The 5th annual Arkansas Tech University Invitational attracted more than 120 collegiate anglers from across the country to compete for the 2010 title at Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arkansas. As one of the largest regional collegiate fishing events in the country, the 28 school field was loaded with talented anglers.
Following a chilly start, day one featured bluebird skies and warm afternoon temperatures. The egg laden bass on Lake Dardanelle seemed to enjoy the chamber of commerce weather conditions as much as the anglers. Four bass in excess of 6 pounds were brought to the scales; the biggest of which was a 6.52 pounder boated by the team of Jake Koebernick and Tim Dobbins of the University of Wisconsin-Steven's Point. The pair was awarded the Costa and Abu Garcia Big Bass awards for their effort. Tyler Mehrl and Bob Downey, representing the University of Iowa claimed the day one lead with a 5 bass limit weighing in at an even 20 pounds.
The weather changed dramatically on day two shortly after the anglers departed from Lake Dardanelle State Park as strong, gusty winds and cloud cover rolled in. The changing weather conditions, combined with fluctuating water levels, made it very challenging to pattern fish. After weighing in the heaviest sack of the tournament to claim the Berkley Big Bag award on day one, the Iowa team failed to catch a keeper on day two.
Beginning day two in second place; local anglers Dustin Huggins and Evan Barnes of Arkansas Tech University relied on their extensive knowledge of their home lake to capitalize on the opportunity to secure the win and the Cabela's Angler Cash award. This is the second time the host school has won the event in its 5 year history. On day two, Huggins and Barnes returned to the same key area that produced 16.54 pounds on day one, adding another 13.44 pounds to their tournament weight for a total of 29.98 pounds. The duo explained that, based on past experience and the results of three days of prefishing, they concentrated on a single area. "A culvert feeds into this classic staging area. The mouth of the culvert is lined with rocks and there's an 8 foot deep pool close by. When they were generating at the plant, it created a current that triggered the bass to feed. We caught em on Texas rigged Senkos and Rat-L-Traps."
Brett Preuett and Jordan Alexander fishing for the University of Louisiana-Monroe sat in 14th place with 9.63 pounds following the day one weigh-in. The pair rallied on day two, bringing a 15.15 pound sack to the scales and moving all the way up the leader board to second place overall. "We had 3 or 4 bites in one area during our day and-a-half of practice. We returned to that area since it was the only place where we got bites the entire practice period," said Preuett and Alexander. Their key area featured an abundance of shallow river weed that produced all their fish on a variety of lures including Texas rigged Sweet Beavers and lizards, Rat-L-Traps and weightless Skinny Dippers.
University of Arkansas' Kyle Curry and Benny Williams claimed third place with a two day total weight of 23.92 pounds. Having prefished about two weeks prior to the event, the team managed only one day of practice immediately preceding the tournament. Curry and Williams said "We fished lily pad stems with scattered rocks mixed in and did all our damage by fishing War Eagle spinnerbaits parallel along the outside edge."
Rounding out the top 10 is:
4th Oklahoma Chip Porche' & Mark Johnson 22.86
5th Iowa Tyler Mehrl & Bob Downey 20.00
6th Wisc-Stevens Point Jake Koebernick & Tim Dobbins 18.87
7th Wisc-Stevens Point Ted Johnson & Jody Derks 17.03
8th SFA Brett Sobczak & Blaze Platt 16.78
9th North Texas Brandon Dickenson & Zach Sears 16.13
10th Southeast Missouri Tin Randell & Kyle McCann 16.06
In addition to the aforementioned prizes, the first through third place teams were also awarded Columbia gift cards and Lazer Trokar gift packs.
"This event has continued to grow every year since the inaugural event in 2006,"stated tournament director and ATU club advisor, Christy Austin. "It's humbling to see how the kids and the community continue to support this event. It's awesome to be a part of something so special."
For additional information and complete results, visit www.CollegiateBassChampionship.com
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