Maurice Hudson and Sean Cummins of Penn State University took an early lead on Day 1 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Event on the James River after catching 17 pounds, 2 ounces.
With three fish by noon, including their kicker, Hudson and Cummins were pleased with the start, but knew they needed to fill their five-fish limit if they wanted to take advantage. The duo utilized most of their day by staying close and fishing every stage of the tide as it came and went.
“We had a good first day of practice, a lot of bites, but no big ones,” Hudson said. “We got a little nervous after yesterday’s practice, but today was better than practice. Not as many bites, but the quality was there.”
Their 17-2 weight was anchored by a 6-pound, 5-ounce James River largemouth, which was their second fish of the day. Duplicating their Day 1 is a possibility with the signs they saw today on the water.
“I think there are more fish where we caught them today so we should be able to duplicate it,” Cummins said.
The Nittany Lion anglers fished numerous spots throughout the day and although they didn’t run far to start, they did run the tide at crucial points in order to fish for feeding fish. This team is used to running tides as they said the James River was comparable to their home water of the Chesapeake Bay.
They take a five-ounce lead into Day 2 on the James River.
The Ramapo College team of Andrew Annuzzi and Zachary Orsino took an opposite approach to Day 1 as they ran to a less pressured area and bounced around key stretches. At their first stop of the day they were greeted with two boats close to their main spot, but after boating one quick fish they made a move to their second spot, which yielded a couple quick keepers.
“The tide isn’t really affecting the area we are targeting so we are confident that we can catch them no matter what the tide is doing throughout the day,” Annuzzi said.
They closed their day out with their biggest fish of the day and that put them on the fast track to second place.
Sitting just 1-7 behind them is the third place team of Josh Cannon and Alex Frazier of Western Carolina. Frazier is half of the defending regional team from last year when they took the title on Lake Norman.
The weights are tight on the James River as a pound and a half separates third place and 10th.
The 78-team full field fishes on Day 2, but after Friday’s weigh-in the Top 20 will advance to the third day of competition.
Daily takeoffs are at Osborne Landing at 6 a.m. and Friday’s weigh-in will take place at 2 p.m. at the same place.