22 Teams Top 20 pound limits

FLORENCE, AL (May 21, 2026) – Day 1 of tournament competition has concluded for the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.  Close to 220 of the top college fishing teams in the nation took to Pickwick Lake to begin the event this morning.  At weigh-in this afternoon, approximately eight hours later, a total of 22 limits eclipsing 20 pounds crossed the scales at McFarland Park in Florence, AL.

Leading the pack in 1^st place overall are Benjamin Travis & Carty Shoen with 15^th ranked Auburn University.  Kaden Buchmann with 7^th ranked Lander University is in 2^nd.  Representing 6^th ranked Blue Mountain Christian University, Blake Bullock & Steven Deschene are in 3^rd.

View the complete Day 1 standings.

On Day 1 of tournament competition for the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, Pickwick Lake proved once again why it is one of the best fisheries in the nation.  A total of 22 limits over 20 pounds were weighed in by the elite field. The current Overall Big Bass is 9.00 pounds.

Anglers were greeted with light rain and considerable cloud cover this morning.  A late season shad spawn, combined with those overcast conditions, provided many anglers with a great opportunity to capitalize on an early morning bite.  As the day progressed, some of those clouds burned off and the sun popped out periodically.  That then allowed the teams focusing on the deep bite to better target those bass as they set up better on that offshore structure.

One team that capitalized on the changing conditions later in the day was the Auburn University pairing of Benjamin Travis & Carty Shoen.  On stage at weigh-in, the two anglers representing the 15^th ranked team in the nation stated that they did not have much weight around noon.  In the final hours of the day, they cracked the code and rallied to sack up 26.91 pounds, which includes the current Overall Big Bass at 9.00 pounds.  They lead 2^nd place by more than 2.50 pounds, and Auburn’s two best teams at the moment are in the Top 11.

Sitting in 2^nd place is Kaden Buchmann from 7^th ranked Lander University.  Fishing by himself, Kaden was able to wrangle in 24.33 pounds.   Three teams weighed in limits in the 24-pound range.

In 3^rd place is one of those teams, Blake Bullock & Steven Deschene representing 6^th ranked Blue Mountain Christian University with 24.25 pounds.  Blue Mountain Christian anglers have a good deal of experience on Pickwick Lake, as their university is located not too far away in Mississippi.  They fellow teammates, Chandler & Clayton, are in 6^th.

Going into the final day of tournament competition tomorrow, while all eyes will be on the top of the leaderboard as teams vie for a National Championship title, the race for Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia will be top of mind too.  The University of Montevallo did not have a team weigh-in a 20 plus pound limit today.  2^nd ranked Carson-Newman and 3^rd ranked UNA each had one.  Many of the teams in the Top 10 have multiple boats lingering near the top of the leaderboard.  It will be interesting to see how the chips fall when the scales close tomorrow, and teams try to move as high up in the standings as possible as the season winds down.

Take off will be streamed live each morning on the series Facebook page, followed by live blog coverage and updates.  Teams start weighing in at McFarland Park beginning at 2 pm (CST) and fans are encouraged to attend.  The weigh-in will also be streamed live beginning at 2 pm. Keep up with all things pertaining to the 2026 ACA National Championship, including live streams and coverage here.