Scott And Fernandes Jump Into Top Spot At Bassmaster College Series National Championship

August 13, 2021

Scott And Fernandes Jump Into Top Spot At Bassmaster College Series National Championship

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WADDINGTON, N.Y. — In their previous two Bassmaster College Series National Championship appearances, Hayden Scott and Griffin Fernandes of Adrian College had not been able to push themselves into the final-day cut.

They finally achieved that goal by catching 20 pounds, 6 ounces during Friday’s second round of the 2021 Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops on the St. Lawrence River. They now lead the 125-boat field with a two-day total of 43-4.

The Murray State University duo of Adam Puckett and Brendan Bingham is only 7 ounces behind in second, heading into Championship Saturday.

“I’m really excited,” Fernandes said. “This is my first championship cut and the third one I’ve fished. I’m ready to get back out there and see what we can do. We are around big fish and I think we have a lot of good stuff to rotate tomorrow. We just have to hope that the right ones pull up when we are there.”

Scott and Fernandes have come close to winning a College Series event in the past, finishing second as recently as this year at Smith Lake.

“We’ve come so close at so many events,” Scott said. “Going into this event, we knew this was going to be our best shot to pull one off. We are pretty excited to get after it tomorrow. We know we are around them.”

The team from Adrian, Mich., entered the second day in third with 22-14 and started on the same rotation that produced the majority of their weight the previous day. The bite didn’t materialize until later in the morning, starting with a 3-pounder.

After finding a local boat already on a spot they wanted to fish, they pulled up on a new stretch and immediately found success.

“We pull up and we catch a 6-pounder,” Fernandes said. “That was a good start and then we started rotating everything in the area and we caught another really big one. We made small upgrades here and there throughout the day.”

That smallmouth officially weighed 5-9 and was the Big Bass of the day. The spot that produced their biggest bite of the day set up similarly to the other areas in the rotation, and Scott said landing those big fish has given them the confidence to stick with their program.

“After practice, we really weren’t sure what we were going to catch. We could either come in with 13 pounds or 20 pounds,” Scott said. “So, to start off the morning with a 3-pounder and then catch that kicker right off the bat, it rejuvenates us to keep grinding and keep working through it. Once you catch a fish like that, you know you need to catch a solid limit to have a shot.”

After starting the day in seventh, Puckett and Bingham landed 22-0 to move into second with a two-day total of 42-13. Puckett will be attempting to win his second national championship of his college career after winning the FLW National Championship in 2019.

During the first two hours of the day, Puckett said he and Bingham landed only one of their first five bites, but kept moving through their rotation and found success later in the day.

“We just stuck with it. Where we got bites, we knew we would get bites. They just showed up,” Puckett said. “We went back into an area that we caught a 5-pounder in and Bingham caught one that was 3 pounds and culled one of our smallest fish. It was a big cull for us.”

Throughout the week, Puckett and Bingham’s bigger bites have been spread out. Their main focus has been on underwater current breaks. They have only seen one other boat fish one of their spots and they believe a lot of other teams are overlooking what they have found.

“It turned out you would catch a 4-pounder and then maybe a little one and that would be it,” Bingham said. “Today, we got to hit a few spots more (than Thursday). We went back to a couple of spots where we caught some earlier in the day and they were there again. It seems like it reloads slowly. They are up there to feed and it is a specific spot.”

Jacob Woods and Samuel Vandagriff from Tennessee Tech caught 19-14 on Day 2 to lift them from sixth place to third with 40-14.

“It is definitely a learning curve up here. He’s from middle Tennessee and I’m from East Tennessee,” Woods said. “This is all new to us and we are having a blast.”

In practice, the duo struggled to find productive smallmouth water, but at one particular spot they caught one fish. That one fish was enough for them to gravitate to that area during competition, and they caught the majority of their weight in that location.

Woods and Vandagriff did, however, start the tournament fishing for largemouth on Day 1 and caught a 5-pounder.

“Yesterday, we got down there and caught two 5-pound smallmouth and ended up with 21 pounds,” Woods said. “This morning we went straight to that spot, sat there and mined it for all its worth. It produced today. It was a very blessed day.”

While Scott and Fernandes claimed the biggest bass of the day, Tripp Bowman and Blakely Young from Louisiana State University-Shreveport remained in control of the Carhartt Big Bass of the tournament with a 6-10 smallmouth they caught on Day 1.

