Scott And Fernandes Jump Into Top Spot At Bassmaster College Series National Championship

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Hayden Scott and Griffin Fernandes of Michigan’s Adrian College are leading after Day 2 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops at the St. Lawrence River with a two-day total of 43 pounds, 4 ounces. 

                                                                                                                                                   Photo by Dalton Tumblin/B.A.S.S.

August 13, 2021

Scott And Fernandes Jump Into Top Spot At Bassmaster College Series National Championship

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WADDINGTON, N.Y. — In their previous two Bassmaster College Series National Championship appearances, Hayden Scott and Griffin Fernandes of Adrian College had not been able to push themselves into the final-day cut.

They finally achieved that goal by catching 20 pounds, 6 ounces during Friday’s second round of the 2021 Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops on the St. Lawrence River. They now lead the 125-boat field with a two-day total of 43-4.

The Murray State University duo of Adam Puckett and Brendan Bingham is only 7 ounces behind in second, heading into Championship Saturday.

“I’m really excited,” Fernandes said. “This is my first championship cut and the third one I’ve fished. I’m ready to get back out there and see what we can do. We are around big fish and I think we have a lot of good stuff to rotate tomorrow. We just have to hope that the right ones pull up when we are there.”

Scott and Fernandes have come close to winning a College Series event in the past, finishing second as recently as this year at Smith Lake.

“We’ve come so close at so many events,” Scott said. “Going into this event, we knew this was going to be our best shot to pull one off. We are pretty excited to get after it tomorrow. We know we are around them.”

The team from Adrian, Mich., entered the second day in third with 22-14 and started on the same rotation that produced the majority of their weight the previous day. The bite didn’t materialize until later in the morning, starting with a 3-pounder.

After finding a local boat already on a spot they wanted to fish, they pulled up on a new stretch and immediately found success.

“We pull up and we catch a 6-pounder,” Fernandes said. “That was a good start and then we started rotating everything in the area and we caught another really big one. We made small upgrades here and there throughout the day.”

That smallmouth officially weighed 5-9 and was the Big Bass of the day. The spot that produced their biggest bite of the day set up similarly to the other areas in the rotation, and Scott said landing those big fish has given them the confidence to stick with their program.

“After practice, we really weren’t sure what we were going to catch. We could either come in with 13 pounds or 20 pounds,” Scott said. “So, to start off the morning with a 3-pounder and then catch that kicker right off the bat, it rejuvenates us to keep grinding and keep working through it. Once you catch a fish like that, you know you need to catch a solid limit to have a shot.”

After starting the day in seventh, Puckett and Bingham landed 22-0 to move into second with a two-day total of 42-13. Puckett will be attempting to win his second national championship of his college career after winning the FLW National Championship in 2019.

During the first two hours of the day, Puckett said he and Bingham landed only one of their first five bites, but kept moving through their rotation and found success later in the day.

“We just stuck with it. Where we got bites, we knew we would get bites. They just showed up,” Puckett said. “We went back into an area that we caught a 5-pounder in and Bingham caught one that was 3 pounds and culled one of our smallest fish. It was a big cull for us.”

Throughout the week, Puckett and Bingham’s bigger bites have been spread out. Their main focus has been on underwater current breaks. They have only seen one other boat fish one of their spots and they believe a lot of other teams are overlooking what they have found.

“It turned out you would catch a 4-pounder and then maybe a little one and that would be it,” Bingham said. “Today, we got to hit a few spots more (than Thursday). We went back to a couple of spots where we caught some earlier in the day and they were there again. It seems like it reloads slowly. They are up there to feed and it is a specific spot.”

Jacob Woods and Samuel Vandagriff from Tennessee Tech caught 19-14 on Day 2 to lift them from sixth place to third with 40-14.

“It is definitely a learning curve up here. He’s from middle Tennessee and I’m from East Tennessee,” Woods said. “This is all new to us and we are having a blast.”

In practice, the duo struggled to find productive smallmouth water, but at one particular spot they caught one fish. That one fish was enough for them to gravitate to that area during competition, and they caught the majority of their weight in that location.

Woods and Vandagriff did, however, start the tournament fishing for largemouth on Day 1 and caught a 5-pounder.

“Yesterday, we got down there and caught two 5-pound smallmouth and ended up with 21 pounds,” Woods said. “This morning we went straight to that spot, sat there and mined it for all its worth. It produced today. It was a very blessed day.”

While Scott and Fernandes claimed the biggest bass of the day, Tripp Bowman and Blakely Young from Louisiana State University-Shreveport remained in control of the Carhartt Big Bass of the tournament with a 6-10 smallmouth they caught on Day 1.

