LSU Leads College Fishing National Championship Tournament on Lake Murray

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 13, 2026) – If you’re looking for a three-day, championship-level bass tournament that’s a dependable battle royale, the College Fishing circuit has evolved into about the closest thing in the sport to a sure thing.

Five of the last seven College Fishing National Championship trophies have been won by less than a pound and a half, including three by 1 ounce. And once the dust settled after weigh-in on Day 2 of the 2026 version of the College Fishing “Big Dance” tournament on Lake Murray, it became clear that the Natty battle royale is about to go another round.

Powered by a 21-pound, 15-ounce bag on Friday to add to their 26-3 from Day 1, the LSU-Shreveport duo of Levi Thibodaux and  Miles Smith eased into the lead with a two-day total of 48-2. Matthew Dettling and Cody Domingos of the University of Tennessee jumped from ninth to second with 47-11, followed close behind by Matthew Knopp and Logan Russell of Lander University (47-0) and the Carson-Newman University team of Zach Wolfe and Brayden Druckman (46-13). James Dubose and Dylan Milam of Montevallo University (46-12) rounded out the top five.

In addition, defending national champs Peyton Sorrow and  Brody Robison of Montevallo finished Day 2 with 46-11, meaning six teams will head onto Lake Murray on Saturday within 2-1 of the lead.

“We never got a big bite all day, as crazy as that sounds for catching almost 22 pounds,” Thibodaux said.

“Everything we caught was pretty much cookie cutters, 4 to 4 1/2 pounds. We caught a bunch of fish – maybe 30 bass – but (Thursday) we had a 6-pounder and a couple of 5-pounders. We didn’t see anything like that today.”

Just as they had on Day 1, Thibodaux and Smith caught the majority of their key fish early in the day, but they connected with a couple of slightly heavier 4-pounders later in the day to push them 1 ounce shy of the 22-pound mark.

“We made some key culls,” Smith said. “We didn’t want to burn our fish, but we knew we still needed to catch ‘em pretty good.”

Both raised on the shallow waters of southeast Louisiana, the first day of practice for the Natty was the first time that either Smith or Thibodaux laid eyes on Lake Murray. The two had driven 6 1/2 hours to Columbia from Central Florida the night before, where they both fished the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event on the Harris Chain. They practiced with very little advance knowledge of Murray, and have been learning on the fly all week long.

“It’s treating us well so far,” Thibodaux joked. “We didn’t really know if we were on the right deal in practice because there’s only us and one other guy (from LSUS) here this week. Guntersville and Seminole are a little similar, just with the quality of fish. But we just kinda ran with the little bit that we figured out in practice.”

“It’s definitely a very healthy fishery,” Smith added. “The areas we’re fishing have a lot of life – gizzard shad, threadfin shad, plenty of fish. It sets up pretty good for us.”

With a half-dozen teams bearing down on the final day within roughly 2 1/2 pounds, Thibodaux and Smith will be looking to hold serve and possibly split the difference between their Day 1 and Day 2 weights.

“There’s some big ones in here, so we know what’s possible,” Thibodaux said. “It seems like the conditions will be about the same (Saturday) as (Friday). I’d feel good about winning if we could get anything over 23 pounds. I’d feel like that would give us a really, really good shot.”

The top 10 teams that now advance to the final day of competition at the College Fishing National Championship tournament on Lake Murray are:
 
1st:        Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux, La., and Miles Smith, Houma, La., 10 bass, 48-2
2nd:      University of Tennessee – Matthew Dettling, El Macero, Calif., and Cody Domingos, Knoxville, Tenn., 10 bass, 47-11
3rd:       Lander University – Matthew Knopp, Mercer, Pa., and Logan Russell, Clyde, N.C., 10 bass, 47-0
4th:       Carson-Newman University – Zach Wolfe, Mokena, Ill., and Brayden Ruckman, Freeland, Mich., 10 bass, 46-13
5th:       University of Montevallo – James DuBose, Sharpsburg, Ga., and Daylon Milam, Newnan, Ga., 10 bass, 46-12
6th:       University of Montevallo – Brody Robison, Dawson, Ala., and Peyton Sorrow, Abbeville, S.C., 10 bass, 46-1
7th:       Lander University – Drew Kuhnle, Amherst, Ohio, and Landon Rollison, Greenwood, S.C., 10 bass, 45-5
8th:       University of Montevallo – Brennan Berglund, Zimmerman, Minn., and Colton White, Moore, Okla., 10 bass, 45-0
9th:       Carson-Newman University – Nolan Gray, Russellville, Tenn., and Riley Brown, Whitefish, Mont., 10 bass, 44-10
10th:     Emmanuel University – Michael Avery, Cumming, Ga., and Peyton Dunn, Fitzgerald, Ga., 10 bass, 43-10

For a full list of results, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 537 bass weighing 1,865 pounds even caught by 121 teams Friday. The catch included 85 five-bass limits.