BUCHANAN, Tenn. — And then there were four.
One half of the eight-man field that began the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Bracket presented by Bass Pro Shops remains in the hunt for the brass ring of competitive bass fishing – a spot in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic to be held in Houston next March.
The quartet launched at 5:30 a.m. Friday from Paris Landing State Park on Kentucky Lake here in northwest Tennessee.
The list of competing anglers is composed of John Garrett of Bethel University who will fish head to head against Kansas State University’s Taylor Bivins. K-State teammate Kyle Alsop will fish against Texas State’s Evan Coleman in another semifinal. The two winners will face off in one final day of head-to-head competition on Saturday to determine which one of the college anglers will get to play with the elites when the Classic rolls around next year.
Alsop and Bivins locked down the top two seeds in the bracket based upon their win last week in the Costa Bassmaster College National Championships held in Kentucky. Their momentum has carried south one state into Tennessee, and they’re looking to continue the solid angling that has kept them going in recent tournaments.
Alsop caught three bass for 7 pounds, 10 ounces on Thursday to defeat Auburn’s Caleb Wozniak. Bivins also boated three keepers for a 5-2 total and a win over Auburn’s Austin Handley. Coleman, the No. 6 seed, had a trio of fish that weighed 8-2 to beat Bethel’s Brian Pahl, while his Bethel teammate, the No. 4 seed Garrett, produced the only limit of the day – a five-fish sack that tipped the scales at 12-5. He beat Texas State’s Sam Stone to advance to Friday’s second day of fishing.
Each of the two anglers on the top four teams at college nationals advanced to the bracket challenge, and each said with a day of bracket competition under their collective belts, they are much calmer today than they were yesterday with the hoopla surrounding the tournament.
“I’m a little calmer knowing that yesterday was tough on everybody, and not just tough on me,” Garrett said shortly before heading out into Kentucky Lake forFriday morning’s event. “Hopefully these guys don’t change too much stuff up seeing all those big bites that have been out there in the (Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship taking place concurrently on Kentucky and Barkley lakes.) I’m sure there will be some changes, but hopefully it’s not too dramatic.”
Garrett caught a series of 2 ½ pound bass early ion Thursday to fill his live well. He said he plans on getting an early limit again if possible, and then hunting for bigger fish, like he did yesterday. He said he can’t really worry about what Bivins is doing on the water, though it’s difficult not to wonder how your opponent is faring.
Head-to-head formats have that way of affecting competitors.
“It does come to mind a few times, but you try not to let it get to you too much,” Garrett said. “But you can’t just block out what the other guy is doing. That’s just human.”
Bivins repeated his belief that the guy who can regularly put five bass in the boat and get them to the scales is going to be hard to beat in this tournament. It happened yesterday when Garrett, his opponent today, caught the only limit and had four pounds more fish than any other of the seven anglers competing on Thursday.
Still, in what boils down to a one-day event, there’s a little luck involved, too.
“The college guys are used to combining with a teammate to put the best five fish in the boat,” Bivins said. “But in this, it’s just you getting the five fish. The elite guys do it every time, no doubt, but for us, it’s something that’s kind of new. So you have to put your head down and fish hard…I think we can all get five…But this is Kentucky Lake. There are 25-pound bags swimming around out there…There are so many variables…When you fish against one guy, you always have a chance if you have one in the boat.”
Alsop was nervous yesterday when he only had three fish in his bag, just like his Kansas State teammate. His bites came early, and he figured to be on a roll, until the sun began to beat down on Kentucky Lake and lines went slack.
“You can’t worry about the other guy,” Alsop said. “I think that’s what happened to me yesterday. I was thinking I was in trouble with three fish, but seeing what everyone else did yesterday, which was similar to me, that kind of calmed me down.”
Coleman said he never had fished on Kentucky Lake until practice for the Classic Bracket began. Now, with a few days of experience under his belt, he too is feeling confident about his chances to advance to Saturday’s final pairing.
“My goal today is 12 pounds, or something like that,” he said. “But really, I’m just thinking about getting the next bite…Anything can happen with what I’m doing. You just have to go out there and grind. In this bracket, you can’t let up.”
The four remaining anglers in the Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Bass Pro Shops will check-in at 1:20 p.m. Friday at Paris Landing State Park. Weigh-in will immediately follow, and the 175 teams in the Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship will weigh-in directly after the final college pairing is announced.
Champions in both tournaments will be crowned Saturday in downtown Paris, Tenn.