| Get5Bass.com "Covering the Arkansas Bass Fishing Tournament Scene" |
News: 09/03/06
Winning Pattern:
Arkansas Tech University Wins the College Smash-Mouth
National Championship!!!!
Kevin Koone and Dylan Hawkins were all smiles after leading ATU to victory in the
College Smash-Mouth Bass National Championship. Photo:Christy Austin
The Arkansas Tech University Bass Fishing Team topped 24 teams fishing the
College Smash-Mouth Bass Tournament last week (August 27-29) to bring
College Bass Fishing's National Championship home to Russellville.
Representing ATU were Kevin Koone (Greenbrier - B.S. 2006:Agriculture
Business) and Dylan Hawkins (Russellville - Marketing major). Their victory is
best described by two words - Patience and perseverance. The duo had to
endure tough fishing on the Pine Bluff Pool of the Arkansas River (Pool 4) to
qualify for the finals - Then had to unlock the fish catching puzzle on a mystery
lake (Cane Creek Lake - Star City) to claim the title. "I am extremely proud of how
Kevin and Dylan conducted themselves both during and after the competition"
said Christy Austin, the Team's Advisor. Austin is this story's unsung hero. She
helped form the team out of a love for fishing and the outdoors. She probably
never dreamed ATU would win the title, but they did!!! Get5Bass congratulates all
affiliated with the ATU Bass Fishing Team on a job well done!!! Here's how they
pulled off the victory:
Pre-Tournament Strategy
Kevin and Dylan's strategy going into the tournament was to fish the Pine Bluff
Harbor on Day's 1 and 2. "We wanted to get a bag of largemouth" said Hawkins,
"Kevin (Koone) was familiar with the drops, and knew that 4 and 5 -pounders live
there" Hawkins added. So on day one of practice , that's where the duo headed
-but they didn't make it. "Kevin's motor went out"- "We had to borrow a boat
from one of Kevin's friends" said Hawkins. By the time they got their borrowed
boat, it was late evening. They headed out to the harbor and started fishing
drops. They threw Norman DD22's and Carolina-rigged plastics, and caught
several short largemouth, and lost one 3.5 pounder. "We thought we were in
good shape (with the drop fishing), so we went to the main river and found a few
Kentucky's (spotted bass) - which we caught on Fish Head spins tipped with
Zoom Flukes", said Hawkins. But their strategy was about to change. Day 2 of
practice found them once again patrolling the drops, but this time they found few
takers. "We caught one short fish, so we decided to identify some more areas in
the main river that looked good for Kentucky's - We didn't fish, we just looked for
the right stuff" Hawkins said.
Day one of Tournament - 5 Bass - 7.0 pounds - 6th place
Still seduced by the allure of big largemouth bass in the harbor, ATU started
fishing topwater baits in the Harbor. When that failed they moved to some deep
water drops, but failed to catch any keepers. "We decided to go to the river and
fish for Kentucky's" said Hawkins. "There are two major bridges on Pool 4, and
that's where we focused our efforts" added Hawkins. The duo went to the
farthest bridge upriver, where they immediately caught 2 keepers and a bunch of
shorts from the bridge pilings. Their lures of choice were a jighead worm and the
Fishhead Spin. "We went to the second bridge and caught three more keepers
to fill out our limit by 11:00 am", said Hawkins. The duo again went to the drops
to try to improve their bag, but had no takers.
Day 2 of Tournament - 5 Bass - 7.8 pounds -
2-day total: 14.8 pounds - 4th place
Knowing that they were one place out of the cut and that the first place bag
(Southern Illinois -15.8 pounds) was caught in the Harbor, that's where ATU
started on day 2. "We started out on the drops, but once again had no takers -
So we decided to go back to our bridge pattern" said Hawkins. The bridges were
once again productive and ATU had their limit by 11:00 am. The duo immediately
headed back to the Harbor, and caught their first keeper largemouth of the
tournament - Allowing them to cull a small spotted bass. "We were still
nervous"-The cloudy weather that morning was conducive to fishing, so we
thought there would be more fish brought in" said Hawkins. But there wasn't.