The Top 12 punched their tickets to Championship Saturday and will take off at 6:30 a.m. ET from Whittaker Park. The weigh-in will be held back at the park at 2:30 p.m., with the Top 3 teams after the final day qualifying for the College Classic Bracket.

This week’s tournament is being hosted by the Village of Waddington, St. Lawrence County Chamber and Clarkson University. The tournament is also supported by a Market New York grant from I LOVE NY/New York State’s Division of Tourism awarded as part of the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. The tournament and all associated festivities are being planned to ensure the safety of athletes, staff and guests.

2021 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops 8/12-8/14St. Lawrence River, Waddington  NY.(BOATER) Standings Day 2

    Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Hayden Scott – Griffin Fernandes             Adrian College                      250Day 1: 5   22-14     Day 2: 5   20-06   Total:  10  43-042.  Adam Puckett – Brendan Bingham               Murray State University             249Day 1: 5   20-13     Day 2: 5   22-00   Total:  10  42-133.  Jacob Woods – Samuel Vandagriff              Tennessee Tech University           248Day 1: 5   21-00     Day 2: 5   19-14   Total:  10  40-144.  Tristan McCormick – Stevie Mills             Bethel University                   247Day 1: 5   24-09     Day 2: 5   16-01   Total:  10  40-105.  James Gillis – Craig Beucler                 Clarkson University                 246Day 1: 5   21-09     Day 2: 5   18-14   Total:  10  40-076.  Hunter Bond – GL Compton                     Clemson University                  245Day 1: 5   23-12     Day 2: 5   15-10   Total:  10  39-067.  Jack Tindell – Brett Fregia                  Lamar State College Orange          244Day 1: 5   21-07     Day 2: 5   17-07   Total:  10  38-148.  Sam Hanggi – Sam Hoesley                     Auburn University                   243Day 1: 5   17-15     Day 2: 5   20-15   Total:  10  38-149.  Conner Crosby – James Cobbs                  Auburn University                   242Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 5   20-09   Total:  10  38-0410. Tyler Christy – Trey Schroeder               McKendree University                241Day 1: 5   18-05     Day 2: 5   19-12   Total:  10  38-0111. Joe McClosky – Ryan Winchester               Bethel University                   240Day 1: 5   20-01     Day 2: 5   17-09   Total:  10  37-1012. Logan Anderson – Tyler Little                North Carolina State University     239Day 1: 5   13-09     Day 2: 5   23-00   Total:  10  36-0913. Dante Piraino – Hunter Stone                 Clarkson University                 238Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 5   18-14   Total:  10  36-0914. Rob Lindsey – Mason Cizek                    Bryan College                       237Day 1: 5   16-13     Day 2: 5   19-08   Total:  10  36-0515. Tyler Vanbrandt – Jarrod Layton              Adrian College                      236Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   18-02   Total:  10  35-1416. James Willoughby – Chance Schwartz           University of Montevallo            235Day 1: 5   18-01     Day 2: 5   17-13   Total:  10  35-1417. Cole Holloway – Taylor Mcmullen              Emmanuel College                    234Day 1: 5   20-02     Day 2: 5   15-07   Total:  10  35-0918. Tyler Campbell – Caleb Hudson                Emmanuel College                    233Day 1: 5   17-01     Day 2: 5   18-05   Total:  10  35-0619. Tyler Lubbat – Hayden O’barr                                                     232Day 1: 5   17-04     Day 2: 5   17-07   Total:  10  34-1120. Daelyn Whaley – Cy Casey                     Emmanuel College                    231Day 1: 5   19-06     Day 2: 5   15-02   Total:  10  34-0821. Tommy Sendek – Andrew Howell                 University of Montevallo            230Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   18-13   Total:  10  34-0622. Grayson Morris –                             University of Montevalllo           229Day 1: 5   19-09     Day 2: 5   14-12   Total:  10  34-0523. Weston Hollar – Wesley Gore                  University of Montevallo            228Day 1: 5   14-03     Day 2: 5   20-00   Total:  10  34-0324. Ben Cully – Hayden Gaddis                    Carson-Newman University            227Day 1: 5   18-04     Day 2: 5   15-12   Total:  10  34-0025. Jack York – Jacob Miller                     Stephen F Austin State Universit    226Day 1: 5   17-02     Day 2: 5   16-14   Total:  10  34-0026. Hunter Baird – Beau Browning                 Drury University                    225Day 1: 5   18-10     Day 2: 5   15-04   Total:  10  33-1427. Connor Nimrod – Jacob Andrews                University of Louisiana Monroe      224Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 5   17-03   Total:  10  33-1428. Reagan Nelson – Caden Cowan                  Tarleton State University           223Day 1: 5   17-08     Day 2: 