JASPER, Texas — Garrett Ring and Trace Antunes III had a hunch that a big wave of largemouth would make their way to the backs of the drains on Sam Rayburn Reservoir during the Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops.
It took nearly all the tournament, but their patience and persistence paid off in a big way.
The University of Montevallo duo landed 32 pounds, 8 ounces on Day 2 to earn the come-from-behind victory with a two-day total of 53-6, outlasting Southern Arkansas University’s duo of Trace Loe and Levi Loe and Day 1 leaders Corey Yarish and Brock Catlett from Campbellsville University.
Antunes and Ring, both juniors, have now won the first two tournaments of the Legends Trail division, the first coming in January on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, putting themselves in prime position to win the points race and earn the first spot in the 2026 College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s.
“It doesn’t even feel real,” Antunes said. “Back-to-back, that is nothing but a blessing.”
“This is pretty cool,” Ring added. “We had more jitters at this one, just because such big weights can be dropped at any time.”
While stiff winds made life difficult on the 250-boat field on Day 1, anglers enjoyed much calmer conditions on the final day. The sun also popped out during the afternoon hours, and as a result 226 teams reached limits, several of which eclipsed the 20-pound mark.
Antunes resides in Henderson, Texas, and while he has only been to Sam Rayburn a couple times, his roots helped him decipher what was about to go down this week. He knew if the water temperature reached 60 degrees, a big wave of largemouth would likely make a move to the shallows.
“I fish lakes all over east Texas,” he explained. “That knowledge really helped us this week. I had an idea of what the bass were going to do, and they ended up doing it around noon (Thursday).”
The Montevallo duo targeted a series of shallow drains about six miles away from takeoff at Umphrey’s Family Pavilion, anticipating that shallow push. One drain, which split into three fingers as it reached the spawn flat, stood out above the rest. Those drains featured stumps, brush and an abundance of gizzard shad, making them perfect funneling areas for those prespawn females.
A two-pronged approach was key to their success. At the front of the boat, Antunes controlled the forward-facing sonar and tossed the newly released 7-inch 6th Sense Shindo in gizzard shad as well as a Mr. B Lure Company football jig. On the back deck, Ring rotated between a Berkley Stunna and a 9.25-inch Clutch Boss glidebait.
The wind made life challenging on the Ring and Antunes on Day 1 and water temperatures stayed in the high 50s, but they managed to scrape up 20-14 to keep themselves in contention heading into the final day.
“There was a scattered population (Day 1). Some were out in the middle of the drain and some were on the bank,” Antunes said. “We just needed the water to heat up a little bit.”
“It took us all day to get to 20 pounds,” Ring added.
Midway through the final day, the sun popped out and water temperatures hit that magic number, and almost immediately Ring and Antunes noticed more and bigger bass pushing into the area.
“We had 20 pounds around noon,” Antunes said. “As soon as the water temp hit 60, we saw a change in the movement of the bass. They just started funneling in there. It all fell in line perfectly for us.”
While it was nearly impossible with the wind on Day 1, Ring and Antunes were able to effectively use their shallow-water anchor to keep the boat in the best position for accurate casts. When they hit the 30-pound mark on Day 2, Ring felt they had a shot to win, but knew it was no sure thing.
“We knew the guys above us could still come in with a 20-pound bag and beat us,” Ring said. “But when we hit the 30-mark, we felt good about our chances, but knew anything could happen. Someone could have come in with a 40 or even 50-pound bag.”
Trace and Levi were one of the more consistent teams this week on Rayburn, landing limits weighing 26-3 and 24-2 to notch a runner-up finish. The duo from the Southern Arkansas University targeted prespawn largemouth in one of the big pockets on Sam Rayburn.
While the timber they were targeting was in 12 to 15 feet of water, many of the bass they caught were hovering just under the surface. A 4.0 6th Sense Ozzie rigged on an 1/8-ounce Owner Range Roller jighead produced most of their bites as well as a jerkbait.
“On Day 1, we were just trying to get out of the wind and went in this pocket,” Trace said. “They were feeding on baitfish before they went up to spawn.”
Cloud cover on Day 1 and the morning hours of Day 2 made it difficult for Levi and Trace to get a bite, but once the sun came out, the bass started roaming and they could target the better class of largemouth with their forward-facing sonar.
They anchored their bag with a nearly 7-pounder Levi caught just before they were about to leave the area, making up for a lost 5-pounder earlier in the afternoon.
“I was pulling up the trolling motor and saw that bass sitting there,” Trace said. “Levi threw over there and caught it.”
After an impressive limit weighing 31-8 on Day 1, Yarish and Catlett caught 14-11 on Day 2 and fell to third. The Campbellsville juniors caught staging prespawners in a popular region of Sam Rayburn, with one particular hard spot producing the bulk of their Day 1 weight.
They returned on Day 2, and although they landed a 5-pounder and a 3-pounder right off the bat, the bite quickly slowed and they scrambled to fill out their limit.
“Going into today, we had a feeling we were going to have to catch them early,” Yarish said. “We caught a 5-pounder on our first cast in there, and then a 3, and within 15 minutes they were gone. They never really schooled back up.”
When the bass were grouped up on the hard spot, Yarish and Catlett did most of their damage on a Strike King 8XD. When the bite got tougher and the bass spread out, they tossed a Neko-rigged Berkley Magnum Hit Worm with either a 1/16-ounce or 3/32-ounce nail weight.
Seth Prather and Jacob Longlois from Drury University landed the Big Bass of the Tournament, a 10-14 largemouth they caught on Day 1 that earned them the $100 bonus.
The Top 25 teams earned a ticket to the 2026 Strike King Bassmaster College Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops scheduled for Aug. 20-22 at Minnesota’s Leech Lake.
All teams earned points towards the Legends Trail Team of the Year race, a division that will wrap up on Kerr Reservoir in Muskogee, Okla. April 29-30. The winner of the Legends Team of the Year race will punch their ticket to the 2026 College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s.
Jasper Development District No. 1 hosted this event.
2026 Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2026 BassmasterCollege Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2026 BassmasterCollege Series Platinum Sponsor: Progressive, Toyota
2026Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2026 Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Lew’s, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, VMC, Yokohama
2026 Bassmaster College Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar
