Tarleton Bass Club duo win 2nd place, ‘big bass’ prize at Collegiate Bass Texas Shootout

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STEPHENVILLE (April 29, 2015) — Tarleton State University Bass Club members Stetson Overton and Justin Seeton claimed 2nd place in the 2015 Collegiate Bass Texas Shootout, April 25, at Lake Texoma near Denison, and also received a prize for landing the tournament’s biggest bass.

The Tarleton duo finished the tournament with four bass weighing in at 12.8 pounds, tying for 2nd with Murray State University’s Logan Thomas and Ryan Kirkpatrick. The title of Collegiate Bass Texas Shootout champion was claimed by the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga whose team had a final weigh-in of 13.23 pounds.

The 46-boat field was greeted by a bright rising sun on tournament morning as the anglers attempted to figure the bass migration following the previous day’s two feet of rain. Tarleton’s team battled the elements on Lake Texoma, managing to catch some quality fish—including a 6.56-pound largemouth caught by Overton, which accounted for half of Tarleton’s total at weigh-in and was the tournament’s largest catch.

Similar to other teams that pre-fished the event, Tarleton’s Overton and Seeton were concerned with conditions at the start. Typically a clear lake, Lake Texoma had muddy water conditions with few clear spots in the morning, said Midlothian native Seeton, a sophomore majoring in kinesiology. “The muddy water really hurt us, like it did for most everyone. We found some bed fish in practice, but lost a lot of them due to the muddy water.”

As the day went on and the water began to settle, the Tarleton team was able to resort to some of their bed fishing tactics and hooked the big bass of the day. “I hooked the fish earlier in the day, but it broke me off. It was very painful,” said Overton, a sophomore from Glen Rose who’s majoring in business administration. “Luckily I was able to go back later in the day and I stuck her again, but got her in the boat that time!”

Along with sight fishing for bedding fish, the team also flipped grass and bushes to catch their other three keepers. “This was my fourth time to fish this lake, but my first time to catch a keeper. I am extremely happy with how we ended up!” exclaimed Seeton.

For their efforts, the Tarleton duo won $525 in Cabela’s Gift Cards, two Temple Fork Outfitters rods, two Mustang lifejackets, and two Abu Garcia Revo’s for big bass of the tournament.

Also representing the Tarleton Bass Club in the tournament was the duo of Marshall Hughes and Tanner Crim, who finished 8th with four bass weighing in at 6.87 pounds. Other Tarleton Bass Club anglers competing at Lake Texoma were James McCaleb, Wesley Schoon, Austin Fowler and Zach Hurst.