5   16-01   Total:  10  33-0929. Pierce Knarr – Ryan Lowe                     University of Iowa                  222Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 5   15-11   Total:  10  33-0430. Colin Slentz – Evan Slentz                   Lander University                   221Day 1: 5   18-14     Day 2: 5   14-05   Total:  10  33-0331. Lafe Messer – Matt Messer                    Kentucky Christian University       220Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   19-04   Total:  10  32-1232. Peyton McCord – Caleb Whitehurst             Auburn University                   219Day 1: 5   19-02     Day 2: 5   13-10   Total:  10  32-1233. Solomon Glenn – Ryan Thomas                  University of Montervallo           218Day 1: 5   15-08     Day 2: 5   17-00   Total:  10  32-0834. Kyle Simmons – Brett Halstead                Kansas State University             217Day 1: 5   17-13     Day 2: 5   14-10   Total:  10  32-0735. Jackson Swisher – Seth Slanker               Florida Gateway College             216Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 5   14-13   Total:  10  32-0636. Chase Clarke – Mitchell Peterson             Auburn University                   215Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 5   19-10   Total:  10  32-0237. Joshua DeKoning – Dalton Mollenkopf          Adrian College                      214Day 1: 5   14-04     Day 2: 5   17-12   Total:  10  32-0038. Gus Mclarry – Dawson Cassidy                                                     213Day 1: 5   16-00     Day 2: 5   15-12   Total:  10  31-1239. Kayden Tanner – Trevor Easter                Tarleton State University           212Day 1: 5   15-10     Day 2: 5   15-11   Total:  10  31-0540. Drew Gill – Zebulon Frasure                  Wabash Valley College               211Day 1: 5   16-10     Day 2: 5   14-06   Total:  10  31-0041. Mason Phillpotts – Drake Shipman                                                 210Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 5   13-06   Total:  10  30-1542. Jacob Lambert – Austin Smith                 Carson-Newman University            209Day 1: 5   17-03     Day 2: 5   13-08   Total:  10  30-1143. Michael Postlewait – Andrew Rickman          Dallas Baptist University           208Day 1: 4   09-15     Day 2: 5   20-11   Total:   9  30-1044. Austin Carr – Justin Carr                                                        207Day 1: 5   17-08     Day 2: 5   12-15   Total:  10  30-0745. Andrew Harp – John Higginbotham              Louisiana Tech University           206Day 1: 5   18-09     Day 2: 5   11-13   Total:  10  30-0646. Dalton Smith – Cade Hayford                  Campbellsville University           205Day 1: 5   13-09     Day 2: 5   16-13   Total:  10  30-0647. Grayson Perkins – Luke Barrett                                                   204Day 1: 5   13-05     Day 2: 5   17-00   Total:  10  30-0548. Blake Brashears – Tyler Stacy                University of Kentucky              203Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   16-10   Total:  10  29-1449. Carter Ball – Austin Tapley                  Adrian College                      202Day 1: 5   15-15     Day 2: 5   13-15   Total:  10  29-1450. Nathan Doty – Bailey Bleser                  McKendree University                201Day 1: 5   13-05     Day 2: 5   16-07   Total:  10  29-1251. Trevor McKinney – Blake Jackson              McKendree University                200Day 1: 5   14-02     Day 2: 5   15-08   Total:  10  29-1052. Robert Cruvellier – Sam Harvey               Auburn University                   199Day 1: 5   17-10     Day 2: 5   11-14   Total:  10  29-0853. Cole Rankin – Ewing Minor                    Carson-Newman University            198Day 1: 5   14-14     Day 2: 5   14-10   Total:  10  29-0854. Mitchell Gunn – Kyle Kunst                                                       197Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 5   17-06   Total:  10  29-0555. Robert Gee – Chase Dawson                    University of Tennessee             196Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  29-0556. Tyler Cory – Scott Sledge                    University of Montevallo            195Day 1: 5   15-13     Day 2: 5   12-10   Total:  10  28-0757. Kollin Smith – Lilly Smith                   Emmanuel College                    194Day 1: 5   14-07     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  28-0758. Chris Payne – Chad Sentell                   Tennessee                           193Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   14-09   Total:  10  28-0159. Carson Maddux – Jake Maddux                  Auburn University                   192Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  27-1360. Louis Monetti –                                                                  191Day 1: 3   08-08     Day 2: 5   19-03   Total:   8  27-1161. Brian Linder – Nathan Thompson               Minnesota State – Mankato           190Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   