COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 13, 2026) – If you’re looking for a three-day, championship-level bass tournament that’s a dependable battle royale, the Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia circuit has evolved into about the closest thing in the sport to a sure thing.
Five of the last seven College Fishing National Championship trophies have been won by less than a pound and a half, including three by 1 ounce. And once the dust settled after weigh-in on Day 2 of the 2026 version of the College Fishing “Big Dance” on Lake Murray, it became clear that the Natty battle royale is about to go another round.
Powered by a 21-pound, 15-ounce bag on Friday to add to their 26-3 from Day 1, the LSU-Shreveport duo of Levi Thibodaux and Miles Smith eased into the lead with a two-day total of 48-2. Matthew Dettling and Cody Domingos of the University of Tennessee jumped from ninth to second with 47-11, followed close behind by Matthew Knopp and Logan Russell of Lander University (47-0) and the Carson-Newman University team of Zach Wolfe and Brayden Druckman (46-13). James Dubose and Dylan Milam of Montevallo University (46-12) rounded out the top five.
In addition, defending national champs Peyton Sorrow and Brody Robison of Montevallo finished Day 2 with 46-11, meaning six teams will head onto Lake Murray on Saturday within 2-1 of the lead.
“We never got a big bite all day, as crazy as that sounds for catching almost 22 pounds,” Thibodaux said.
“Everything we caught was pretty much cookie cutters, 4 to 4 1/2 pounds. We caught a bunch of fish – maybe 30 bass – but (Thursday) we had a 6-pounder and a couple of 5-pounders. We didn’t see anything like that today.”
LINK TO AFTERNOON PHOTO GALLERY: The leaders try to stay on track at the National Championship at Lake Murray
LINK TO MORNING PHOTO GALLERY: Cut day begins at the National Championship
Just as they had on Day 1, Thibodaux and Smith caught the majority of their key fish early in the day, but they connected with a couple of slightly heavier 4-pounders later in the day to push them 1 ounce shy of the 22-pound mark.
“We made some key culls,” Smith said. “We didn’t want to burn our fish, but we knew we still needed to catch ‘em pretty good.”
Both raised on the shallow waters of southeast Louisiana, the first day of practice for the Natty was the first time that either Smith or Thibodaux laid eyes on Lake Murray. The two had driven 6 1/2 hours to Columbia from Central Florida the night before, where they both fished the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event on the Harris Chain. They practiced with very little advance knowledge of Murray, and have been learning on the fly all week long.
“It’s treating us well so far,” Thibodaux joked. “We didn’t really know if we were on the right deal in practice because there’s only us and one other guy (from LSUS) here this week. Guntersville and Seminole are a little similar, just with the quality of fish. But we just kinda ran with the little bit that we figured out in practice.”
“It’s definitely a very healthy fishery,” Smith added. “The areas we’re fishing have a lot of life – gizzard shad, threadfin shad, plenty of fish. It sets up pretty good for us.”
With a half-dozen teams bearing down on the final day within roughly 2 1/2 pounds, Thibodaux and Smith will be looking to hold serve and possibly split the difference between their Day 1 and Day 2 weights.
“There’s some big ones in here, so we know what’s possible,” Thibodaux said. “It seems like the conditions will be about the same (Saturday) as (Friday). I’d feel good about winning if we could get anything over 23 pounds. I’d feel like that would give us a really, really good shot.”
The top 10 teams that now advance to the final day of competition at the MLF Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia National Championship on Lake Murray are:
1st: Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux, La., and Miles Smith, Houma, La., 10 bass, 48-2
2nd: University of Tennessee – Matthew Dettling, El Macero, Calif., and Cody Domingos, Knoxville, Tenn., 10 bass, 47-11
3rd: Lander University – Matthew Knopp, Mercer, Pa., and Logan Russell, Clyde, N.C., 10 bass, 47-0
4th: Carson-Newman University – Zach Wolfe, Mokena, Ill., and Brayden Ruckman, Freeland, Mich., 10 bass, 46-13
5th: University of Montevallo – James DuBose, Sharpsburg, Ga., and Daylon Milam, Newnan, Ga., 10 bass, 46-12
6th: University of Montevallo – Brody Robison, Dawson, Ala., and Peyton Sorrow, Abbeville, S.C., 10 bass, 46-1
7th: Lander University – Drew Kuhnle, Amherst, Ohio, and Landon Rollison, Greenwood, S.C., 10 bass, 45-5
8th: University of Montevallo – Brennan Berglund, Zimmerman, Minn., and Colton White, Moore, Okla., 10 bass, 45-0
9th: Carson-Newman University – Nolan Gray, Russellville, Tenn., and Riley Brown, Whitefish, Mont., 10 bass, 44-10
10th: Emmanuel University – Michael Avery, Cumming, Ga., and Peyton Dunn, Fitzgerald, Ga., 10 bass, 43-10
For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 537 bass weighing 1,865 pounds even caught by 121 teams Friday. The catch included 85 five-bass limits.
The final 10 teams will take off from Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road, in Prosperity, South Carolina, at 7:30 a.m. ET on Championship Saturday. The final championship weigh-in will be held at the State Park starting at 3:45 p.m. and will be livestreamed. Fans are welcome to attend the event or tune in to the weigh-in and follow the online coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live on Championship Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
Hosted by the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board , the 17th annual College Fishing National Championship features 151 teams of the nation’s top collegiate anglers competing for a $43,500 top prize package that includes a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and an additional $10,000. The second-place team will also earn a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard, meaning two boats are up for grabs in the biggest MLF College Fishing event of the season. Every team that finishes in the top 10 will take home at least $1,000 in the no-entry-fee Championship.
In addition to the new boats, both members of the winning team and the runners-up will advance to the 2026 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as boaters for a top prize of up to $235,000. The winning team’s highest finishing team member at the Toyota Series Championship will also advance to REDCREST 2027 to compete against the world’s best pros for the sport’s top prize of $300,000.
Both members of the third-place team at the College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2026 Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers for a shot at winning a $33,500 Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.
The 2025 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI season featured college teams from across the country competing in six regular-season tournaments. The top 15 percent of teams from each regular-season tournament qualified to compete in the 2026 Columbia PFG College Fishing Presented by Abu Garcia National Championship.