BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (Feb. 23, 2026) – The Adrian College duo of Braylon Eggerding of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Brady Pinwar of Midland, Michigan, won the MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Lake Seminole Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 28 pounds, 1 ounce. The victory earned the Bulldogs’ bass club $2,000 and a qualification into the 2027 MLF College Fishing National Championship.
“First thing in the morning we made a pretty long run to start in an area where we had found some fish,” Eggerding said. “We weren’t really sure how big they were, but we saw some real big ones on (LiveScope) and didn’t really play around with them too much in practice.”
The team started off with a couple of 1½-pound fish then found a hole in grass that held “super clean” water and Eggerding soon caught a bass that weighed 7-2 on a jerkbait. After boating a 3-pounder, they decided to relocate to a mid-lake area that featured large flats. The team had spent time in the area during practice looking for holes in the grass, and the area soon paid off with a 6-pound bass.
“After that we left and went up the Flint River,” Eggerding said. “We had about 20 pounds with two hours left to go in the tournament. We had found some fish there in some spawning areas in clean pockets in practice. We had some big bites on a swim jig and a speed worm.
“The first spot we hit we did not get a bite,” Eggerding continued. “We ran up to the next little bay and on my first cast I lost one that was six pounds or bigger. Then Brady caught two big ones, and that let us cull two 2-pounders.”
Eggerding said the Adrian College seniors ended their day when Eggerding caught one last big bass on a swim jig with 20 minutes left to fish.
“This win really means a lot to us,” Eggerding said. “We did really well last week at the National Championship at Lake Murray and we had a lot of momentum going. I think that really helped us more than anything. It just feels good to get qualified for next year’s National Championship. We get another crack at it.”
The top 10 teams finished:
1st: Adrian College – Braylon Eggerding, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Brady Pinwar, Midland, Mich., five bass, 28-1, $2,000
2nd: University of Montevallo – Brady McCormick, Harpersville, Ala., and Peyton Sorrow, Abbeville, S.C., five bass, 27-15, $1,000
3rd: Carson-Newman University – Evan Powell, Norwalk, Iowa, and Andrew Turner, Kalispell, Mont., five bass, 23-13, $700
4th: Troy University – Barrett Choquette, Troy, Ala., and Colton Trotter, Dothan, Ala., five bass, 23-7, $600
5th: Adrian College – Paxton Giem, Boyne City, Mich., and Henry Vincent, Richmond, Ind., five bass, 23-5, $500
6th: Faulkner University – Braden Bevington, Cranberry Township, Pa., and Connor Green, Valley, Ala., five bass, 23-3
7th: Campbellsville University – Brock Catlett, Elizabethtown, Ky., and Corey Yarish, Trophy Club, Texas, five bass, 23-2
8th: Adrian College –Gerald Brumbaugh, Martinsburg, Pa., Cole Carr, New Baltimore, Mich., and Quade Lobo, Oroville, Calif., five bass, 23-0
9th: Southwestern Michigan – Bodie Bryans, Buchanan, Mich., and Joey Elliott, Chesterfield, Mich., five bass, 22-10
10th: Carson-Newman University – Trey Marco, Morrisville, Pa., and Jake Rowlands, Dalton, Pa., five bass, 22-5
Complete results for the entire field, along with the full list of National Championship Qualifier teams can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Lake Seminole was hosted by Visit Bainbridge. The next tournament for MLF College Fishing anglers will be the Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia event on Lake Eufaula, March 13 in Eufaula, Alabama.
The 2026 MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia season features college teams from across the country competing in six regular-season open tournaments, plus the Columbia PFG College Fishing Heavy Hitters all-star event. The top 15 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament advance to the 2027 Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia National Championship.
