BASS FISHING TEAM

Tournament Information

Under Armour College Bass National Championship

                                                        www.collegebass.com

                             NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!

Tournament: Day 3

1st PLACE: 8 LBS. 8 OZ.

        Wow, what an achievement. We worked so hard for this and are truly greatful for this honor and we are     proud to have been part of this collegiate event. Bass fishing has come a long way for the college scene         and we look forward to spreading the news and telling others about our passion. 

        The final day of fishing was much more stressful than any other day. Knowing that all weights were         zeroed, we knew we had to produce and come in with a healthy limit to win. Our heads were going crazy     all day trying to keep the best game plan in mind for each time of the day. The plan was to keep to the         same pattern we had caught the bass on the previous two days and pray that they were still holding in our     spots. We planned to catch our fish focusing on three main areas: a main river rock wall, a shallow lily pad     area, and a backwater rock wall. 

        At the end of the day we had only caught four keepers and doubted our chances at the title, but luck         was on our side. As we stood at the holding tanks awaiting our weigh-in, the largest bag to be weighed         (four fish) was 4lb. 12oz. and our hopes became reality instantly. We weighed in 8lb. 8oz. and claimed         Virginia Tech's first National title.

Tournament: Day 2

1ST PLACE: 26 LBS. 11 OZ.

        We couldn't be more thrilled and excited about today and this whole week in general. After putting up     13 lbs. 11 oz. on the first day, our goal as a team was to head out today and fish for around 9 lbs, thinking     that was what it would take to make the cut to 5 teams for the 3rd day. We fished some of the same areas     and found some new water to locate keeper sized fish.

        This morning, we had 2 keepers in the live-well at 7:25 am. We actually boated the 2nd keeper before     the last boat had even left the boat dock. It took a good while for us to get another keeper, but when it         did, we knew we were going to be fishing on Saturday. A 5lb. 7 oz. hog (picture below) got the spirits back     up in a hurry. Immediately following that fish, not more than 2 cast later, came another keeper. We can't     even describe the awesome emotions that we have to be fishing on the final day.

        Tomorrow should be another day of speed fishing. We are cranking away at all sorts of river structures     and fishing some backwater as well. We expect no less than to catch around the same weight as the first 2     days. We estimated over 1000 casts each day for each of us anglers. That is speed fishing and believe         me, we are having a great time here on the Arkansas River!

Tournament: Day 1

2ND PLACE: 13 LBS. 11 OZ.

        After finally establishing a pattern that caught us decent keepers the day before, we were forced to         make a change. Today brought partly cloudy skies and 85 degree heat, uncharacteristic for this time of         year. We made all the right decisions today and were able to quickly figure out a new method for enticing     the largemouth on the Arkansas River. The goal coming into the tournament was to make the final 5             teams and fish on Saturday for the shot at 1st place. Check out the websites above for full tournament         coverage

 
The BASS weigh-in stage

Practice:

        The weather has not been cooperative for the past couple days. Early morning fog delayed launch until     10am on Tuesday and Wednesday has been full of cloudy skies and intense rainfall. The pelting rain             against our face felt like needles as we traveled from spot to spot, but we endured the physical pain and     tough conditions. 

        The past days we have spent a lot of time searching for areas where good fish may hold and places         where we feel confident in fishing. The river is tricky and we are still trying to figure out different patterns     the fish may be on. We have thrown almost everything in our tackle boxes but we are confident that we         have the right baits and many quality areas where fish are holding. The fifteen inch limit on largemouth is     bigger than expected but we are confident going into day one of the tournament. Lets hope the weather         cooperates!

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2007 Boat US National Collegiate Bass Fishing Tournament                             

                                               collegiatebasschampionship.com

                                                          The Story of the Week 

What Were They Biting? 

    Each day of the week, practice or tournament, the fish were biting and each team caught atleast 20 fish a
    day. Unfortunately many of the fish were 8-12" in length and hungry for anything you threw in the water.
    Fish species caught during the week included largemouth and spotted bass, white bass and a few bluegill.
    What were our keepers biting?

        - ZOOM Baby Brush Hog

        - GARY YAMAMOTO Senko

        - ZOOM Ol Monster 10.5" Worm

        - SHAW's Shakey Worm

What Was Our Pattern? 

    Each practice day consisted of exploring the new lake and finding where fish were holding. All different
    lures were thrown to find out what they may bite and each spot was marked when fish were caught. We
    found most fish in the flooded willows and on rocky points everywhere on the lake. We targeted those
    areas each day and continually found fish. Most fish were caught on the edge of the willows in 5-10' of
    water. The most successful areas seemed to be those that were underfished and ones we
    had confidence in.

DAY 5: Tournament Day 2

Team Grinnell/Thompson finish in 7th Place!!

    They had a limit of five fish today that weighed 9.88lbs. They unfortunately do not get to advance to the
    final day and will return home (Blacksburg) tomorrow.

Team Wiley/Machek finish in 34th Place!! 

    They had a tough day, having no fish at 3pm. Fortunately, they were able to land two before their weigh in
    at 3:20pm with almost four pounds. Comin' through in the clutch! The whole week they motivated
    themselves with the words, "Never give up!"

