OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — After Peyton Dunn and Luke Mcguffin found a “magical spot” and grabbed the Day 1 lead in the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Okeechobee presented by Bass Pro Shops, their greatest fear was that other anglers might fish the same area and disrupt their momentum.
Other teams did fish nearby on Thursday in the second and final day of the derby, but none found the weight needed to knock the Emmanuel University duo from the pole position.
Dunn and Mcguffin caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 32 pounds, 14 ounces to claim the tournament title here in south Florida. They caught a limit of 12 pounds, 5 ounces on Thursday – considerably less than the 20-9 limit they sacked on Wednesday, but easily enough to hold off the field off the field of 219 teams fishing on legendary Lake Okeechobee this week.
Dunn and Mcguffin netted $6,921 for the Emmanuel University bass team, part of a cash purse of $23,269 that was split among the Top 10 duos.
The victors finished more than five pounds ahead of their closest competitors , but the win didn’t come as easily as it might seem. Dunn and Mcguffin said they caught only 10 keeper fish on Day 2, relying heavily on an early-morning flurry that got a limit in the livewell. They upgraded only a couple times and said Thursday’s best bass weighed about 3 1/2 pounds.
“We battled all day long and really struggled to get the fish we needed,” said Mcguffin, a 19-year-old freshman from Seneca, SC. “We knew the right fish were there, it was just getting them to bite or not. We thought we might pick off a big one or two, but it didn’t happen. When we were making the (40-minute) run back, we thought we were gonna come up short by a pound or two. But when we got to the tanks and saw what was in front of us, we realized we had a shot.
“You go from completely stressed to holding the trophy,” Mcguffin added.
Dunn and Mcguffin fished in the Indian Prairie area of Lake Okeechobee. Dunn said the key was a small pipe beneath the surface that warmed the water they fished, and with 35-degree temperatures to start both mornings, the extra heat helped them turn up the heat on the largemouth bass.
“We kept hearing water temperature in the main lake was 56, 58 degrees,” Dunn said. “But we were fishing in water that was 65 degrees. It’s not much, but it made a huge difference.”
Still, others fished the area but didn’t manage the weight needed to catch the Emmanuel tandem.
“We saw six boats yesterday and today it was about 40,” Dunn said. “The traffic ruined the water color today and made it challenging to get them in the boat.”
Dunn and Mcguffin caught their best fish on a black/blue 6-inch Senko worm on a 5/0 Gamakatsu wide gap hook. They also used white and clear Berkley Stunna jerkbaits and a Berkley General stickbait.
“There were about 30 yards of reeds near the bank by this pipe,” Dunn said. “It was just a great set up.”
Rounding out the Top 5 teams at Okeechobee are second, Joe Vaulton and Walker Larue, Carson-Newman University, 27-8; third, Lane Clark and Tallis Morrison, Erskine College, 26-9; fourth, Bryson Dotson and Victor Alford, Tennessee Wesleyan University, 25-4; and fifth, Nolan Gray and Riley Brown, Carson-Newman University, 25-0.
The Big Bass Award went to Carson-Newman’s Kaden Casey and Collin French who boated an 8-14 largemouth on Day 1, good enough to split a $200 prize. They finished 40th in the tournament.
The Top 22 teams at Okeechobee (10% of the field) earned a spot in the Strike King Bassmaster College Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops later this year. This was the first of three tournaments on the Lunkers Trail this year. B.A.S.S. has a two-division format (both the Legends and Lunkers trails each have three tournaments) which is designed to give college anglers additional opportunities to compete.
Okeechobee County Tourist Development Center hosted this event.
