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YSU anglers hook berth in FLW Open
Two Youngstown State University seniors brought home a hard-earned berth in the 2020 intercollegiate national bass fishing championship with a sixth-place finish this week in the FLW Yeti College Open at Kentucky Lake.
Student anglers Jonathan Creed of Niles and Jared Latone of Austintown teamed up to weigh in a two-day total of 39 pounds, 1 ounce. The Penguins topped 191 other college teams from across the United States.
Creed and Latone honed their tournament fishing skills in competition with Youngstown’s Mohawk Valley Bass Club and other local events.
The honors they earned this week are believed to be the highest attained by YSU student anglers as intercollegiate fishing continues to expand in the U.S.
“Collegiate bass fishing is really coming on strong around the country as more teams, more schools, are joining the movement every year,” Creed said.
Latone concurred.
“The growth of the sport has been incredible and the quality of the competition just gets better and better,” he said.
Creed’s major is high school history education. Latone is a finance major. Both say they will continue tournament fishing even after graduation. They also say credit their success in part to experience gained in Mohawk Valley Bass Club competition.
“We’ve got to say thanks to Mohawk,” Latone said. “We really cut our teeth on the local lakes and learned a lot with the local guys.”
The FLW Yeti College Open was contested Tuesday and Wednesday on massive Kentucky Lake, a Tennessee River reservoir. The Penguin team started strong, sacking 23 pounds 4, ounces on day one.
They started day two in sixth place, just ounces off the lead, facing a big question.
“The officials determined day two was going to be only a half day due to weather, so we had to decide whether it was worth a 40-minute run south on the lake to the fish we’d found the day prior,” Latone said. “It turned out to be a good decision as we brought in 15 pounds 13 ounces to nail down the qualification spot for the 2020 championship.”
Tournament fishing days often have pivotal moments when the anglers’ fate hangs in the balance. Latone and Creed had such a moment the first day.
“We had four bass by 11 a.m. and had gone about an hour without a bite so we were debating what to do next,” Creed said. “Then I got a huge bite – I’d say it was an honest 7 pounds – and at first I thought no way it was a bass, it was pulling so hard. Then it came up and we saw it and Jared went to net the bass, but one of the treble hooks snagged in the net and the fish got off.”
Understandably distraught, the Penguins resumed fishing and a few minutes later, Latone caught a 5-pounder and soon afterward a 4-pounder.
“Jared felt redeemed and this gave us the confidence to go back to that spot on day two, where we caught the fish that put us in the national championship,” Creed said.
They fished two primary baits: a Spro Little John MD crankbait in spring craw color and a MegaBass 110 jerkbait in the wagasaki color. They worked bluff walls where the transitioned to gravel.
The YSU men beat all the other Ohio schools in the tournament as well as the local favorites representing the Kentucky schools – proving that Penguins are better fishers than Buckeyes, Bobcats, Wildcats and even the Midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy.