EDGEWOOD, Md. (June 3, 2019) – Early summer on Chesapeake Bay the Adrian College duo of Ryan Sharnas of Davison, Michigan, and Brandon Herzberg of Clarklake, Michigan, win the YETI FLW College Fishing event on the Chesapeake Bay presented by Bass Pro Shops Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 11 ounces. The victory earned the Bulldogs’ bass club $2,000 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“To win feels pretty amazing,” said Herzberg, a recent graduate of Adrian College with a degree in business management. “Ryan and I have fished for four years and this was basically the last tournament of our career. We’ve put in a lot of hard work over the past four years and to walk away with a win feels great.”
“We definitely weren’t expecting to win,” said Sharnas, also a recent graduate with a degree in criminal justice. “We had found some areas on the Susquehanna Flats during practice, but we had no idea they were holding as many fish as they were.”
The duo said they caught around 40 keepers throughout the day, keying on certain areas of grass that were a bit taller than the eelgrass and milfoil.
“Certain types of grass seemed to hold more fish than others,” Sharnas said. “When everything came together and lined up – the right depth, the right grass and the tide change – it was game on. The most important thing was that you had to make contact with the weeds and rip it through – almost every cast my squarebill would come back with grass on it.”
A Rapala BX Brat squarebill crankbait (Rock Solid) and a Terminator Swimjig (black and blue) with a Bass Pro Shops Sassy Sally swimbait (black and blue with silver flake) trailer were the key baits for the Bulldog club.
“I think the key was the time we spent covering water on that Flat,” Herzberg said. “We put in a lot of time graphing and fishing and once we found the sweet spot we were able to roll up at the right time with the right tide and put everything together.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2020 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Adrian College – Ryan Sharnas, Davison, Mich., and Brandon Herzberg, Clarklake, Mich., five bass, 21-11, $2,650
2nd: Youngstown State University – Jeffrey Jardine, Niles, Ohio, and Mike Soots, McDonald, Ohio, five bass, 19-3, $1,200
3rd: Slippery Rock University – Nathan Quince, Imperial, Pa., and Cody Neal, Evans City, Pa., five bass, 19-0, $700
4th: Adrian College – Jack Hippe III, Davison, Mich., and Griffin Fernandes, McCordsville, Ind., five bass, 18-14, $500
5th: Adrian College – Blake Johnson, Mooresville, Ind., and Myles Jackman, White Lake, Mich., five bass, 18-1, $500
6th: Penn State University – Jonathan Dietz, Corry, Pa., and Ryan Fox, Thornhurst, Pa., five bass, 17-14
7th: Ramapo College – Alex Johnson, Milltown, N.J., and Zachary Potter, Haddon Township, N.J., five bass, 16-7
8th: Adrian College – Alex Henderson, Mooresville, Ind., and Chase Serafin, White Lake, Mich., five bass, 16-2
9th: Adrian College – Jarrod Layton, Maybee, Mich., and Matthew Davis, Coloma, Mich., five bass, 16-1
10th: Western Michigan University – Mason Vernia, Schoolcraft, Mich., and Ryan Bradway, Okemos, Mich., five bass, 15-8
Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The YETI FLW College Fishing event on the Chesapeake Bay presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by the Visit Harford. It was the second of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Northern Conference anglers. The next event for FLW College Fishing anglers will be the YETI FLW College Fishing at the Mississippi River in Wabasha presented by Evinrude, July 19 at the Mississippi River in Wabasha, Minnesota.
YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. 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. The top 10 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 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW and their multiple tournament circuits at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube
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 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show 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.