GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (March 5, 2018) – The University of Tennessee team of John Lambert of Blountville, Tennessee, and Logan Brewster of Maryville, Tennessee, won the largest collegiate fishing tournament of all-time – 273 boats – Saturday at the YETI FLW College Fishing event on Lake Guntersville presented by Berkley.
The duo weighed a five-bass limit of 25 pounds, 9 ounces to best the massive field, which included Jake Fromm, starting quarterback for the NCAA College Football National Championship runner-up Georgia Bulldogs.
The victory earned the Volunteers bass club $2,400 and a spot in the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Eleven limits in excess of 20 pounds were brought to the scale.
“We only caught 8 fish all day long, but they were the right size,” said Lambert, a sophomore majoring in construction science. “We were fishing in an area right across from the takeoff ramp at the State Park. We had our boat sitting in 6 feet of water and we were throwing into 2 feet, just burning our ChatterBaits over the grass.”
“The area we were fishing in Seibold Creek, targeting the grass,” said Brewster, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. “We were very thorough – we knew the fish were there.”
Lambert said that he and his partner each threw green-pumpkin-colored vibrating jigs – Brewster, an EverGreen Jackhammer, and Lambert, a Z-Man Original ChaterBait, with green-pumpkin Yamamoto Zako swimbait trailers.
“I caught a couple on a RyPro Cyclebait, but all of our limit that we weighed came on the ChatterBaits,” Lambert said. “It took us awhile to figure it out, but slowing down was key for us. We had to fish it over the grass, but slowly.”
“The bait had to be ticking the bottom or the grass to trigger the bites, you couldn’t burn it too fast,” Brewster added.
The top 10 teams on Lake Guntersville that advanced to the 2019 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: University of Tennessee – John Lambert of Blountville, Tenn., and Logan Brewster, Maryville, Tenn., five bass, 25-9, $2,400
2nd: University of South Carolina – Trevor Topken, Warwick, N.Y., and Brandon Biby, New City, N.Y., five bass, 24-7, $1,000
3rd: Bethel University – Cole Walker, Counce, Tenn., and Wilson Smith, Southaven, Miss., five bass, 22-4, $500
4th: University of North Alabama – Drake Tavel, Dora, Ala., and Parker Davis, Morris, Ala., five bass, 22-2, $700
5th: Mississippi State University – Tristan Hendrix, Hoover, Ala., and Grant Hyche, Sterrett, Ala., five bass, 22-0, $500
6th: Bethel University – Dax Ewart, Humboldt, Tenn., and Logan Millsaps, Jasper, Ga., five bass, 21-15
7th: University of Montevallo – Dallin Hatter, Brookwood, Ala., and J.T. Russell, McCalla, Ala., five bass, 21-4
8th: Calhoun Community College – Christopher Lupo, Huntsville, Ala., and Austen Willard, Athens, Ala., five bass, 20-14
9th: Presbyterian College – Thomas Broom and Andrew Snellgrove, both of York, S.C., five bass, 20-12
10th: Auburn University – Sean Murphy, Lutz, Fla., and William Phillips, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 20-5
Complete results for the entire 273-boat field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The YETI FLW College Fishing on Lake Guntersville presented by Berkley was hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and was the second of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Southeastern Conference anglers in 2018. The next YETI FLW College Fishing event takes place March 6-7, when college anglers from around the country compete at the annual FLW College Fishing Open at Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky.
YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.
The 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship will take place May 30-June 1 on the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission & Red River Waterway Commission.
YETI FLW College Fishing is free to enter. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, and South Africa.
FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.