ON TOUR
YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING
YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING OPEN | KENTUCKY/BARKLEY LAKES
GILBERTSVILLE, KY.
By David A. Brown
photo by Matt paCe
WINNING TEAM
adrian college
cody Batterson
pleasant hill, Iowa
chase serafin
highland, Mich.
Winning Weight:
50-03 (10 fish)
details:
March 6-7, 2018
c
92
hase Serafin and
Cody Batterson of
Adrian College in
Michigan owe their domi-
nant College Open victory
(by a 7-pound, 6-ounce
margin) to recognizing and
adjusting to weather
impacts. With Kentucky
Lake at flood stage, practice
and the first part of day
one found the fish tight to
the inundated bushes.
However, lingering effects
from a cold front arriving
ahead of the tournament
sent temperatures into the
low 30s and generated big
winds midway into day one.
These changes interrupted
the shallow prespawn
advancement, flushed the
fish from the flooded cover
and sent them out to
points to regroup.
The Adrian College
anglers committed to run-
ning more than an hour
each way from the takeoff
at Kentucky Dam Marina to
Paris, Tenn., where they
focused more on the pat-
tern than particular areas.
Serafin says they rotated
hosted by Kentucky
lake Convention
& Visitors bureau
through approximately 15
spots. The ideal setup
included a point with a
gradual slope and bushes
on top.
“We wanted points that
weren’t too steep,” Serafin
says. “We found a lot of
banks that dropped right
off into the creek channel,
but we didn’t catch any-
thing off them.”
Batterson threw a
Rapala DT10 crankbait in
red craw and a Terminator
spinnerbait with large wil-
low-leaf blades. Serafin
stuck with a Picasso
umbrella rig with three 1/8-
ounce jigheads. He spread
Keitech 3.8 Swing Impact
FAT swimbaits in bluegill
flash on the outside wires,
with a 4.3 Swing Impact FAT
in ayu color in the center
“target” position.
The pair fished about 10
feet deep, which was deep-
er than most of their com-
petitors. Another key was
dialing in the proper casting
angle.
“We could follow three
or four boats down a line
and catch fish right behind
them because they were
throwing at the bank, but
we were keeping our baits
parallel with the boat,”
Batterson says. “We kept
our baits in the strike zone
longer.”
A similar approach of
parallel cranking the riprap
on the Kentucky Dam
Marina break wall shortly
before the final check-in
resulted in a 5 1/2-pounder
that sealed the win for the
Adrian team.
2019 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
1. Adrian College – Chase Serafin & Cody Batterson
2. East Texas Baptist Univ. – Jacob Sanders & Chad Poulsen
3. Bethel Univ. – Garrett Enders & Cody Huff
4. Adrian College – Jack Hippe III & Nicholas Czajka
5. Univ. of North Alabama – Luke Mason & Garett Marler
6. Adrian College – Alex Henderson & John Franko
7. Murray State Univ. – Harbor Lovin & Evan Bramhill
8. Bethel Univ. – Hunter Louden & Seth Roberts
9. Campbellsville Univ. – Dakota Cantrell & Austin Moore
10. Bethel Univ. – Dakota Pierce & Cole Floyd
11. Iowa State Univ. – Dylan Rague & Pat Morrison
12. Slippery Rock Univ. – Nathan Quince & Samuel Jenesky
13. Murray State Univ. – Boris Moskoff & Tyler Jennings
14. Virginia Tech – Tyler Dixon & Robert Pryer
15. Univ. of Pittsburgh – Dominic Vitale & Henry Colberg
16. Murray State Univ. – Mitchell Fort & Austin Gruner
17. Saint Cloud State Univ. – Chizta Xiong & Jaret Baker
18. Murray State Univ. – Adam Puckett & Blake Albertson
19. Murray State Univ. – Michael Lowry & Brian Koch
20. Campbellsville Univ. – Travis Hunt & Trevor Sagrecy
21. Bethel Univ. – Brad Ableman & Kristopher Queen
flWfIshIng.com I may-june 2018