Toyota Series Championship will decide who represents the college ranks at REDCREST
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – One of the special parts of the Toyota Series Championship Presented by Bass Boat Technologies is reserved for exactly two anglers in the field – the reigning Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship winners. This year, the Adrian College duo of Braylon Eggerding and Lucas Washburn will transition from winning teammates to competitors for one of the last berths in Bass Pro Shops REDCREST in 2025. Whoever finishes higher between Eggerding and Washburn will get a chance to fish against the pros on the biggest stage with $300,000 on the line.
The recent past
Last year was the first year a college qualifier was included in REDCREST, and it got off to an inauspicious start. At Table Rock in the Toyota Series Championship, Dalton Head finished 83rd, and teammate Peyton Harris finished 171st — not really the sort of showing that inspires fear in seasoned pros, but hey, Head was going to the dance.
Of course, Lay Lake just so happened to be Head’s favorite place to fish in the world, a pond he had been running around since he was in elementary school. Once there, Head made waves – he blasted them early and just missed making the final day, ultimately finishing 12th. All in all, Head’s performance set a very high bar for this year’s collegiate qualifier.
For Head, the championship lived up to his expectations in a big way.
“It was everything I could’ve ever thought it was gonna be for sure,” he said of REDCREST. “I mean, I had an absolute blast. It is just so fun being able to fish against people I watch on YouTube all the time and learn from, and it was good to see that I could compete.”
Considering that recent collegiate competitors like Drew Gill have looked more than good on the BPT, Head had some encouraging wisdom to share with whoever heads to REDCREST this year.
“Be able to keep the nerves low,” said Head. “Don’t think that you can’t compete. The college guys, they’ve been fishing against guys that are gonna be pros, you know. Gill was a guy that we fished against every single year that I was in college. Don’t think don’t think that you’re at such a huge disadvantage because they’re pros. It’s it’s your time to shine when you’re there.”
‘It’s almost like we’re brothers’
Having fished together since before high school, Washburn and Eggerding will need to split up and fish against each other this fall. Although from the sounds of it, whatever the outcome, the other will still be there to cheer the winner on.
“I think the first time we fished together was, like, sixth grade of elementary school,” said Eggerding, a junior majoring in professional sales. “And we fished throughout high school together. We’ve definitely built up working together.”
Regardless of the eventual outcome, they’re both excited for the showdown.
“I’m excited; it’s kind of like a nervous excitement,” said Washburn, a junior majoring in accounting. “I mean, it’s been pretty much the only thing on my mind the past couple weeks. I’m just trying to get as prepared as possible, getting my boat ready, equipment ready. Just trying to make sure everything’s in order.”
Eggerding is on the same wavelength.
“I’m feeling good; it’s really been my priority,” he said. “Just getting ready for it, getting tackle organized, getting the smallmouth gear out of my boat. I’m just looking forward to getting down there.”
Being from Michigan, neither angler is really a Tennessee River superstar, but that doesn’t mean they’re unprepared. Collegiate fishing these days puts competitors on water all over the country, and the tailrace fishing at Wheeler just might play into their hands.
“I know that [tailrace] has been a big player on Wheeler in the past,” Eggerding said. “I love fishing tailraces. I’d say Lucas and I both love it. The first tailrace we ever fished was at Nickajack, the dam there. We ran there for the high school national championship when it was on Chickamauga a couple years ago, and we had the bites to Top 10. That was our first experience, and that’s some of the most fun fishing I’ve done.”
Maybe the two teammates will end up boat to boat on a current seem, shooting for the REDCREST berth. Or, they could end up 70 miles apart, running wildly different patterns, each looking for the bites to make a Top 10, or even earn a win – these days, there’s no age limit on success. Whatever happens at the scales in November, one of the Adrian College anglers will get to represent the Bulldogs on the big stage next year at Guntersville.