DAY 4: Tournament Day 1

Team Grinnell/Thompson:

    Had two keepers by 9:30 and was slow the rest of the day. Lost two nice fish at boat, one snapping line
    and the other shook off, biggest fish of the day most likely. Managed to catch one more keeper and
    caught one fish that did not measure at weigh in (1/8" short). Weighed three fish at 7.24lbs.

Team Wiley/Machek:

    Caught many fish, unfortunately many were short. Had a couple of keepers get off at boat but still
    managed to bring in two for the weigh in. They feel they have a solid pattern, but most capitalize on the
    quality bites during the day in order to advance to Saturday. Weighed two fish at 4.44lbs

DAY 3: Practice

Team Grinnell/Thompson:

    The morning cloud cover provided great weather, but the fishing continued to be slow. They fished the
    dam and stayed on the pattern they fished previous days. They managed two keeper fish back to back
    around 10am at their new 'hot spot'. Finding the big bite tomorrow will be tough, hopefully the big ones will
    be hungry.

Team Wiley/Machek:

    Searching for new, promising spots with big fish was the plan for the day (the best plan for any day). They
    unfortunately could not find the big bites they were looking for, but were able to find small bites in every
    area. The team remains confident they can find big fish tomorrow on spots found on day 1 and 2.

DAY 2: Practice

Team Grinnell/Thompson:

    Fish came much easier today with a better understanding of where they were located. Morning bite was
    good, but there was no topwater bite. Ten fish were caught before 11am, but unfortunately most were
    short and they only bagged two keepers. The afternoon was slow, but one more keeper fish was caught.

Team Wiley/Machek:

    Making a long run to the north end of the lake they managed one keeper and several short fish. The day
    was full of exploring the new lake and finding potential hot spots. They found fish wherever they went, but
    the bigger bite continued to be hard to find. There day came to an abrupt ending with motor  problems
    and a tow into the marina.

DAY 1: Practice

Team Grinnell/Thompson:

    Fishing out of a fully loaded boat provided by Angler's Choice Marine, the team caught a decent number
    of fish on the first day of practice. The size just was not there for them on day one, but nonetheless they
    caught fish. They have a good idea of where to locate the bigger fish and plan to go after them in day 2.
    As long as they increase their weight each day, the tournament will be looking good.

Team Wiley/Machek:

    Starting out the morning with motor troubles, the team lost 2 hours and had to work hard for the fish they
    got. All in all, they boated around 20 fish caught on many different presentations. Two fish went about 3lb.
    or more, and an estimated 5 or 6 fish weighed close to 2lbs. a piece. The 14" minimum forced some of
    those 2 lb. fish to fall short, but there was a promising feeling to the days catch. The patterns are coming
    together and tomorrow should begin to look even better. Stay tuned, we will try to update daily from
    Lewisville, Texas. 

Lake Gaston

VT vs NC State

    The tournament was held one week prior to leaving to go the Boat U.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship in order to get tuned up. Two teams from our club and two from N.C. State's club met at lake Gaston to fish with a small competitive atmosphere.

    Wiley and Machek placed first weighing in over 10.5 lbs. for a 5 fish limit. Grinnell and Thompson were able to round up around 5lbs. of fish on Saturday. The team of McClenny and Hess from N.C. State placed second with around 8lbs. Overall, the two schools combined wieghts were extremely close but it looked like VT was able to nudge ahead by an ounce or two.

    After the small tournament on Saturday the team headed out again on Suday and caught much better fish.
                                           

The picture below is from Sunday's catch.

Woods and Water Alabama Invitational

    It was a rough tournament in all aspects. From a broken tail light ticket, to car and boat motor troubles, this was not our tournament from the get go. Our trip to Alabama will be remembered by hot miserable days and catching few fish on the Black Warrior River. The tournament was set up with one practice day and three days of tournament fishing, with the five top teams advancing to the third day. The teams consisted of Scott and Chase in one boat and Brett and Charlie in the other boat.

    With only marking a few spots in practice day we were a bit concerned about going into day one of the 
tournament. Brett and Charlie bagged two during the day, but managed to have motor trouble in the  evening and were towed to the boat ramp. Scott and Chase had an exciting morning bite and managed a couple of fish for the weigh in. Each teams totals were average for the day and gave them a chance to make the cut at the end of day two.

    Day two was much of the same, but presented us with a slower bite and tougher atmosphere. Brett and Charlie's boat was unable to run on day two and relied on local areas around the ramp for a big bite. The day got tougher and tougher as it went as our available spots decreased and began to fish the same spots over and over. They managed one keeper in the afternoon on a shakeyhead. Scott and Chase struggled the Alabama heat and the tough bite, but were unable to have any keepers.

    The weigh in was commentated by Classic winner Boyd Duckett, but that was the only exciting part. Each team fell in the standings with only one fish being weighed for Virginia Tech. With the 20 teams that competed, Brett and Charlie finished in 11th place and Scott and Chase finished in 15th place. 

Falls Lake Collegiate Classic 

    Forming two teams only a week before the tournament the team drove to North Carolina to enter the Falls Lake Collegiate Classic and to get a first hand glimpse of collegiate bass fishing. The trip offered many new experiences for the team, including: pre-tournament meetings, shotgun starts, official weigh-ins televised broadcasting and tournament prizes. Scott and Chase finished 1st and Brett and Charlie finished 4th.