The playing field for the Strike King Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops is Winyah Bay out of Georgetown, South Carolina. This coastal estuary is the confluence of the Sampit River, the Waccamaw River, the Pee Dee River, and the Black River that come together before emptying out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Just as these rivers meet to form this fishery, anglers from across the country converged upon Georgetown County to compete for college fishing’s biggest prize; the National Championship trophy and a chance to make the “Classic Bracket” that will ultimately send one college angler to the 2023 Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville next March.
While the anglers were grabbing some fresh spools of Strike King Contra fluorocarbon and making the rounds during Yamaha Pro Night, we caught up with anglers from Murray State, Carson-Newman, and Georgia College & State to pick their brains after three days of practice on Winyah Bay.
Q: What are three techniques or patterns you believe will play a role for top teams on Winyah Bay this weekend?
Corbin Templon (Murray State) – “Swimjig, a topwater of some kind, and flipping visible cover.”
Troy Harris (Georgia College & State) – “Flipping shallow cover, some kind of topwater in the mornings, and fishing s-l-o-w. I know that’s not a bait but fishing slow with whatever you are throwing could be key.”
Hayden Gaddis (Carson-Newman) – “Flipping will definitely play a role this week. Spinnerbaiting could be good, and lastly I’d say just any shallow water power fishing, which is something every one of these teams can do. It’s anyone’s ballgame in my opinion.”
Q: How much weight will teams need to average each day to make Championship Sunday?
Corbin Templon (Murray State) – “To make the top 10 I think it will take an average of 10.5-lbs per day.”
Troy Harris (Georgia College & State) – “I think 12.5-lbs per day will give you a really good shot to make the final day. If a team can catch 15-lbs a day, they’ll win it.”
Hayden Gaddis (Carson-Newman) – “I’m going to say 11.5 to 12-lbs per day to make the top 10 cut for Sunday, and maybe 13 to 14-lbs per day to win this thing.”
Q: Besides bass, what other species of fish have you caught throughout practice?
Corbin Templon (Murray State) – “Where do I start? We’ve caught flounder, a redfish, some crabs, and even an alligator the other day! This place is wild.”
Troy Harris (Georgia College & State) – “Man, my teammate (on another boat) caught a big redfish today, but we haven’t caught any salty fish yet. Just a bunch of Grinnell (bowfin) for us.”
Hayden Gaddis (Carson-Newman) – “Nothing crazy for our boat, man. We’ve caught some bowfin but that’s really it. I guess we did see a couple of dead alligators earlier in the week, that was a little out of the ordinary.”
Q: What has been the highlight of your week thus far?
Corbin Templon (Murray State) – “Just enjoying the scenery while running around this place. It’s a beautiful fishery and unlike anything I’ve ever fished in the past.”
Troy Harris (Georgia College & State) – “Honestly… being on a little bit of a bite on what we know can be a tough fishery. Winyah Bay isn’t fishing as tough as we expected, which has been a pleasant surprise!”
Hayden Gaddis (Carson-Newman) – “The highlight of my week has to be the comradery and fellowship of the house we’re staying at. Our team (Carson-Newman) is at an Air BnB with our coach, and it’s been awesome to hang with the guys every evening when we get off the water.”