Bryan College wins Carhartt Bassmaster College Series title
For Starkville Daily News
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The Bryan College duo of Jacob Foutz and Jake Lee led the 2017 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lake Bemidji wire-to-wire to take the title with a three-day total of 49 pounds, 15 ounces.
A big storyline of the week was the fishing pressure that Stump Lake was receiving from over 75 percent of the field. Most wondered if it would hold up over three days of competition, but Lee and Foutz didn't test it, sticking to their game plan in Lake Irving just south of Lake Bemidji.
The Bryan College teammates had a two-prong approach to catch their winning weight as they threw a frog early in the morning and flipped a Texas rig for the remainder of the day. It didn't seem to matter what type of cover they fished, but rather the bait they were flipping. They used a 4 1/2-inch black and blue Strike King Flipping Tube with a 3/8-ounce tungsten weight and a 5/0 Trokar hook.
“In the morning we had a frog bite going on and we caught a couple key fish every morning,” Foutz said. “As soon as the sun came up that bite faded and we would start flipping docks and shoreline cover.”
Saturday's conditions were slightly different as the algae on Lake Irving began to die off and it produced a film on the top of the water.
“(Saturday) we managed to get a frog bite later in the day because of some overhanging trees and the shade they produced,” Lee said.
Throughout the week the duo executed to perfection as they hooked and landed all nine bass that contributed to their leading weight, but today they lost some important bites that stalled their progress on sealing this event. Saturday's action reverted to how their Thursday went as it took all day to catch their final weight tally. Lee and Foutz didn't cull a single fish the entire week of competition. The fish that went in their livewell stayed until 2 p.m. every day when they were weighed on the B.A.S.S. stage.