The Top 12 punched their tickets to Championship Saturday and will take off at 6:30 a.m. ET from Whittaker Park. The weigh-in will be held back at the park at 2:30 p.m., with the Top 3 teams after the final day qualifying for the College Classic Bracket.

This week’s tournament is being hosted by the Village of Waddington, St. Lawrence County Chamber and Clarkson University. The tournament is also supported by a Market New York grant from I LOVE NY/New York State’s Division of Tourism awarded as part of the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. The tournament and all associated festivities are being planned to ensure the safety of athletes, staff and guests.

2021 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops 8/12-8/14
St. Lawrence River, Waddington  NY.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2

    Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Hayden Scott – Griffin Fernandes             Adrian College                      250
Day 1: 5   22-14     Day 2: 5   20-06   Total:  10  43-04
2.  Adam Puckett – Brendan Bingham               Murray State University             249
Day 1: 5   20-13     Day 2: 5   22-00   Total:  10  42-13
3.  Jacob Woods – Samuel Vandagriff              Tennessee Tech University           248
Day 1: 5   21-00     Day 2: 5   19-14   Total:  10  40-14
4.  Tristan McCormick – Stevie Mills             Bethel University                   247
Day 1: 5   24-09     Day 2: 5   16-01   Total:  10  40-10
5.  James Gillis – Craig Beucler                 Clarkson University                 246
Day 1: 5   21-09     Day 2: 5   18-14   Total:  10  40-07
6.  Hunter Bond – GL Compton                     Clemson University                  245
Day 1: 5   23-12     Day 2: 5   15-10   Total:  10  39-06
7.  Jack Tindell – Brett Fregia                  Lamar State College Orange          244
Day 1: 5   21-07     Day 2: 5   17-07   Total:  10  38-14
8.  Sam Hanggi – Sam Hoesley                     Auburn University                   243
Day 1: 5   17-15     Day 2: 5   20-15   Total:  10  38-14
9.  Conner Crosby – James Cobbs                  Auburn University                   242
Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 5   20-09   Total:  10  38-04
10. Tyler Christy – Trey Schroeder               McKendree University                241
Day 1: 5   18-05     Day 2: 5   19-12   Total:  10  38-01
11. Joe McClosky – Ryan Winchester               Bethel University                   240
Day 1: 5   20-01     Day 2: 5   17-09   Total:  10  37-10
12. Logan Anderson – Tyler Little                North Carolina State University     239
Day 1: 5   13-09     Day 2: 5   23-00   Total:  10  36-09
13. Dante Piraino – Hunter Stone                 Clarkson University                 238
Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 5   18-14   Total:  10  36-09
14. Rob Lindsey – Mason Cizek                    Bryan College                       237
Day 1: 5   16-13     Day 2: 5   19-08   Total:  10  36-05
15. Tyler Vanbrandt – Jarrod Layton              Adrian College                      236
Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   18-02   Total:  10  35-14
16. James Willoughby – Chance Schwartz           University of Montevallo            235
Day 1: 5   18-01     Day 2: 5   17-13   Total:  10  35-14
17. Cole Holloway – Taylor Mcmullen              Emmanuel College                    234
Day 1: 5   20-02     Day 2: 5   15-07   Total:  10  35-09
18. Tyler Campbell – Caleb Hudson                Emmanuel College                    233
Day 1: 5   17-01     Day 2: 5   18-05   Total:  10  35-06
19. Tyler Lubbat – Hayden O’barr                                                     232
Day 1: 5   17-04     Day 2: 5   17-07   Total:  10  34-11
20. Daelyn Whaley – Cy Casey                     Emmanuel College                    231
Day 1: 5   19-06     Day 2: 5   15-02   Total:  10  34-08
21. Tommy Sendek – Andrew Howell                 University of Montevallo            230
Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   18-13   Total:  10  34-06
22. Grayson Morris –                             University of Montevalllo           229
Day 1: 5   19-09     Day 2: 5   14-12   Total:  10  34-05
23. Weston Hollar – Wesley Gore                  University of Montevallo            228
Day 1: 5   14-03     Day 2: 5   20-00   Total:  10  34-03
24. Ben Cully – Hayden Gaddis                    Carson-Newman University            227
Day 1: 5   18-04     Day 2: 5   15-12   Total:  10  34-00
25. Jack York – Jacob Miller                     Stephen F Austin State Universit    226
Day 1: 5   17-02     Day 2: 5   16-14   Total:  10  34-00
26. Hunter Baird – Beau Browning                 Drury University                    225
Day 1: 5   18-10     Day 2: 5   15-04   Total:  10  33-14
27. Connor Nimrod – Jacob Andrews                University of Louisiana Monroe      224
Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 5   17-03   Total:  10  33-14
28. Reagan Nelson – Caden Cowan                  Tarleton State University           223
