Drury University Wins YETI FLW College Fishing Tournament on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Bass Pro Shops

Cameron Smith and Cole Breeden Anglers: Cameron Smith, Cole Breeden.

October 22, 2019 • FLW Communications • Abu Garcia College Fishing

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – The Drury University duo of Cole Breeden of Eldridge, Missouri and Cameron Smith, of Nixa, Missouri, won the YETI FLW College Fishing event on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Bass Pro Shops with a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Panthers’ bass club $2,650 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

“On our second day of practice for this tournament, we had found a few keepers biting out of brush piles in the Grand Glaize arm, so our plan was to start the tournament there,” said Smith, a junior at Drury University majoring in biology.

“Around 10 a.m. we had only caught two fish, and they were little ones,” added Breeden, a sophomore majoring in architecture. “We knew we weren’t around the fish that we needed to do well, so we ended up running 5 or 6 miles to some new areas that we had caught fish at last year – basically looking for brush piles around docks.”

The duo said that they caught around 10 fish throughout the day targeting the docks – Breeden throwing a ½-ounce brown Chompers Football Jig with a green-pumpkin-colored Strike King Rage Craw, and Smith throwing a green-pumpkin brush-style jig with a green-pumpkin and purple-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw trailer.

“We got our first bites when we were halfway back into the creeks, and that really clued us into where the fish were setting up, so we started hitting the middle halves of the creeks,” said Smith. “We were looking for bait – we could see big bowls of shad swimming around – and most of the fish came from the sides of the docks.”

The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2020 College Fishing National Championship are:

1st: Drury University – Cole Breeden, Eldridge, Mo., and Cameron Smith, Nixa, Mo., five bass, 18-9, $2,650

2nd: Eastern Kentucky University – Mason Moore, Waynesburg, Ky., and Logan Estes, Kings Mountain, Ky., five bass, 15-4, $1,200

3rd: McKendree University – Tyler Christy, Bolingbrook, Ill., and Devan Rathbun, five bass, 14-10, $500

4th: McKendree University – Blake Jackson, Carterville, Ill., and Trevor McKinney, Benton, Ill., five bass, 14-7, $500

5th: University of Wisconsin-Stout – Will Reichert, Vernon Hills, Ill., and Noah Lindus, Woodville, Wis., four bass, 12-13, $500

6th: University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Seth Korb, Custer, Wis., and Josh Gruen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 12-12

7th: McKendree University – Trey Schroeder, Crestwood, Mo., and Bailey Bleser, Burlington, Wis., five bass, 12-8

8th: Murray State University – Jordan Hartman, Murray, Ky., and Will Gentry, Utica, Ky., five bass, 11-12

9th: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – Brady Fernette, La Crosse, Wis., and Devin Wallin, Soldiers Grove, Wis., five bass, 11-4

10th: Murray State University – Adam Puckett and Blake Albertson, both of Bloomington, Ind., five bass, 11-3

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The YETI FLW College Fishing event on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association. It was the third and final regular-season qualifying tournament for Central Conference anglers. The final event of the 2019 sesaon for FLW College Fishing anglers will be a Southeastern Conference event – the YETI FLW College Fishing tournament on Lake Hartwell presented by Costa, Nov. 1 in Hartwell, Georgia.

YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school. The top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship, scheduled for Feb. 26-28 on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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