GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (May 2, 2023) – The University of Missouri duo of Cale McCandless of Wentzville, Missouri, and Mitchell Post of Columbia, Missouri, won the MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Guntersville Presented by Crock-O-Gator on Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 15 ounces. The victory earned the Tiger’s bass club $2,000 and a qualification into the 2024 MLF College Fishing National Championship.
“What an experience this has been,” a happy McCandless said on-stage after being crowned champions. “We were on the waiting list, and we got a call on Tuesday asking if we wanted to get in. We sent it, drove down here to Alabama, and had no idea that this was going to turn out this way.”
“I don’t fish grass – we don’t even know what grass it,” McCandless continued. “We just fished our strengths and sat on the same spots out deep for 5 to 6 hours.”
The duo said they caught all of their fish on a 6th Sense C20 crankbait and a Cellar Baits swimbait on the deep grassline edges.
“We didn’t have a lot of bites, but they were all big bites,” Post said. “It was an amazing day.”
The 10 teams at the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Guntersville Presented by Crock-O-Gator finished:
1st: University of Missouri – Cale McCandless, Wentzville, Mo., and Mitchell Post, Columbia, Mo., five bass, 21-15, $2,000
2nd: Bethel University – Hunter Fillmore, Waynesville, Ohio, and Dylan Fogarty, Mechanicsburg, Pa., five bass, 21-5, $1,000
3rd: Auburn University – Hayden Marbut, Birmingham, Ala., and Tucker Smith, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 20-15, $700
4th: Carson-Newman University – Caz Anderson, Haysville, N.C., and Will Harris, Athens, Tenn., five bass, 20-15, $600
5th: University of North Alabama – Nathan Reynolds, Nashville, Tenn., and Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., five bass, 20-2, $500
6th: Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Brayden Nichols, Blanchard, La., and William Tew, Bossier City, La., five bass, 20-0
7th: Auburn University – Jordan Brewer, Roswell, Ga., and Sam Harvey, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 19-13
8th: University of Tennessee – Jackson Paden, Knoxville, Tenn., and Chad Sentell, Cottontown, Tenn., five bass, 19-7
9th: University of Montevallo – Aaron Cherry, Dothan, Ala., and Hudson Choquette, Headland, Ala., five bass, 19-6
10th: King University – Tyler Altizer, Abingdon, Va., and Dylan Thomson, Shady Valley, Tenn., five bass, 19-4
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Guntersville Presented by Crock-O-Gator was hosted by Marshall County Tourism & Sports. The next event for College Fishing anglers will be the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI on Lake Champlain, June 25 in Plattsburgh, New York.
The 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI features college teams from across the country competing in nine regular-season tournaments. The top 12 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament advance to the 2024 Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, 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.