GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – The Florida Gateway College duo of Seth Slanker and Jackson Swisher, both of Lake City, Florida, won the MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Guntersville Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 29 pounds, 12 ounces. The victory, which earned the Titans’ bass club $2,000, came after a season-opening sixth-place finish in January at the Harris Chain of Lakes, which earned the team a slot in the 2023 MLF College Fishing National Championship.
“We practiced all week to try to find shallow fish that had pulled up to try to spawn,” Slanker said. “Our first fish was a 5-pounder, then we had a few smaller fish, and as the day went on we culled up, and the last fish we culled was an 8-pounder, and that was our biggest fish.”
Slanker said the team caught about 45 bass during the course of the tournament, including 25 keepers. Their bait of choice was a red ½-ounce Z-Man Evergreen Chatterbait Jack Hammer. Slanker said the water temperature hovered at 60 degrees on the shallow grass flats they were targeting.
“The day was a day that was like it was meant to be,” Swisher said. “It was one of those days where you did no wrong.
“With the ChatterBait, we always struggle to land most of our fish,” Swisher added. “Every now and then with the ChatterBait you’re going to jump off a couple of big fish. During the tournament, though, they just chugged it. We were fishing slow and methodically and we were able to put together a big bag.
“It feels great to finally win one,” Swisher said. “We’d been close before, and I’d always wanted to win a College Fishing event before I graduated. And it felt good to win it doing something we like doing – fishing shallow, spawning fish.”
The Top 10 teams that advanced to the 2023 College Fishing National Championship are:
MLF also advances one additional team to the National Championship for every 10 teams over 100 that compete. A total of 219 teams participated in this event, so also advancing to the 2023 College Fishing National Championship are:
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Lake Guntersville was hosted by Marshall County Tourism and Sports. It was the second of three regular-season tournaments for Southeastern Conference anglers. The next event for College Fishing anglers will be the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir, March 11 in Brookeland, Texas.
MLF College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The Top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the Top 20 teams from the annual Abu Garcia College Fishing Open will advance to the following season’s National Championship. The 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance will be held on Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma, March 29-31, and is hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce.
Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular College Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.