Bobby Frey and Trey Epich recently fished the Under Armour College Bass National Championship on the Arkansas River in Little Rock, Arkansas. The event was held July 10-12, 2009 and the team showed up in style with a brand new 2009 Triton 20X3 with a Mercury Optimax 225 provided by Cliff Brown at Texas Boat World in Harker Heights.
Bobby and Trey had never fished a river before, but during their two day practice the team found three spots that produced some keeper largemouths (15″ minimum) and spotted bass (12″ minimum) in Pools 5 and 6. With some nice fish coming off an SOB spinnerbait, they headed into the first day with great confidence.
The bite on day 1 was tougher than expected and after Bobby had three fish come off the crank, their 5.63 pounds had them sitting in 12th place. All of their fish came on Strike King Series 4S Sexy Shad crankbaits. After day 2, Bobby and Trey made a move with a weight of 8.48 pounds and caught two fish on a jig, one on a crankbait and a small spotted bass on a Rattle Snake.
Bobby and Trey had a great showing and finished 7th overall; Texas represented well with a two day total weight of 14.11 pounds and missed the final Sunday by a little over half a pound. The team mentioned fishing was pretty tough due to the slack current. Coverage of the tournament will be aired on ESPN in August, for full results click here.
Next stop for the team is the FLW Regional Tournament in November. This event will launch out of Natchitoches, LA on the Red River. If you would like to help or support the University of Texas Bass Team in any way please visit their site or contact them directly at universitybassanglers@hotmail.com. Good luck guys and Hook ‘Em!
