JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – LSUS landed two boats in the top 50 of the Bassmaster College national championships on Cherokee Lake this past weekend.
Sophomores Hunter Hamilton and Tyler Morris totaled a two-day weight of 23-9 to place 27th.
Sophomore Triston Richardson and freshman Johnny Hudson corralled 21-2 to finish 50th in the 154-boat field.
A third LSUS boat (senior William Tew and junior Levi Thibodaux) came in at 105th with 13 pounds of bass.
For a national championship tournament that rewards anglers for their season-long success but whose points kick off the upcoming season, LSUS Fishing coach Charles Thompson said the future certainly looks bright.
“It speaks to where we’re going – our top two boats (from this event) are going to be sophomores and juniors next year,” Thompson said. “We needed a solid tournament like this so we’re not having to dig ourselves out of a hole like we’ve had to do in the past.
“I’m happy with what we did, and happy that the boys never quit and kept digging in. They wanted it really bad, and even in tough situations, they kept pushing and kept trying to get it done.”
Sitting in the Smoky Mountains northeast of Knoxville, Cherokee Lake’s clear, deep water isn’t exactly what the Louisiana anglers are accustomed to (shallow and muddy with lots of cover).
But they adjusted, especially since many of the college tournaments are located in the Kentucky/Tennessee/Alabama corridor.
“It was tough on a lake that isn’t known to put out big bass, and it’s the middle of the summer, and it’s 60 feet of clear water – completely opposite of what we’re used to,” Thompson said. “But our guys showed up.
“Triston and Johnny rebounded from a first day in which they caught just three fish to put up a decent bag on the second day (12-9) and push up in the standings. Levi has been killing it everywhere, but he had a bad tournament. The team picked him up.”
LSUS’s future includes Thibodaux and Tew as well, the latter of which is returning for a fifth season. All six of LSUS’s championship anglers will be back along with a crop of underclassmen and incoming freshmen.
The Bassmaster national championship performance punctuates a season in which LSUS finished seventh in the final Association of Collegiate Anglers Bass Pro Shops School of the Year standings – it’s second straight top-10 finish.
The fish can rest easy for a couple of months (at least from college anglers).
College events fire back up as early as October with LSUS typically participating in one sanctioned fall event before the regular season really revs up in January.