13-15   Total:  10  27-1162. Jackson Ebbers – Charlie DeShazer            University of Nebraska-Lincoln      189Day 1: 5   16-02     Day 2: 5   11-04   Total:  10  27-0663. Taylor Mazur – Keegan Witt                   St Cloud State University           188Day 1: 5   14-13     Day 2: 5   12-09   Total:  10  27-0664. Calvin Landsberg – Jack Palaia                                                   187Day 1: 5   13-01     Day 2: 5   14-05   Total:  10  27-0665. Bennett Kudder – Andrew Fisher               Bryan College                       186Day 1: 5   13-02     Day 2: 5   14-04   Total:  10  27-0666. Rudy Worley – John Nowlin                    Blue Mountain College               185Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   14-02   Total:  10  27-0667. Cordell Beckman –                            Greenville University               184Day 1: 4   11-06     Day 2: 5   15-15   Total:   9  27-0568. Logan Parks – Tucker Smith                   Auburn University                   183Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   13-12   Total:  10  27-0469. Blair Cox – Keegan Barber                    Missouri State University             0Day 1: 5   15-02     Day 2: 5   12-01   Total:  10  27-0370. Jamesen Simion – Alex Strunk                 Bowling Green State                 181Day 1: 5   13-13     Day 2: 5   12-13   Total:  10  26-1071. Caden Sweeten – Samuel Heichel                Bemidji State                      180Day 1: 4   07-10     Day 2: 5   18-15   Total:   9  26-0972. Cole Breeden – Cameron Smith                 Drury University                    179Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   11-08   Total:  10  26-0773. Hunter Fillmore – Coleman Bingham            Bethel University                   178Day 1: 5   13-10     Day 2: 5   12-11   Total:  10  26-0574. Cal Culpepper – Mason Waddell                University of Montevallo            177Day 1: 4   10-11     Day 2: 5   15-06   Total:   9  26-0175. Britt Myers – Tyler Anderson                 Lander University                   176Day 1: 5   11-13     Day 2: 5   14-03   Total:  10  26-0076. Hunter Loftin – Mac Johnston-Herzberg        Missouri State University           175Day 1: 4   12-00     Day 2: 5   13-14   Total:   9  25-1477. Zach Salters – Jenson Kay                    Adrian College                      174Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   12-08   Total:  10  25-1278. Brooks Anderson – Parker Guy                 Emmanuel College                    173Day 1: 4   09-10     Day 2: 5   15-14   Total:   9  25-0879. Brenton Godwin – Hunter Odom                 University of Montevallo            172Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 5   12-15   Total:  10  25-0780. Jeremy Dellinger – Nathan Smith              Catawba Valley Community College    171Day 1: 5   13-04     Day 2: 5   12-01   Total:  10  25-0581. Cole Hopson – Phillip Green                                                      170Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 5   11-10   Total:  10  25-0182. Brad Ableman – Kyle Palmer                   Bethel University                   169Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 5   15-02   Total:  10  24-1283. Ty Black – Avry Thomason                     Georgia Southern University         168Day 1: 5   10-12     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  24-1284. Kaleb Brown –                                Lander University                   167Day 1: 3   07-05     Day 2: 5   17-06   Total:   8  24-1185. Connor Jacob – Sam Smith                     Auburn University                   166Day 1: 5   09-14     Day 2: 5   14-09   Total:  10  24-0786. Ryan Park – Sam Niemeyer                     Murray State University             165Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 4   10-14   Total:   9  24-0587. Connor Cartmell – Andrew Vereen              Coastal Carolina University         164Day 1: 5   09-12     Day 2: 5   14-02   Total:  10  23-1488. Lucas Smith – Dalton Mize                    Jacksonville State University       163Day 1: 4   09-12     Day 2: 5   14-01   Total:   9  23-1389. Christian Wright – Conner Giles              Bryan College                       162Day 1: 5   12-07     Day 2: 5   11-06   Total:  10  23-1390. Jackson Staib – Baylor Howell                Bethel University                   161Day 1: 5   12-06     Day 2: 5   10-11   Total:  10  23-0191. Ethan Jones – Joseph Bruener                 McKendree University                160Day 1: 5   10-13     Day 2: 5   11-04   Total:  10  22-0192. Ty Mundhenke – Cam Busby                     Auburn University                   159Day 1: 5   09-00     Day 2: 5   13-00   Total:  10  22-0093. Braden Perry – Aidan England                 Carson-Newman University            158Day 1: 5   12-07     Day 2: 5   09-09   Total:  10  22-0094. Garrett Thompson – Ethan Perry               West Virginia University            157Day 1: 5   09-07     Day 2: 