Three teams from UTM competed in the Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) YETI Bass College Fishing Tour on Lakes Kentucky and Barkley March 12 and 13.
A total of 194 teams competed from colleges across the country, coming from as far north as Minnesota and as far south as Texas.
Christopher Richardson and Daniel Jones caught three bass at a total weight of 12.14 pounds and came in 54th place.
Nealynn Lewis and Seth Brooker caught two bass with a total weight of 6.1 pounds and came in 91st place.
Nicholas Dotson and Ethan Houston caught one bass that weighed in at 1.14 pounds which put them in 136th place.
Hunter McCarty and Sloan Pennington from the University of North Alabama took the win with a two-day total weighing in at 45 pounds, 14 ounces.
For awards, the FLW gave away a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115 horsepower Mercury motor, several Yeti coolers full of prizes, and trophies for anglers who qualified.
Several anglers cited the recent high water levels on the Tennessee River as one cause of the overall successful day of fishing in the beginning, while others complained of the excessive amount of freshwater drum caught on the lakes.
A few anglers shared their secrets with the crowd: using shaky heads, squarebills and A-rigs to snag the pre-spawn monsters.
“It was hard today, we couldn’t really find them. We only had four or five bites all day long and caught some good fish,” said Richardson, a junior Engineering major and member of the UTM Bass team.
Engine troubles seemed to be a reoccurring issue for a handful of teams, limiting some teams to one spot for the course of the event.
A state-of-the-art FLW live release boat was on-site which safely ensured the release of all bass caught during the tournament to a deep spot in the river channel. Four tanks of recirculated lake water held the bass which were then dropped into the lake under the pontoon through a lock.
FLW volunteers stated this year’s tournament had a very successful release rate, only two bass did not survive the release.
For more information about UTM Bass Fishing, contact faculty director Eric Simmons at esimmons@utm.edu.