Day 1: 5   17-08     Day 2: 5   16-01   Total:  10  33-09
29. Pierce Knarr – Ryan Lowe                     University of Iowa                  222
Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 5   15-11   Total:  10  33-04
30. Colin Slentz – Evan Slentz                   Lander University                   221
Day 1: 5   18-14     Day 2: 5   14-05   Total:  10  33-03
31. Lafe Messer – Matt Messer                    Kentucky Christian University       220
Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   19-04   Total:  10  32-12
32. Peyton McCord – Caleb Whitehurst             Auburn University                   219
Day 1: 5   19-02     Day 2: 5   13-10   Total:  10  32-12
33. Solomon Glenn – Ryan Thomas                  University of Montervallo           218
Day 1: 5   15-08     Day 2: 5   17-00   Total:  10  32-08
34. Kyle Simmons – Brett Halstead                Kansas State University             217
Day 1: 5   17-13     Day 2: 5   14-10   Total:  10  32-07
35. Jackson Swisher – Seth Slanker               Florida Gateway College             216
Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 5   14-13   Total:  10  32-06
36. Chase Clarke – Mitchell Peterson             Auburn University                   215
Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 5   19-10   Total:  10  32-02
37. Joshua DeKoning – Dalton Mollenkopf          Adrian College                      214
Day 1: 5   14-04     Day 2: 5   17-12   Total:  10  32-00
38. Gus Mclarry – Dawson Cassidy                                                     213
Day 1: 5   16-00     Day 2: 5   15-12   Total:  10  31-12
39. Kayden Tanner – Trevor Easter                Tarleton State University           212
Day 1: 5   15-10     Day 2: 5   15-11   Total:  10  31-05
40. Drew Gill – Zebulon Frasure                  Wabash Valley College               211
Day 1: 5   16-10     Day 2: 5   14-06   Total:  10  31-00
41. Mason Phillpotts – Drake Shipman                                                 210
Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 5   13-06   Total:  10  30-15
42. Jacob Lambert – Austin Smith                 Carson-Newman University            209
Day 1: 5   17-03     Day 2: 5   13-08   Total:  10  30-11
43. Michael Postlewait – Andrew Rickman          Dallas Baptist University           208
Day 1: 4   09-15     Day 2: 5   20-11   Total:   9  30-10
44. Austin Carr – Justin Carr                                                        207
Day 1: 5   17-08     Day 2: 5   12-15   Total:  10  30-07
45. Andrew Harp – John Higginbotham              Louisiana Tech University           206
Day 1: 5   18-09     Day 2: 5   11-13   Total:  10  30-06
46. Dalton Smith – Cade Hayford                  Campbellsville University           205
Day 1: 5   13-09     Day 2: 5   16-13   Total:  10  30-06
47. Grayson Perkins – Luke Barrett                                                   204
Day 1: 5   13-05     Day 2: 5   17-00   Total:  10  30-05
48. Blake Brashears – Tyler Stacy                University of Kentucky              203
Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   16-10   Total:  10  29-14
49. Carter Ball – Austin Tapley                  Adrian College                      202
Day 1: 5   15-15     Day 2: 5   13-15   Total:  10  29-14
50. Nathan Doty – Bailey Bleser                  McKendree University                201
Day 1: 5   13-05     Day 2: 5   16-07   Total:  10  29-12
51. Trevor McKinney – Blake Jackson              McKendree University                200
Day 1: 5   14-02     Day 2: 5   15-08   Total:  10  29-10
52. Robert Cruvellier – Sam Harvey               Auburn University                   199
Day 1: 5   17-10     Day 2: 5   11-14   Total:  10  29-08
53. Cole Rankin – Ewing Minor                    Carson-Newman University            198
Day 1: 5   14-14     Day 2: 5   14-10   Total:  10  29-08
54. Mitchell Gunn – Kyle Kunst                                                       197
Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 5   17-06   Total:  10  29-05
55. Robert Gee – Chase Dawson                    University of Tennessee             196
Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  29-05
56. Tyler Cory – Scott Sledge                    University of Montevallo            195
Day 1: 5   15-13     Day 2: 5   12-10   Total:  10  28-07
57. Kollin Smith – Lilly Smith                   Emmanuel College                    194
Day 1: 5   14-07     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  28-07
58. Chris Payne – Chad Sentell                   Tennessee                           193
Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   14-09   Total:  10  28-01
59. Carson Maddux – Jake Maddux                  Auburn University                   192
Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  27-13
60. Louis Monetti –                                                                  191
Day 1: 3   08-08     Day 2: 5   19-03   Total:   8  27-11
61. Brian Linder – Nathan Thompson               Minnesota State – Mankato           190
Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   13-15   Total:  10  27-11
62. Jackson Ebbers – Charlie DeShazer            University of Nebraska-Lincoln      189
Day 1: 5   16-02     Day 2: 5   11-04   Total:  10  27-06
63. Taylor Mazur – Keegan Witt                   St Cloud State University           188
Day 1: 5   14-13     Day 2: 5   12-09   Total:  10  27-06
64. Calvin Landsberg – Jack Palaia                                                   187
Day 1: 5   13-01     Day 2: 5   14-05   Total:  10  27-06
65. Bennett Kudder – Andrew Fisher               Bryan College                       186
Day 1: 5   13-02     Day 2: 5   14-04   Total:  10  27-06
66. Rudy Worley – John Nowlin                    Blue Mountain College               185
Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   14-02   Total:  10  27-06
67. Cordell Beckman –                            Greenville University               184
Day 1: 4   11-06     Day 2: 5   15-15   Total:   9  27-05
68. Logan Parks – Tucker Smith                   Auburn University                   183
Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   13-12   Total:  10  27-04
69. Blair Cox – Keegan Barber                    Missouri State University             0
Day 1: 5   15-02     Day 2: 5   12-01   Total:  10  27-03
70. Jamesen Simion – Alex Strunk                 Bowling Green State                 181
Day 1: 5   13-13     Day 2: 5   12-13   Total:  10  26-10
71. Caden Sweeten – Samuel Heichel                Bemidji State                      180
Day 1: 4   07-10     Day 2: 5   18-15   Total:   9  26-09
72. Cole Breeden – Cameron Smith                 Drury University                    179
Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   11-08   Total:  10  26-07
73. Hunter Fillmore – Coleman Bingham            Bethel University                   178
Day 1: 5   13-10     Day 2: 5   12-11   Total:  10  26-05
74. Cal Culpepper – Mason Waddell                University of Montevallo            177
Day 1: 4   10-11     Day 2: 5   15-06   Total:   9  26-01
75. Britt Myers – Tyler Anderson                 Lander University                   176
Day 1: 5   11-13     Day 2: 5   14-03   Total:  10  26-00
76. Hunter Loftin – Mac Johnston-Herzberg        Missouri State University           175
Day 1: 4   12-00     Day 2: 5   13-14   Total:   9  25-14
77. Zach Salters – Jenson Kay                    Adrian College                      174
Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   12-08   Total:  10  25-12
78. Brooks Anderson – Parker Guy                 Emmanuel College                    173
Day 1: 4   09-10     Day 2: 5   15-14   Total:   9  25-08
79. Brenton Godwin – Hunter Odom                 University of Montevallo            172
Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 5   12-15   Total:  10  25-07
80. Jeremy Dellinger – Nathan Smith              Catawba Valley Community College    171
Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   12-01   Total:  10  25-05
81. Cole Hopson – Phillip Green                                                      170
Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 5   11-10   Total:  10  25-01
82. Brad Ableman – Kyle Palmer                   Bethel University                   169
Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 5   15-02   Total:  10  24-12
83. Ty Black – Avry Thomason                     Georgia Southern University         168
Day 1: 5   10-12     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  24-12
84. Kaleb Brown –                                Lander University                   167
Day 1: 3   07-05     Day 2: 5   17-06   Total:   8  24-11
85. Connor Jacob – Sam Smith                     Auburn University                   166
Day 1: 5   09-14     Day 2: 5   14-09   Total:  10  24-07
86. Ryan Park – Sam Niemeyer                     Murray State University             165
Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 4   10-14   Total:   9  24-05
87. Connor Cartmell – Andrew Vereen              Coastal Carolina University         164
Day 1: 5   09-12     Day 2: 5   14-02   Total:  10  23-14
88. Lucas Smith – Dalton Mize                    Jacksonville State University       163
Day 1: 4   09-12     Day 2: 5   14-01   Total:   9  23-13
89. Christian Wright – Conner Giles              Bryan College                       162
Day 1: 5   12-07     Day 2: 5   11-06   Total:  10  23-13
90. Jackson Staib – Baylor Howell                Bethel University                   161
Day 1: 5   12-06     Day 2: 5   10-11   Total:  10  23-01
91. Ethan Jones – Joseph Bruener                 McKendree University                160
Day 1: 5   10-13     Day 2: 5   11-04   Total:  10  22-01
92. Ty Mundhenke – Cam Busby                     Auburn University                   159
Day 1: 5   09-00     Day 2: 5   13-00   Total:  10  22-00
93. Braden Perry – Aidan England                 Carson-Newman University            158
Day 1: 5   12-07     Day 2: 5   09-09   Total:  10  22-00