5   12-07   Total:  10  21-1495. Easton Fothergill – Nick Dumke               University of Montevallo            156Day 1: 5   10-13     Day 2: 5   10-14   Total:  10  21-1196. Gunner Whitaker – Mitchell Johnson           Kentucky Christian University       155Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 5   11-14   Total:  10  21-0897. Caleb Dachenhaus – Elliot Wielgopolski       Adrian College                      154Day 1: 5   11-00     Day 2: 5   10-04   Total:  10  21-0498. Chase Carey – Dylan Akins                    Emmanuel College                    153Day 1: 5   08-14     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  21-0299. Jack Dice –                                  Liberty University                  152Day 1: 5   08-07     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  20-11100. Spencer Black – Lucas Oliver                 Catawba Valley Community College    151Day 1: 5   10-05     Day 2: 5   10-02   Total:  10  20-07101. Hunter Waldrop – Mark Kershaw                University of South Carolina Uni    150Day 1: 5   10-03     Day 2: 5   08-05   Total:  10  18-08102. Matt Baker – Kory England                    Arkansas Tech University            149Day 1: 4   08-10     Day 2: 3   08-11   Total:   7  17-05103. Alden Keel Jr – Lake Norsworthy              Blue Mountain College               148Day 1: 2   06-01     Day 2: 5   10-14   Total:   7  16-15104. Tripp Bowman – Blakely Young                 Louisiana State University-Shrev    147Day 1: 2   07-12     Day 2: 5   08-09   Total:   7  16-05105. Cole Lamb – Tristan Weaver                   Arkansas Tech University            146Day 1: 4   07-13     Day 2: 5   07-08   Total:   9  15-05106. Tanner Barnes – Jordan Smallwood             Campbellsville University           145Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   15-00   Total:   5  15-00107. Ryan Feehan – Perry Marvin                   Virginia Tech University            144Day 1: 3   09-10     Day 2: 2   05-06   Total:   5  15-00108. Chase Sansom – Tyler Drown                   Marshall University                 143Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   14-13   Total:   5  14-13109. Harmon Marien – Devon Rathbun                McKendree University                142Day 1: 5   14-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  14-06110. Easton Lindus –                              Emmanuel College                    141Day 1: 4   10-00     Day 2: 3   04-03   Total:   7  14-03111. Lane Bailey – Justin Eggers                  Catawba Valley Community College    140Day 1: 5   10-02     Day 2: 2   03-15   Total:   7  14-01112. Bryar Chambers – Clent Blackwood             Wallace State                       139Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   13-08   Total:   5  13-08113. Jacob Emery – Aaron Jagdfeld                 Adrian College                      138Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   12-10   Total:   5  12-10114. Evan Thomas – Alex Briggs                    Liberty University                  137Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  11-15115. Hunter Haraway – Malcolm Patton              Calhoun Community College           136Day 1: 5   08-14     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  08-14116. Allex Conner – Grant Hack                    Ohio State University               135Day 1: 2   08-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  08-11117. Brock Williams – Christopher Batts           Ohio State University               134Day 1: 5   06-04     Day 2: 1   01-13   Total:   6  08-01118. Aaron Cherry – Chandler Holt                 University of Montevallo            133Day 1: 3   07-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  07-06119. Nate Lesch – Will Schibig                    Tennessee Tech University           132Day 1: 3   04-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  04-15120. Cam Cornelius – Jordan Nicely                Georgetown College                    0Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00120. Brady Harp – Garrett Warren                  Auburn University                     0Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00120. Benjamin Moore – David Gadd                  Eastern Kentucky University           0Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00120. Chad Pruner – Ethan Ange                                                           0Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00120. Paul Tabisz – James Ge                       University of Michigan                0Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00120. Emil Wagner – William Perry                  Ole Miss                              0Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00———————————————————————–TotalsDay   #Limits    #Fish      Weight1        97       546      1611-052       107       550      1636-13———————————-204      1096      3248-02

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