HUNTING & FISHING

Oregon State, Oregon start strong at bass championships

Henry Miller

Statesman Journal

Competitors get ready for blast-off Friday morning on Day 2 of the three-day FLW College Fishing National Championships.

The Oregon State University pairing of Chase Cochran and Ryan Sparks stood in 14th place after Thursday's opening day of Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) College Fishing National Championships at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina.

The University of Oregon duo of Kyle Schneider and Jacob Wall were in 17th place.

Cochran and Sparks were one of the 35 teams in the 45-team field that limited, checking in five bass weighing 15 pounds, 8 ounces. Schneider and Wall's five fish checked in at 13-12.

The day-one leaders were Travis Rulle and Caleb Eppler of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Their five bass weighed a whopping 22-2, more than 3 pounds more than the second-place team of Kyle Raymer and Ethan Snyder of Eastern Kentucky University with five fish weighing 18-15.

The three-day event wraps up Saturday with the winning team bringing home a fully rigged Ranger Z117 bass boat and earning a ticket to compete with top pros at the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup.

Oregon State’s Ryan Sparks, shown here at an earlier tournament, and left, and Chase Cochran were in 14th place at the end of the first day at the three-day FLW College Fishing National Championships in South Carolina.