F U Au

but good win.
College Bass is back in full swing!




Auburn University held their third annual Fall Classic on Logan Martin the 20th and 21st of November. After several weeks of fluctuating water levels and adverse conditions, the lake finally settled down and some big bags were brought in on both days.

Contenders from all over the southeast made the drive to beautiful Logan Martin. Participants came from as far away as the University of Georgia, Mississippi State, and the University of Tennessee.

Though Georgia made a run at the lead on the first day, in the end, it was an in-state showdown featuring big names like Auburn University and the University of Alabama as well as a few teams that have proven they shouldn’t be overlooked like the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) and Faulkner University.

Reminiscent of the previous weekend, Day One started with a two-hour fog delay that had all the anglers on the edge of their seats. Once the fog lifted, anglers were able to get to the task at hand, loading the boat with Coosa River bass.

The Auburn University team of Paul Davis and Jordan Lee jumped out to an early lead with 16.34 pounds on the first day. The University of Alabama Birmingham team of Tim Waits and Braxton Setzer sat in second going into the second day with 14.94 pounds. When the scales closed on Friday, the University of Georgia team of Randy Tolbert and Chase Simmemon rounded out the top three with 14.12 pounds.

Davis, a seasoned vet, and Lee, a freshman rookie on a roll, took the lead alternated between fishing moving baits for numbers of fish and slowed down with a jig for quality.

“We got a lot of bites fishing main lake points with a jerkbait and a crankbait,” said Lee. “We had to go through a lot of numbers to get the better fish which came on a jig.”

The team adapted to the conditions and used the wind and current to their advantage, allowing them to position the baitfish and the bass.

“The current helped a lot,” remarked Davis. “We found a lot of fish during practice and I felt good going into the second day because I knew the places we had found on the river would replenish.”

Setzer and Waits brought in the second heaviest bag of Day One aided by a nice kicker fish.

“The first day was a good day,” said Setzer. “We had one big largemouth that helped us out a lot. We were just around a lot of small fish. We caught most of them on a jig and jerkbait on the mid to upper end of the lake.”

Tolbert and Simmemon found themselves sitting in third after getting most of their bites, “Throwing an Xcalibur Xr100 in citrus shad around laydowns, submerged brush, and docks. We also had several bites throwing a Lucky Craft Fat CB BDS 300 in chartreuse with a blue back in the same areas on the upper end of the lake.”



Tolbert mentioned that they were “on a good bite” and felt like they had a chance going into Day Two.



UAB’s Waits and Setzer fell to fourth on the second day bringing in a solid limit weighing 11.85 pounds. Georgia’s Tolbert and Simmemon also found the fishing a little tougher on Day Two, falling back to sixth with 10.59 pounds on the day.

The University of Alabama’s Ben Weldon and Warren Hoffman added an air of the Iron Bowl to the tournament on the final day, bringing 14.72 pounds to the scales. Hoffman credited their team’s Day One success to his partner.

“I had a test Friday morning and by the time I got on the boat at 12, Ben already had about 13 pounds,” Hoffman said. “I hate that I couldn’t get there for the early bite to help out. Ben was on a good school of fish and he had to catch and net what he could on his own. Had I been there to help out, we may have had a little more weight going into the second day.”

Hoffman pointed out one of the most challenging parts of college fishing. The anglers you see on the water are first and foremost students in the classroom.

“We concentrated on covering water,” said Weldon. “We fished main lake points and banks where the wind pushed shad up. We caught around 20 keepers and they all came on moving baits that mimicked shad.”

“We both lost one today that would have helped us,” said Hoffman. “But he kept a good attitude about it saying, ‘That’s just fishing.’”

In the end the Crimson Tide’s effort was not enough to take the lead, and they finished the tournament in third.

One of the bigger stories of the day was the push made by the Faulkner University team of Austin Post and Joshua Lock. They charged forward from 10th place with the heaviest bag of the tournament, a limit weighing 18.14 pounds.

“We kind of got lucky actually,” Lock said. “We fished a couple of points that we had fished the first day and couldn't get the size that we needed. From there we started banging shallow flats and the first couple piers around the points. One hot spell really bailed us out. In a matter of about 30 minutes and about 200 yards we caught three fish over 4 pounds.”

“We were fishing from 1 to 3 feet of water with a jerkbait,” Post said. “The spots were coming up, feeding and then going back down. Later in the day, the bite got better with the water warming up. We did catch two large heads around boat docks that we could find in the water on shaky heads.”

Their monstrous catch was a valiant effort but it wasn’t quite enough to overtake the Day One leaders and Faulkner ended the tournament in second.

Auburn’s Davis and Lee brought in 13.52 pounds and held on to the lead on the second day fending off the strong fourth-quarter push from Faulkner. Davis remarked that the fish were right where they had left them on Day One.

“We lost a 4- or 5-pounder today that I thought might cost us the win,” said Davis. “Had we gotten her in the boat, we would have had a bag about like yesterday and I knew somebody would have to really catch them to beat us. I was really relieved to get the win today because my partner and I came in fourth last year and we were on the fish to win then.”

Not a lot changed for the duo on the second day but Lee did recall that, “The quality wasn’t there today. We had to change up a little and ended up getting our better bites on a jerkbait.”

This was Lee’s first intercollegiate tournament and he commented on how it felt to win:

“Winning never gets old. I have fished other series and been fortunate enough to win a few tournaments, but I’ve been looking forward to fishing these college events for a while. To come out and win my first one means a lot and I hope I can keep it up.”

Altogether it was another great tournament with 44 teams representing 13 schools. Auburn University looks forward to hosting their annual Christmas Clash on the Coosa. This will be a two-day cumulative weight tournament with a twist. Competition will begin on December 28th on Lay Lake and end on December 29th on Lake Jordan. For entry forms, ramps, times or any other information please visit Auburn University Bass Sports Club’s website at www.auburn.eud/bass.