Gunnar Stanton and Gunner Campbell of the Northern Arizona bass fishing team maintain their lead after catching 10 pounds, 15 ounces on Day 2 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Western Regional presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lake Mead. They have a two-day total of 26-14 as they head into the final frame on Monday.
Stanton and Campbell had their 3-pound, 5-ounce lead cut to just 12 ounces by Josh Worth and Kennedy Kinkade of Colorado Mesa University, who have remained consistent over the first two days.
On Sunday the conditions changed on Lake Mead, and the duo struggled throughout the day due to a breezy north wind, and with an hour left to fish, they only had two keepers in the livewell.
“Honestly, checking in at 2:15 p.m. killed our bite today,” Stanton said. “The north wind has been blowing in the morning, and it hasn’t let the water warm up as much, but this afternoon the wind died down and the water heated up fast.”
With the sun beating down on Lake Mead, Stanton and Campbell were able to efficiently bed fish and pick off some of their better keepers with just an hour remaining in the day.
“We are going to try and adapt because you never want to crash and burn,” Stanton said. “We are still going to try and lean on bed fishing as much as we possibly can though.”
The Northern Arizona teammates’ familiarity with Mead has benefited them so far, as their primary area is one where they didn’t practice leading up to this tournament.
“We haven’t touched any of the stuff we found in practice,” Stanton said. “I knew the areas we found wouldn’t hold up for this three-day tournament. Sometimes our local knowledge can hinder us because Mead changes so much when you least expect it.”
After bringing in 13 pounds, 8 ounces Worth and Kinkdae cut their deficit by more than 2 1/2 pounds to stay in striking distance of the leaders. Like Stanton and Campbell on Day 1, the Colorado Mesa anglers brought a 4-pound largemouth to the scales to anchor their big weight on Sunday.
“I feel like if this tournament set up a little better to go for the win and throw a Hail Mary then we would,” Worth said. “We will probably try to stay with what we know and expand on the areas we are fishing.”
Like the leaders, Worth and Kinkade struggled with zero fish for most of the day, but around noon they figured out another pattern and were able to catch bass quickly enough to fill their limit late in the day.
“Our morning spot had a good population of smallmouth on it,” Kinkade said. “The water has warmed up and it seems the Gizzard Shad have moved into the area. I think those smallmouth are uncomfortable with that. We are going to leave that area and start on another spot we found success with in practice.”
Jacob Wall of the University of Oregon also inched closer to the leaders after he weighed 12-13 Sunday; he now sits just over 1 1/2 pounds behind. Wall is fishing this team tournament alone this week and overcame engine issues on Day 1 to stay in the hunt. Thanks to a generous local and a repaired engine, he was able to expand his area and also bolster his bag.
The full field will fish Lake Mead once again on Monday, but after the final weigh-in the Top 10 teams will advance and clinch their berth into the 2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship.
Final day takeoff will be Monday morning at 6:15 a.m. PT from Callville Bay Marina and championship weigh-in will be held at the same location at approximately 2:30 p.m. PT.
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Carhartt
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Berkley, GoPro, Huk
2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, ABU Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Costa
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 website, television show , The Bassmasters, social media programs and events. For more than 45 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, B.A.S.S. Nation, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Western
4/2/2016 – 4/4/2016
Lake Mead – Calville Bay Marina – Henderson, NV
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 2
Name # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz # Fish # Live Lbs Oz
1 Gunnar Stanton – Gunner Campbell Northern Arizona University 5 5 10-15 10 10 26-14
2 Josh Worth – Kennedy Kinkade Colorado Mesa University 5 5 13- 8 10 10 26- 2
3 Jacob Wall – Dalton Taylor University of Oregon 5 5 12-13 10 10 25- 3
4 Travis Bounds – Andrew Loberg Chico State 5 5 11-10 10 10 23- 7
5 Adam Deakin – Alex Stuart Colorado State University 5 5 12- 5 9 9 22-10
6 Tanner Mort – Austin Turpin University of Idaho 5 5 11- 1 10 10 21-15
7 Alex Robbins – Rudy Directo Humboldt State 5 5 12- 2 9 9 19- 8
8 Cy Floyd – Kyle Sittman Eastern Washington University 5 5 9- 5 9 9 17-10
9 Travis McGuire – Layne Bynum Texas Tech University 5 5 8- 8 10 10 17- 3
10 Zachary Martinez – Joseph Billmaier Oregon State University 2 2 4- 5 5 5 11- 8
11 Joseph Smith – Donald Peters Texas Tech University 2 2 3-12 6 6 10- 3
12 Jessie Bass – William Hutchinson New Mexico State University 1 0 2- 2 5 3 9-11
13 Justin Hettinga – Nicholas DiCamillo New Mexico State University 2 2 3-15 4 4 7- 2
14 Michael Woods – Chas Brannon Chico State 1 1 2-12 3 3 6- 3
15 Mike Harpell – Mitchell Rosandich Colorado State University 0 0 0- 0 1 1 2- 7
16 Johan Eide – Alec Pitts Cal Poly 0 0 0- 0 1 1 1-10
BIG BASS
Day
1 Gunnar Stanton – Gunner Campbell / Boulder City, NV 4- 6
2 Josh Worth – Kennedy Kinkade/ Grand Junction, CO 4- 5
TOTALS
Day # Fish # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
1 59 58 130- 3 6
2 53 52 119- 1 9
By: Helen White, Bassmaster
