SCBFC Lake Wheeler Results

Despite foul weather that included steady rain and cold temperatures both days of competition, 73 dedicated collegiate bass anglers representing 17 universities from the southeast braved the tough conditions to contest the final qualifying event of the 2009 Southern Collegiate Bass Fishing Series (SCBFS) held at Lake Wheeler, March 13-14.

 

When the scales settled on the final day, Auburn University sat atop the leader board claiming first and second place. Clay Messer & Sam Rochell finished 1st with a two day total of 29.77 pounds while Richard Peek & JT Murphy took second with 26.37. 

Rounding out the top 5 spots was:

 

Univ. of Montevallo / Clent Davis & Chuck Holderfield / 25.71

Univ. of Alabama-Birmingham / Tim Waits & Braxton Setzer / 24.35

Univ. of North Alabama / Andrew Bacon & Robb Young / 23.57

 

Auburn University also secured the 2009 team match competition title with a record of 5 wins and only 1 loss. Second through fifth place was claimed by Alabama, Virginia Tech, UAB and Montevallo.

 

20 universities qualified for the 2009 SCBFS Championship event that will be held at Lake Wilson April 17-18. Over 100 collegiate anglers are qualified to compete in this event that will be featured within the BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship television series which will air on the Versus network this fall.

 

"All of our expectations were exceeded this year in terms of participation. These kids are fishing for school pride and to satisfy their competitive drive. They showed up in huge numbers at the three qualifying events despite extremely harsh weather conditions at every event," stated Jann Swaim, Club Advisor Auburn University Bass Sports Club Advisor.

 

Swaim also commented that he's extremely excited about the fishing that awaits the kids at Lake Wilson. According to TVA surveys, Lake Wilson offers the highest catch rate of both smallmouth and largemouth bass among all TVA lakes. 

 

For more info and additional photos, please visit http://www.auburn.edu/student_info/bass_fishing/wheeler09.html.