TAVARES, Fla. — Bethel University’s team of Zach Parker and Matthew Roberts brought in another huge limit of bass on the second and final day of competition to win the Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional bass tournament on the Harris Chain.
The teammates weighed five bass totaling 25 pounds, 1 ounce, giving them a 9-pound, 9-ounce margin of victory. It was a record-setting performance. Bringing in the two heaviest bags of the event, Bethel set the all-time one-day and two-day heavyweight records at 29-2 and 54-3 for the Bassmaster College Series. Their Day 1 big bass, weighing 9 pounds, 11 ounces, briefly held the All-Time Big Bass record until it was broken by a 10-7 largemouth caught by Cody Spears of Florida State University on Day 2. Spears claimed the event’s Carhartt Big Bass honors for his trophy bass.
The Southern Regional on Harris Chain was earmarked as the tournament where records would be broken. The Harris Chain and the 79-boat field did not disappoint. Parker’s and Roberts’ 29-2 catch on Day 1 was the heaviest of the event. It earned them the award of the Big Bag for the tournament.
The duo started the final round precisely where they left off on Day 1 — fishing the same grassline where they had caught their entire first-day catch. Almost immediately, they started extracting big fish after big fish from the grass.
“The fish were still in the exact same spot,” said Roberts.
The “spot” consisted of a ridge bordering a shallow flat with vegetation all over it. The team members worked their way up and down the ridge, casting lipless crankbaits onto the flat and ripping them through the grass.
“Fish were moving on and off of that flat all day,” said Parker.
A sharp cold front that moved through central Florida on Friday set Bethel up for the victory. With falling water temperatures, bass that had been in the shallows fled to the nearest deep water they could find. The ridge the Bethel team had found proved to be a textbook staging ground.
“The cold front brought the fish out of shallow water and pushed them out on that drop,” said Parker. “I think the cold weather actually helped us out.”
Taking advantage of the cold front secured most of the Top 13 teams their spots in the 2013 National Championship. Teams had to finish in the Top 13 to advance. A handful of them managed to do so by sight fishing for spawning bass, but the majority of the qualifiers targeted prespawn bass with lipless crankbaits.
With nearly a 10-pound margin of victory, you wouldn’t expect the winning team to have a “one-that-got away” story, but Roberts stubbed his toe on the fish of a lifetime on Day 2.
“It happened on his second to last cast,” Parker said. “The one that got away was bigger than that 9-11 he had on the first day.”
Parker estimated the fish was in the 12-plus-pound range.
“I’ve never seen a fish that big in person in my life,” Roberts said. “It was sickening, but at the same time we had a great week.”
The two college anglers admitted they never reached a point in the day where they thought they had the win secured.
“I never thought it was over,” Parker said. “We fished that spot hard until we had about an hour and 10 minutes left. We knew that somebody could bust a 30-pound bag out here.”
Daytona State College’s Thomas Oltorik III and Scott Heaberlin finished second with an impressive two-day total of 44-10, and another Bethel University team, Myles Palmer and Dalton Wilson, caught 36-14 for third.
Carhartt Bassmaster College Series
1/4/2013 - 1/5/2013
Harris Chain Of Lakes - Wooten Park - Tavares, FL
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 2
Today's Activity Accumulative
Name # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz
Zach Parker - Matthew Roberts Bethel University 5 5 25- 1 10 10 54- 3
Thomas Oltorik III - Scott Heaberlin Daytona State College 5 5 23- 3 10 10 44-10
Myles Palmer - Dalton Wilson Bethel University 5 5 15-14 10 10 36-14
Cody Spears - Charles Fee FSU 3 3 13- 1 8 8 33- 2
Justin Darley - Casey O'Donnell UCF 5 5 19- 0 9 9 32-15
Jacob Nummy - Tom Frink AUM 4 4 13- 3 9 9 32- 9
Matt Lee - Chris Seals Auburn University 5 5 9-10 10 10 30-12
Cody Ross - Dewey Swims Bethel University 5 5 17-12 10 10 29-11
Kevin Lucas - Neal Combs Seminole State College 5 5 15- 3 10 10 27- 7
Kenny Johnson - Brandon Larry University of West Georgi 5 5 18- 7 9 9 27- 0
Joseph Fuller - Joe Handley University of Montevallo 5 5 15-11 10 10 26-12
Justin Atkins - Lowell Gann Mississippi State Univers 5 5 16- 2 10 10 26- 3
Dawson Lenz - Evan Horne University of North Alaba 5 5 13- 2 10 10 23-10
Kyle Smith - Shelby Concon Florida 5 5 10-10 10 10 23-10
Hunter Bozeman - Jon Frey Florida Gulf Coast Univer 5 5 11- 9 10 10 23- 9
