(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 31)--The McKendree University bass fishing team returned to action over the weekend at the Carhartt Bassmaster Regional Tournament held on Toledo Bend Reservoir in Many, La.

The tournament saw 496 anglers and 248 boats arrive from 89 universities and 29 different states. Toledo Bend, the fifth-largest lake in the United States, is not your typical lake, according to McKendree bass fishing coach Jon Rinderer. He noted that just getting from point A to point B can be a huge challenge for the anglers. Prior to becoming a lake, the area was 185,000 acres of timber that filled early due to extreme flooding. Therefore, none of the time was removed before it filled. 

When the teams arrived, the lake was six feet below normal pool, making travel conditions hazardous due to all of the treetops just above and below the surface. In spite of the extremely difficult boating conditions and freezing temperatures at takeoff times, McKendree's Shane Campbell and Ethan Jones were able to navigate themselves to a 13th-place finish and a berth into the Bassmaster Carhartt Collegiate National Championship.

The Bassmaster three-day format uses the first two days of fishing as qualifiers, with only the top 30 teams with the heaviest two-day cumulative weights qualifying for the fish-off on day three. This format caused the anglers to manage the schools of fish they had located and not "burn them up", according to Rinderer, on the final day of the tournament. Campbell and Jones weighed in a five-fish limit on day one for 13 pounds, 12 ounces and were sitting in 22nd place overall. On day two they caught 16 pounds, seven ounces and with a two-day total of 30 pounds, three ounces they were sitting in 13th place to qualify them to fish on the final day. The duo had managed their first well over the first two days and were sitting within striking distance of the leaders. Unfortunately, due to a four-hour heavy fog delay, the final day of competition was cancelled per Bassmaster rules for the event. That left Campbell and Jones in 13th place in the final standings to earn the pair a bid to the upcoming Bassmaster Carhartt Collegiate National Championship.

Trevor McKinney and Curtis Lilly (Sterling, IL/Sterling) finished with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 13 ounces and placed 69th overall. Joseph Bruener and Nate Doty caught 15 pounds, one ounce to finish 84th in the tournament, while Jacob Louis and Taylor Schmitt combined for eight pounds, seven ounces to place 137th overall. 

Up next for the McKendree bass fishing team will be the Cabela's Texas Lunker Challenge on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Feb. 11 in Texas.