The Chico State University duo of Carson Leber of Dixon, California, and Chad Sweitzer of Chico, California, won the YETI FLW College Fishing event on Clear Lake presented by Costa Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Wildcats’ bass club $2,000 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“We ran south and fished near Rattle Snake Island, mostly rock and offshore in 12- to 20-feet-of-water,” says Sweitzer, a junior majoring in accounting. “It was a tough tournament to get bigger fish. We caught a ton of solid 2- to 3-pounders, then Carson caught a big 5½ to 6-pounder and that was the difference maker for us.”
The duo say that they caught the majority of their fish with ½-ounce brown and purple Pepper Custom Baits Pro Football Jigs with brown and purple Strike King Rage Craws.
“Near the end of the day we started throwing a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait on offshore grass and we caught around 10 keepers,” says Leber, a senior majoring in concrete industry management. “It was awesome and I wished we would have tried that a little earlier. But, our key bait throughout the day was definitely the jig.”
Top 10 teams:
1st: California State University-Chico – Carson Leber, Dixon, Calif., and Chad Sweitzer, Chico, Calif., five bass, 17-9, $2,650
2nd: New Mexico State University – Ty Faulconer, Santa Clarita, Calif., and Daylon Smith, Frazier Park, Calif., five bass, 16-11, $1,200
3rd: California State University-East Bay – Yuan Liu, Hayward, Calif., and Zane Kazaka, Clearlake, Calif., five bass, 15-4, $500
4th: Washington State University – Madden Tobeck, Eatonville Wash., and Nathan Baespflug, Sumner, Wash., five bass, 14-9, $500
5th: California Polytechnic State University – Hugh Cosculluela, The Woodlands, Texas., and Patrick Ellis, San Diego, Calif., five bass, 13-15, $500
6th: Sonoma State University – Josh Hanna, Danville, Calif., and Logan Green, Arroyo Grande, Calif., five bass, 13-11
7th: California Polytechnic State University – Wyatt Debusk, Paso Robles, Calif., and Dane Morris, Agoura Hills, Calif., five bass, 13-5
8th: California Polytechnic State University – Ryan Scarcella, Gilroy, Calif., and Sam Morita, Sebastopol, Calif., five bass, 12-8
9th: California Polytechnic State University – Hadyn Evans, Lower Lake, Calif., five bass, 12-5
10th: University of California-Merced – Kalib Caples, Sebastopol, Calif., and Herbie LeBlanc, Merced, Calif., five bass, 12-4
The YETI FLW College Fishing event on Clear Lake presented by Costa was hosted by the Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina. It was the second of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Western Conference anglers. The next event for FLW College Fishing anglers will be the YETI FLW College Fishing at the Chesapeake Bay presented by Bass Pro Shops, May 31 at the Chesapeake Bay in Edgewood, Maryland.