Americana Outdoors E-Magazine - July 2018 Edition

time. “I think we managed our time right on it, and hit it at the necessary times. Just rotating them schools and jumping back and forth really paid off for us today,” said McNeil. Good decision making paid off to the tune of 25.12 pounds and a championship title for Carter Mc- Neil and Cole Floyd. With little to no experience on Pickwick Lake entering the event, Floyd is over- joyed with today’s result, “Just going out there and catching the winning bag on the place, it made it really special.” His fishing partner Carter McNeil is also overcome by their achievement, “It feels awe- some, this is what every college kid dreams of. We really focused, and grinded through practice and the tournament. We are fortunate and blessed to come up with some fish that got us this champi- onship.” BRYAN COLLEGE JUMPS FIVE SPOTS TO CLAIM SECOND. Finishing in second place when the scales closed was the Bryan College team of Nathan Bell and Cole Sands. Having fished this event before, Bell is pleased with how his boat finished, “I think my highest finish in this tournament has been a 94th. It’s kind of been my jinx in my college fishing ca- reer. We’re super thankful to come in second. It’s a big deal.” Entering today outside of the top five, sitting in seventh place, they were nearly four pounds out of first place. Our crew caught up with them mid-morning and the Bryan College pairing was working on a good bag. An early afternoon cull had Nathan think- ing they might have a shot at the title, “We got a big bite right there at the end that was able to cull us up about three and a half pounds. We were thinking, man we might have a shot but we didn’t know those guys were going to blast them.” At the end of the day, finishing second overall in a field made up of the nation’s best is still a major

Cole Floyd casts out a large spoon on Day 2 of the BOA- TUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Cabela’s.

Cole Sands (right) boat flips a fish that unfortunately won’t help their cause.

Nathan Bell (left) Cole Sands (right) finished 2nd and walked away with $3,000 worth of contingencies as well as the prizes Bryan College won finishing 5th overall in the Cabela’s School of the Year Race presented by Abu Garcia.