"There were actually fewer fish brought in" said Hawkins. ATU had made the cut
for the final day in 4th position.
Monday night 5 teams that made the cut were notified that they would be fishing
Cane Creek Lake near Star City. "Greg Hackney briefed us on the lake" - "It was
really cool that he took time out of his life to be there with us" said Hawkins. "We
went back to our room and tied on frogs, buzzbaits, a bunch of power baits"
added Hawkins.
Final Day - Cane Creek Lake - 5 Bass - 14.6 pounds - 1st place
With the weights zeroed for day 3, Koone and Hawkins knew the tournament
was up for grabs. "The conditions were ideal - it was cloudy - Spitting rain" - "We
thought it would be ideal for a topwater bite" said Hawkins. But 8:30 am rolled
around, and ATU still hadn't landed a fish. "We started to get nervous" said
Hawkins. The duo moved to an old grass line where an old slough entered the
lake - Hawkins termed it an "intersection" "We were fishing the intersection for
30 minutes, when all of a sudden, the fish started to school"- "Kevin started
casting a Fish head spin - When he saw a large luminous object behind his bait -
He killed his lure and the bass inhaled it" said Hawkins. The fish turned out to be
the big bass of the day - a 4.7 pounder. The duo then started fishing flooded
timber, where they caught two more small keepers on plastic worms. "There was
a boat lane near the timber- and all of a sudden the fish started schooling again"
"That's where we caught our second biggest keeper - About a 3.5 pounder" said
Hawkins. ATU then went back to the 1st "intersection" where they caught a
couple more keepers. They ended their day at another "intersection", Where
Koone caught their last keeper with about 1 second left on the clock - "That was
pretty awesome catching that last keeper" Koone said. All told ATU landed 8
keepers and 14.6 pounds of bass - enough to win by almost 5 pounds.
"The whole experience was incredible - we fished clean all week, stuck to our
game plan, and made things happen" said Hawkins
Winning Pattern:
Arkansas Tech University Wins the College Smash-Mouth
National Championship!!!!
Kevin Koone and Dylan Hawkins were all smiles after leading ATU to victory in the
College Smash-Mouth Bass National Championship. Photo:Christy Austin
The Arkansas Tech University Bass Fishing Team topped 24 teams fishing the
College Smash-Mouth Bass Tournament last week (August 27-29) to bring
College Bass Fishing's National Championship home to Russellville.
Representing ATU were Kevin Koone (Greenbrier - B.S. 2006:Agriculture
Business) and Dylan Hawkins (Russellville - Marketing major). Their victory is
best described by two words - Patience and perseverance. The duo had to
endure tough fishing on the Pine Bluff Pool of the Arkansas River (Pool 4) to
qualify for the finals - Then had to unlock the fish catching puzzle on a mystery
lake (Cane Creek Lake - Star City) to claim the title. "I am extremely proud of how
Kevin and Dylan conducted themselves both during and after the competition"
said Christy Austin, the Team's Advisor. Austin is this story's unsung hero. She
helped form the team out of a love for fishing and the outdoors. She probably
never dreamed ATU would win the title, but they did!!! Get5Bass congratulates all
affiliated with the ATU Bass Fishing Team on a job well done!!! Here's how they
pulled off the victory:
Pre-Tournament Strategy
Kevin and Dylan's strategy going into the tournament was to fish the Pine Bluff
Harbor on Day's 1 and 2. "We wanted to get a bag of largemouth" said Hawkins,
"Kevin (Koone) was familiar with the drops, and knew that 4 and 5 -pounders live
there" Hawkins added. So on day one of practice , that's where the duo headed
-but they didn't make it. "Kevin's motor went out"- "We had to borrow a boat
from one of Kevin's friends" said Hawkins. By the time they got their borrowed
boat, it was late evening. They headed out to the harbor and started fishing
drops. They threw Norman DD22's and Carolina-rigged plastics, and caught
several short largemouth, and lost one 3.5 pounder. "We thought we were in
good shape (with the drop fishing), so we went to the main river and found a few
Kentucky's (spotted bass) - which we caught on Fish Head spins tipped with
Zoom Flukes", said Hawkins. But their strategy was about to change. Day 2 of
practice found them once again patrolling the drops, but this time they found few
takers. "We caught one short fish, so we decided to identify some more areas in
the main river that looked good for Kentucky's - We didn't fish, we just looked for
the right stuff" Hawkins said.