94. Garrett Thompson – Ethan Perry               West Virginia University            157
Day 1: 5   09-07     Day 2: 5   12-07   Total:  10  21-14
95. Easton Fothergill – Nick Dumke               University of Montevallo            156
Day 1: 5   10-13     Day 2: 5   10-14   Total:  10  21-11
96. Gunner Whitaker – Mitchell Johnson           Kentucky Christian University       155
Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 5   11-14   Total:  10  21-08
97. Caleb Dachenhaus – Elliot Wielgopolski       Adrian College                      154
Day 1: 5   11-00     Day 2: 5   10-04   Total:  10  21-04
98. Chase Carey – Dylan Akins                    Emmanuel College                    153
Day 1: 5   08-14     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  21-02
99. Jack Dice –                                  Liberty University                  152
Day 1: 5   08-07     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  20-11
100. Spencer Black – Lucas Oliver                 Catawba Valley Community College    151
Day 1: 5   10-05     Day 2: 5   10-02   Total:  10  20-07
101. Hunter Waldrop – Mark Kershaw                University of South Carolina Uni    150
Day 1: 5   10-03     Day 2: 5   08-05   Total:  10  18-08
102. Matt Baker – Kory England                    Arkansas Tech University            149
Day 1: 4   08-10     Day 2: 3   08-11   Total:   7  17-05
103. Alden Keel Jr – Lake Norsworthy              Blue Mountain College               148
Day 1: 2   06-01     Day 2: 5   10-14   Total:   7  16-15
104. Tripp Bowman – Blakely Young                 Louisiana State University-Shrev    147
Day 1: 2   07-12     Day 2: 5   08-09   Total:   7  16-05
105. Cole Lamb – Tristan Weaver                   Arkansas Tech University            146
Day 1: 4   07-13     Day 2: 5   07-08   Total:   9  15-05
106. Tanner Barnes – Jordan Smallwood             Campbellsville University           145
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   15-00   Total:   5  15-00
107. Ryan Feehan – Perry Marvin                   Virginia Tech University            144
Day 1: 3   09-10     Day 2: 2   05-06   Total:   5  15-00
108. Chase Sansom – Tyler Drown                   Marshall University                 143
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   14-13   Total:   5  14-13
109. Harmon Marien – Devon Rathbun                McKendree University                142
Day 1: 5   14-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  14-06
110. Easton Lindus –                              Emmanuel College                    141
Day 1: 4   10-00     Day 2: 3   04-03   Total:   7  14-03
111. Lane Bailey – Justin Eggers                  Catawba Valley Community College    140
Day 1: 5   10-02     Day 2: 2   03-15   Total:   7  14-01
112. Bryar Chambers – Clent Blackwood             Wallace State                       139
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   13-08   Total:   5  13-08
113. Jacob Emery – Aaron Jagdfeld                 Adrian College                      138
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   12-10   Total:   5  12-10
114. Evan Thomas – Alex Briggs                    Liberty University                  137
Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  11-15
115. Hunter Haraway – Malcolm Patton              Calhoun Community College           136
Day 1: 5   08-14     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  08-14
116. Allex Conner – Grant Hack                    Ohio State University               135
Day 1: 2   08-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  08-11
117. Brock Williams – Christopher Batts           Ohio State University               134
Day 1: 5   06-04     Day 2: 1   01-13   Total:   6  08-01
118. Aaron Cherry – Chandler Holt                 University of Montevallo            133
Day 1: 3   07-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  07-06
119. Nate Lesch – Will Schibig                    Tennessee Tech University           132
Day 1: 3   04-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  04-15
120. Cam Cornelius – Jordan Nicely                Georgetown College                    0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
120. Brady Harp – Garrett Warren                  Auburn University                     0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
120. Benjamin Moore – David Gadd                  Eastern Kentucky University           0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
120. Chad Pruner – Ethan Ange                                                           0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
120. Paul Tabisz – James Ge                       University of Michigan                0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
120. Emil Wagner – William Perry                  Ole Miss                              0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
1        97       546      1611-05
2       107       550      1636-13
———————————-
204      1096      3248-02