Having found favorable clarity and appealing water temperatures during practice on Lake Keowee’s south end, Kansas State’s Zack Vielhauer and Will Andrie sacked a limit of 13 pounds, 2 ounces to win the Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic presented by Bass Pro Shops.
Committing their day to dock fishing, the winners focused on precise presentations that adjusted with fish movement.
“As the sun came out, the fish moved farther and farther under the docks, so we were skipping our baits father under there where nobody else was reaching,” Vielhauer said. “We had never fished this lake before. But in practice, we went all the way from the south end, all the way up to the north end; so we were able to eliminate the whole north end and concentrate on the south end.”
The K-State anglers fished unweighted Texas-rigged Senkos in watermelon and green pumpkin, and 3/16-ounce finesse jigs with green pumpkin/brown trailers. Light line — 8-pound fluorocarbon — proved essential to their effective presentations.
“With the clear water, we were able to get those baits under there and the fish weren’t able to see the line,” Vielhauer said. “But, we work well together as a team and if one of us was unable to make the pitch or the cast, the other one’s able to do that. So, we alternated.”
Andrie said he and his teammate started deeper, but they ended up spending most of their time fishing in 2 to 10 feet of water. Following a rotation that they had established in practice, they fished 25 to 30 docks.
Their action started early with four keepers in the first 20 minutes.
“Most of the fish we caught today were prespawners; they had big bellies and they were ready to go,” Andrie said. “They were staging to do their thing, but we intercepted them today.
“Today, we predominantly had spotted bass — the biggest spotted bass we had all week, but we did find a couple of those key largemouth that really did it for us.”
2018 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Carhartt
2018 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2018 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2018 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: Berkley, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, ABU Garcia
2018 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance, Mossy Oak Fishing, Phoenix Boats, Livingston Lures
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation presented by Magellan Outdoors, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic presented by Bass Pro Shops
3/18/2018
Lake Keowee – South Cove – Greenville, SC
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1
Today’s Activity
Name # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz # Fsh # Live Lbs-Oz PTS
1 Zach Vielhauer – Will Andrie Kansas State 5 5 13- 2 5 5 13- 2 0.00
2 Ben Stone – Greyson Williams Lander University 5 5 12- 3 5 5 12- 3 0.00
3 Justin Grigg – Brett Blackwood Winthrop University 5 4 9-15 5 4 9-15 0.00
4 Colby Bryant – Dillon Harrell Sam Houston State University 5 5 9- 9 5 5 9- 9 0.00
5 Jonathan Kelley – John Duarte Coastal Carolina University 5 5 8-14 5 5 8-14 0.00
6 Trevor Topken – Zachary Catoe University of South Carolina 5 5 8- 9 5 5 8- 9 0.00
7 Jake Lee – Cole Sands Bryan College 5 5 8- 8 5 5 8- 8 0.00
8 Derek Freeman – Robert White Clemson University 5 5 7-11 5 5 7-11 0.00
9 Remington Wagner – Garret Beck Hutchinson Blue Dragons 3 3 3- 6 3 3 3- 6 0.00
BIG BASS
Day Name City,State Lbs-Oz
1 Justin Grigg – Brett Blackwood Clover, SC 3- 7
TOTALS
Day # Fish # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
1 43 42 81-13 8
By: JamieDay Matthews
