BROOKELAND, Texas (March 14, 2022) – The Texas A&M-Commerce duo of Gus McLarry of Caddo Mills, Texas, and Jared West of Royse City, Texas, won the MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 28 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Lions’ bass club $2,000 and a slot in the 2023 MLF College Fishing National Championship.
“I would say we had most of our weight – probably 23 pounds – in the first 20 minutes,” McLarry said. “We made a 20-minute run up-lake and started off in a deeper channel swing cranking a Wild Shad-colored 6th Sense Cloud 9 Series Crankbait. Then the bite just died off. So, at noon we decided to go around and scan some offshore timber.”
The team targeted bass with a 6th Sense Provoke 106 Sinking Jerkbait and culled up with bigger bass twice with that approach. McLarry said they also caught a number of fish on a Carolina rig, but none of those fish added to their final weight. McLarry added that they caught 25 keepers during the course of the day and that their biggest bass of the day, an 8½-pounder, fell for the C25 crankbait.
“We’ve worked really hard to win a college tournament,” McLarry said. “This is my third year and Jared’s first. I’ve been on Rayburn a few times, and it’s always kicked my butt, so it felt really good to come out here and get a win on a lake that’s kicked my butt so many times.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2023 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Texas A&M-Commerce – Gus McLarry, Caddo Mills, Texas, and Jared West, Royse City, Texas, five bass, 28-9, $2,000
2nd: Sam Houston State – Blake Castleberry and Garrett Moss, both of Huntsville, Texas, five bass, 28-6, $1,000
3rd: Stephen F. Austin State University – Nolan Yeager, Lucas, Texas, five bass, 27-4, $500
4th: Louisiana Tech University – Kent Berry, Calhoun, La., and Will Lambert, West Monroe, La., five bass, 27-2, $500
5th: University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Nathan Lee, Eau Claire, Wis., and Nathan Meyers, Freeport, Ill., five bass, 27-0, $500
6th: University of North Carolina at Charlotte – Samuel Dunson, Chapel Hill, N.C., and Jake Monti, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 25-14
7th: Stephen F. Austin State University – J.D. Clarke, Chester, Texas, and Hunter Muncrief, Pineland, Texas, five bass, 25-14
8th: Stephen F. Austin State University – Cal Cameron, Coppell, Texas, and Ryan Pero, Allen, Texas, five bass, 24-13
9th: East Texas Baptist University – Brent Jolley, Kingwood, Texas, and Cade Nettles, Stonewall, La., five bass, 23-8
10th: Stephen F. Austin State University – Jacob Miller, Fort Worth, Texas, and Jack York, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 22-12
MLF also advances one additional team to the National Championship for every 10 teams over 100 that compete. A total of 152 teams participated in this event, so also advancing to the 2023 College Fishing National Championship are:
11th: University of Central Florida – Jonathan Waters, Orlando, Fla., and Marshall Wiggins, Eustis, Fla., five bass, 20-7
12th: Louisiana State University Shreveport – Brayden Nichols, Blanchard, La, and William Tew, Bossier City, La., five bass, 20-0
13th: University of Oklahoma – Sam Dover and Cade Shropshire, both of Norman, Okla., five bass, 19-14
14th: Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Grayson Hudson, Keifer, Okla., and Matthew Huffman, Park Hill, Okla., three bass, 19-11
15th: Grand Valley State University – Eric Hanover, Linwood, Mich., and Zachary McNary, Crown Point, Ind., five bass, 19-9
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper County Development District. It was the second of three regular-season tournaments for Southern Conference anglers. The next event for College Fishing anglers will be the 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance, March 29-31, at Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma.
MLF College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open will advance to the following season’s National Championship. The 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance will be held on Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma, March 29-31, and is hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce.
Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.