zack Bodford – Matthew Hinkle NC State University 3 3 5-11 3 3 5-11
10 Brock Enmeier – Colten Hutson University of Central Oklahoma 3 3 5-11 3 3 5-11
12 Cody Spears – Justin Mahon Florida State University 2 2 5- 8 2 2 5- 8
13 Ross Burns – Richard Nesbitt Clemson University 3 3 5- 5 3 3 5- 5
14 Baylor Ronemus – Cole Tinsley Clemson University 3 3 5- 2 3 3 5- 2
15 Zachary Blalock – Mike Corbishley East Carolina University 2 2 4-12 2 2 4-12
16 Hunter Gibson – Caiden Sinclair University of Alabama 3 3 4- 5 3 3 4- 5
17 Tyler Stewart – Nick Joiner La Monroe 2 2 4- 4 2 2 4- 4
18 Justin Brown – Brandon Bissell Northern Michigan University 3 3 4- 3 3 3 4- 3
19 Cole Atkinson – St Ambrose University 2 2 4- 3 2 2 4- 3
20 John Ledet – Justin Cooper Northwestern State University 3 3 4- 1 3 3 4- 1
21 Sheldon Rogge – Lance Maldonado Kansas State University 2 2 3-12 2 2 3-12
22 John Garrett – Brian Pahl Bethel University 1 1 3-11 1 1 3-11
23 Kyle Winstead – Brandon Koon UT Martin 2 2 3-10 2 2 3-10
24 Kevin Lucas – Kyle Stafford U. of Central Florida 2 2 3- 8 2 2 3- 8
25 Evan Smith – Aaron Sarna Arkansas Tech University 2 2 3- 1 2 2 3- 1
26 Murphy Klumpp – Lucas Brown Auburn University 2 2 2-13 2 2 2-13
26 Tyler Rocke – Justin Schick Illinois Central College 2 2 2-13 2 2 2-13
28 Austin Brimeyer – Anthony Riesberg University of Dubuque 2 2 2-12 2 2 2-12
29 Jacob Wall – University of Oregon 1 1 2-12 1 1 2-12
30 Ross Dove – Richie Young Emmanuel College 2 2 2-11 2 2 2-11
31 Cole Blythe – John Auten UNC Charlotte 1 1 2-11 1 1 2-11
32 Samuel Moore – Ross Kellermeier Bemidji State University 2 2 2-10 2 2 2-10
33 Patrick Walters – Josh Rennebaum University of South Carolina 1 1 2- 8 1 1 2- 8
34 Josh Oliver – Nathan George Gadsden State Community College 1 1 2- 6 1 1 2- 6
35 John Duarte – Jonathan Kelley Coastal Carolina University 2 2 2- 5 2 2 2- 5
36 Alex Klein – Chico State 1 1 2- 5 1 1 2- 5
37 Aaron Belgard – Logan Laprarie Northwestern State University 1 1 2- 3 1 1 2- 3
37 Taylor Bivins – Kyle Alsop Kansas State University 1 1 2- 3 1 1 2- 3
39 Easton Ramsey – Chris Zins University of Central Oklahoma 1 1 1-14 1 1 1-14
40 Dwight Camp – Jonathan Furlong Southeastern Oklahoma University 1 1 1-11 1 1 1-11
40 Laj Tripp – Kyle Sittman Eastern Washington University 1 1 1-11 1 1 1-11
42 Thomas Oltorik III – James Oltorik Daytona State College 1 1 1-10 1 1 1-10
43 Jay Emmert – Christian Peake U. of Tennessee 1 1 1- 9 1 1 1- 9
43 Evan Horne – Dawson Lenz University of North Alabama 1 1 1- 9 1 1 1- 9
45 Chelsey Queen – Kristopher Queen Bethel University 1 1 1- 8 1 1 1- 8
46 Phillip Germagliotti – Shane Campbell McKendree University 1 1 1- 7 1 1 1- 7
47 Benjamin Freeman – Dillon McGee Bethel University 1 1 1- 6 1 1 1- 6
47 Edward Rude III – Matthew Combs West Virginia University 1 1 1- 6 1 1 1- 6
49 Justin Bruno – Brody Anderson Grand Valley State University 1 1 1- 5 1 1 1- 5
Today’s Activity
# Fish Lbs – Oz
Accumulative
Name # Live # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz
49 Michael Woods – Chas Brannon Chico State 1 1 1- 5 1 1 1- 5
51 Jacob Reome – Matthew Garvin Clemson University 1 1 1- 4 1 1 1- 4
52 Grayson Barber – Hiroto Kinoshita NC State University 1 1 1- 3 1 1 1- 3
52 Austin Littrell – Ben Wall Auburn University 1 1 1- 3 1 1 1- 3
52 Taylor Minick – Michael Harbach Valdosta State University 1 1 1- 3 1 1 1- 3
55 Kit Benson – Wes Lashmett Western Illinois University 1 0 1- 3 1 0 1- 3
56 Cy Floyd – Travis Opel Eastern Washington University 1 1 1- 2 1 1 1- 2
56 Lance Freeman – Seth Brock Murray State University 1 1 1- 2 1 1 1- 2
58 Anderson Aldag – Lee Mattox University of Alabama 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Matt Allen – Zach Youngblood Tennessee Tech University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Tanner Austin – Ethan Clark Sacramento State 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Joshua Butts – Justin Rivers Wallace State CC Hanceville 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Alec Castonguay – Garret Whitley Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Tyler Craig – Blake Alford La Monroe 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Brian Eaton – Slade Daniel La Monroe 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Grant Ehlenfeldt – Brett Stanek University of Wisconsin-Platteville 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Grant Galloway – Joe Marty Mississippi State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Justin Gaskin – James Avant LSU Shreveport 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Clayton Godfrey – Garret Lindsey Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Darrell Henson Jr. – Brent Rome LSU 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Shelby Hutchens – Brian Blades Stephen F Austin State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Kelly Johnson – Jeremy Gilley Appalachian State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 CJ Knight – Tim Ward Auburn University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Jordan Ledbetter – Trent Robinson McKendree University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Jared Mataczynski – Steve Nebel University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Zander Monk – Taylor Thomas UNC Charlotte 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Austin Neary – Alex Frazier Western Carolina University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Colby Ogden – Brandon Simoneaux Lamar University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Carson Orellana – Strayer University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Jonathan Peck – Devin Wallis Bryan College 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 Ethan Snyder – Shaw Owens Eastern Kentucky University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
58 John Zeolla – Clayton Lauchland Cal Poly 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Name City,State Lbs-Oz
BIG BASS
Day
1 John Garrett – Brian Pahl Union City, TN 3-11
Day # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
TOTALS
# Fish
1 103 102 196-11 16
2 0 0 0