Briggs Defoor - Brandon Worthey Auburn University 5 5 8-12 10 10 23- 8
Ben Curry - Blake Evans Auburn University 5 5 10- 0 9 9 22-15
Brad Rutherford - Matthew Peeler Young Harris College 5 5 12- 3 10 10 22- 9
Jordan Lee - Shane Powell Auburn University 5 5 12- 2 10 10 21-12
Charlie Hurst - Frankie Appaluccio University of Alabama 5 5 14- 9 10 10 20- 5
Dillon McGee - Tanner Ellis Bethel University 5 5 12- 5 10 10 20- 5
Nicholas Harris - Zachary Gilmore FSU 5 5 8- 0 10 10 20- 2
Jordan Burdette - Adam Wozek University of Tennessee 5 5 8- 4 10 10 20- 2
Garrett Roberts - Adrian Estrada Auburn University 3 3 9- 8 8 8 19-15
Matt Lipscomb - Ben Stewart UAB 3 3 7- 2 8 8 19- 0
Kyle Parks - Justin Baker Darton State 5 5 8-12 10 10 18- 9
Bart Brimball - Connor Bedsole Troy University 4 4 5-10 6 6 18- 5
Will Davis - Benjamin Freeman Bethel University 5 5 9-13 10 10 17-12
Jake Lawrence - Jacob Hardy Bethel University 5 5 11- 8 8 8 17- 8
Tanner Parker - Trent Palmer Georgia Southern Universi 2 2 6- 7 7 7 17- 4
Jacob Fine - Timothy Ward Auburn University 2 2 5- 1 7 7 17- 0
Jessy Meherg - Austin Keeton JC Calhoun Comm College 5 5 13-13 8 8 16-13
Lee Boyd - Ryan Wakenigg Columbus State 4 4 8-10 9 9 16- 1
Logan Marston - Ethan Wages University of South Alaba 3 3 7- 3 8 8 16- 0
Alex Derry - Cody Johnston UT Martin 5 5 9- 6 9 9 15-14
Shane Fussell - Stephen Carlisle Florida 4 4 6- 5 8 8 15- 3
Furman Thompson - Grayson Payne Young Harris College 5 5 7- 2 10 10 14-14
Shane Jewell - Matthew Thomas University of North Alaba 0 0 0- 0 4 4 13- 7
Trey Clayton - Evan Reid Auburn University 3 3 4- 3 8 8 13- 1
Wesley Steinmeyer - Ryan Davis Augusta State 5 5 12- 0 6 6 12-14
Justin Mahon - Jason Mahon FSU 5 5 8- 0 9 9 12-14
Kyle Kirkland - Hunter Coppolino ABAC 4 4 4- 4 9 9 12-10
Daniel Hughes - Mike Kirby Augusta State 2 2 2- 9 7 7 11-15
Nathan Martin - Robb Young University of North Alaba 5 5 6-12 9 9 11-15
Justin Marlow - Taylor Thompson Kennesaw State University 0 0 0- 0 5 5 11-11
Nelson Madruga - Bryan Rudd Seminole State College 2 2 3- 4 6 6 11-10
Kohl Lester - Michael McDermott Kennesaw State 3 3 6-10 5 5 11- 7
Cody Kennedy - David Locke JC Calhoun Comm College 5 5 9- 7 6 6 11- 5
Murphy Klumpp - Alex Tobon University of South Alaba 3 3 6- 5 6 6 11- 2
Jake Gipson - University of Alabama 2 2 1-10 7 7 11- 0
Brandon Easterling - Daniel Perry University of Montevallo 4 4 5-14 6 6 10-12
Corey Pierce - Daniel Green AUM 0 0 0- 0 5 5 10- 7
John Davis - Justin Beckman University of Alabama 0 0 0- 0 5 5 9-12
Tyler Strock - Dalton Darnell AUM 0 0 0- 0 5 5 9- 2
Brent White - Tennessee Tech 3 3 3- 5 7 7 9- 2
Charles Conger - Austin Barclay ABAC 4 4 7-12 5 5 8-13
Hunter Shults - John Svancarek University of Tennessee 2 2 4- 0 5 5 8-10
Travis Johns - Marc Vihnunek University of South Alaba 3 3 2- 7 6 6 8- 3
Dalton Anderson - Jonathan Rotureau Georgia Southern 4 4 5- 2 7 7 8- 3
Mark Gipson - Robert West Florida 2 2 2-11 5 5 8- 0
Byron Kenney - Brian Rosso University of Georgia 0 0 0- 0 3 3 7- 4
Matthew Palmer - Randall Morris Bethel University 0 0 0- 0 2 2 6-10
Shane Howington - Chesley Heatherly Mississippi State Univers 0 0 0- 0 4 4 5- 6
Wes Grammer - Tyler Stephens University of Alabama 0 0 0- 0 2 2 3- 0
Gregory Childers - Austin King Kennesaw State 0 0 0- 0 2 2 2- 6
Scotty Cain - Auston Wingard UAB 0 0 0- 0 1 1 2- 4
Garrett Partridge - Mic Miller Columbus State 0 0 0- 0 1 1 1- 8
Layton Jones - Dean Mullett Georgia Southern Universi 0 0 0- 0 1 1 1- 6
Brian Ellsworth - Taylor Lawrence Kennesaw State 0 0 0- 0 1 1 0-13
Brooks Woodward - Robert Torres FSU 0 0 0- 0 1 1 0- 6
Philippe Brown - AUM 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Grant Carter - Brad Davis Columbus State University 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Tommy Edwards - Curtis Miller Florida Gulf Coast Univer 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Shane Hefner - Kyle Miller Florida 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Keith Kirkley - Logan Johnson University of Alabama 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Drew Long - Cody Garrison Mississippi State Univers 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Lee Martin - Chase Coker Darton State College 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Chandler Ray - Carson Ray Georgia Southwestern Stat 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
Will Ruark - Harrison Dunahoo University of North Georg 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
BIG BASS TOTALS
Day Name City,State Lbs-Oz Day # Fish # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
1 Zach Parker McKenzie, TN 9-11 1 273 273 627- 7 37
2 Cody Spears Tallahassee, FL 10- 7 2 228 228 536- 2 31