Day one of Tournament - 5 Bass - 7.0 pounds - 6th place
Still seduced by the allure of big largemouth bass in the harbor, ATU started
fishing topwater baits in the Harbor. When that failed they moved to some deep
water drops, but failed to catch any keepers. "We decided to go to the river and
fish for Kentucky's" said Hawkins. "There are two major bridges on Pool 4, and
that's where we focused our efforts" added Hawkins. The duo went to the
farthest bridge upriver, where they immediately caught 2 keepers and a bunch of
shorts from the bridge pilings. Their lures of choice were a jighead worm and the
Fishhead Spin. "We went to the second bridge and caught three more keepers
to fill out our limit by 11:00 am", said Hawkins. The duo again went to the drops
to try to improve their bag, but had no takers.
Day 2 of Tournament - 5 Bass - 7.8 pounds -
2-day total: 14.8 pounds - 4th place
Knowing that they were one place out of the cut and that the first place bag
(Southern Illinois -15.8 pounds) was caught in the Harbor, that's where ATU
started on day 2. "We started out on the drops, but once again had no takers -
So we decided to go back to our bridge pattern" said Hawkins. The bridges were
once again productive and ATU had their limit by 11:00 am. The duo immediately
headed back to the Harbor, and caught their first keeper largemouth of the
tournament - Allowing them to cull a small spotted bass. "We were still
nervous"-The cloudy weather that morning was conducive to fishing, so we
thought there would be more fish brought in" said Hawkins. But there wasn't.
"There were actually fewer fish brought in" said Hawkins. ATU had made the cut
for the final day in 4th position.
Monday night 5 teams that made the cut were notified that they would be fishing
Cane Creek Lake near Star City. "Greg Hackney briefed us on the lake" - "It was
really cool that he took time out of his life to be there with us" said Hawkins. "We
went back to our room and tied on frogs, buzzbaits, a bunch of power baits"
added Hawkins.
Final Day - Cane Creek Lake - 5 Bass - 14.6 pounds - 1st place
With the weights zeroed for day 3, Koone and Hawkins knew the tournament
was up for grabs. "The conditions were ideal - it was cloudy - Spitting rain" - "We
thought it would be ideal for a topwater bite" said Hawkins. But 8:30 am rolled
around, and ATU still hadn't landed a fish. "We started to get nervous" said
Hawkins. The duo moved to an old grass line where an old slough entered the
lake - Hawkins termed it an "intersection" "We were fishing the intersection for
30 minutes, when all of a sudden, the fish started to school"- "Kevin started
casting a Fish head spin - When he saw a large luminous object behind his bait -
He killed his lure and the bass inhaled it" said Hawkins. The fish turned out to be
the big bass of the day - a 4.7 pounder. The duo then started fishing flooded
timber, where they caught two more small keepers on plastic worms. "There was
a boat lane near the timber- and all of a sudden the fish started schooling again"
"That's where we caught our second biggest keeper - About a 3.5 pounder" said
Hawkins. ATU then went back to the 1st "intersection" where they caught a
couple more keepers. They ended their day at another "intersection", Where
Koone caught their last keeper with about 1 second left on the clock - "That was
pretty awesome catching that last keeper" Koone said. All told ATU landed 8
keepers and 14.6 pounds of bass - enough to win by almost 5 pounds.
"The whole experience was incredible - we fished clean all week, stuck to our
game plan, and made things happen" said Hawkins
