FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — Thomas Oltorik III and James Oltorik of Daytona State College won the 2015 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional on the St. Johns River Monday with a three-day total of 42 pounds, 6 ounces.
Teams prepare for launch for the day’s competition in the 2015 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional. SFN photo Ernie Darracott
The Oltorik brothers started the event Saturday with a weight of 15-9, which landed them in second place at the end of the opening round. Things only went up from there for Daytona State as they took the lead on Sunday and kept the lead Monday on the final day, winning the event by 1 pound even.
Brothers Thomas (left) and James Oltorik of Daytona State College win the Carhartt Bassmaster College Southern Regional held Jan. 3-5 on the St. Johns River out of Flagler County, Fla., with a three-day total weight of 42 pounds, 6 ounces.
Photo by Shaye Baker/Bassmaster
“I’m absolutely speechless,” Thomas said. “Today was an amazing day. We had a lot of little fish biting all day long. I was just sitting there praying to God, just one big one. And then right there at the end ‘kaboom,’ she ate it. I set the hook and put it in the boat.”
That big one weighed about 7 pounds and definitely made the difference for Daytona State, who bested the runner-ups from Clemson University, Baylor Ronemus and Cole Tinsley, by 1 pound.
Today started much like yesterday for Daytona State. After about 15 minutes on their starting spot in Crescent Lake, Thomas and James knew it was time to make the decision to run down. The wind was blowing a sustained 15 mph, and their offshore spot was almost impossible to fish thoroughly. They chose to strap everything down and make the three-hour run south past Lake George where they caught their entire final round weight of 13-4.
Ronemus and Tinsley were the second-best team to compete on the St. Johns River this week with 41-6.
Cousins Ryan and Zack Darracott, University of North Alabama, standing by for the launch sequence. SFN photo Ernie Darracott
Clemson bested Auburn University’s CJ Knight and Tim Ward by 1 ounce to clinch second and bump Auburn to third. Cody Spears and Justin Mahon of Florida State University finished fourth with 40-0, and Austin Littrell and Ben Wall of Auburn University brought in the biggest bag of the final day, weighing 18-8, to round out the Top 5 with a total of 39-8.
To lip or not to lip,,,that ain’t even a question to consider. The gator hit Ryan Hayes ‘jerkbait. Hayes said he was not going to lose a $16 jerkbait, even to gator!
The largest fish weighed in across all three days of competition belonged to Nathan Felker and Joe Bates of Georgia Southern with their 10-7 monster from Day 2.
The Bass Pro Shops Nitro Big Bag award went to Spears and Mahon of Florida State University, who on Day 2 brought in the largest single-day stringer of the tournament weighing 19-15.
The winning team also earned the Livingston Lures Leader award worth $500 in Livingston Lures product.
In all, 18 teams qualified for the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship, which will be held later this summer.
For a complete list of the results as well as photos, videos and other stories from the event, visit Bassmaster.com.
