Oregon State, Oregon anglers score big at collegiate bass tournaments

Oregon State University's "Zach Attack" proved to be a winning combination as Zach MacDonald and Zach Martinez teamed to win the weekend FLW College Fishing Western conference bass tournament on the California Delta at Bethel Island.

MacDonald, a sophomore fisheries and wildlife major from Willits, Calif., and Martinez, a junior in agricultural business management from Linden, Calif., weighed a combined five-bass limit tipping the scales at 19 pounds, 15 ounces on Saturday to earn $4,000 for the club and the school.

The win also qualifies the pair for the FLW Western Conference Invitational on Oct. 11 at Clear Lake in California.

FLW stands for Forrest L. Wood, the founder of Ranger Bass Boats.

It was a double FLW victory for Beaver bass anglers.

The team of Chase Cochran of Corvallis and Ryan Sparks of Gearhart finished fourth with five bass weighing a total of 16-10 and earning $500 and a berth to the invitational.

MacDonald and Martinez couldn't quite pull off a double, though. They finished 16th at the May 15 and 16 College Western BASS Regional at Clear Lake before heading to the delta for the May 17 FLW event.

But three other Oregon teams finished in the top 10 at Clear Lake, earning slots at the Bassmaster College Series Championship July 31 through Aug. 2 at Chatuge Reservoir in Georgia.

Chase Cochran and Ryan Sparks of Oregon State finished seventh with back-to-back five-fish limits weighing a total of 39-11. Kyle Schneider and Jacob Wall of the University of Oregon finished ninth with 10 fish 35-1. And Erik Strickler and Brandon Hua of Oregon State grabbed the final berth at the BASS Regional with 10 bass weighing 34-9.

Schneider and Wall earlier had qualified for the FLW Western Conference Invitational by winning the first tournament of the year on Feb. 1 at Lake Havasu in California, so they opted to skip Saturday's FLW tournament to concentrate on the BASS event at Clear Lake.

Tanner Cooper and Memo Nunez of New Mexico State University were the winners of the BASS collegiate tournament at Clear Lake, weighing limits each day for a whopping total of 47-5. That total included the largest bass of the tournament, a 7-pound, 15-ounce fish.