Bainbridge, Ga.–The Bethel University Bass Cats set a brand new record in the sport of College Bass Fishing by finishing first, second, and third place in the FLW Yeti series held in Bainbridge, Ga., on Lake Seminole.
No school has ever had three teams finish in the top three spots during a national fishing tournament.
Bethel’s Brad Ableman and partner Wilson Smith stepped to the scales with a huge bag fish while weighing in with their five fish limit of bass. Those five fish weighed in at 19 pounds one ounce. That weight gave the pair of Bethel Anglers a two pound plus lead over the second place team of Dax Ewart and Kyle Palmer also of Bethel. Ewart and Palmer had five fish that weighed 16 pounds 13 ounce.
Rounding out the third place position for the Bethel squad with a weight of 15 pounds 1 ounce were Cody Huff and Dakota Pierce. Huff and Pierce had just won a tournament a couple of weeks prior to this event for Bethel and Cody finished in first place a week later in his very first semi pro fishing tournament. Both of those events were held on Lake Toledo Bend in Louisiana.
Smith said, “We fought through very tough conditions on Lake Seminole. High winds and cold temperatures played a huge role in making this one of the toughest tournaments that I have ever fished.”
Bethel Partner Brad Ableman concurred that the extreme drop in temperature the night before the tournament and the high winds plus the fact that due to bad weather the team was not able to get much practice time on the big southern impoundment had played a part in the waters that they could fish during the tournament day. “We just put our heads down and went fishing,” Ableman said.
The pair earned a spot and punched their ticket to fish the FLW Yeti National Championship in 2021 along with their teammates Ewart, Palmer, Huff, and Pierce.
Coach Garry Mason said, “I am so very proud of our guys. We continue to break records and win bass fishing tournaments and events. The Bethel Bass team has won the last five Bass tournaments that we have fished including three national championships.” Mason lives in Springville in Henry County.
The Bethel Bass Team fishes in tournaments that have between one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty boats and these guys just keep their focus and keep winning, Mason said. “Competition at this level is very strong and teams from all across the country fish in each tournament in which we compete so for these guys to continue to win is certainly something to be proud of. They are all amazing young men with bright futures in the sport of competitive angling.”
Also fishing the FLW Lake Seminole event for Bethel were Ryan Winchester, Joe Mcklosky, Tristan McCormick, and Nathan Portch. Bethel is now ranked number one in the Team of the Year points for FLW with this record breaking win.