The final day of the 2020 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, June 11, 2020, provided tons of suspense for the collegiate bass fishing community.
A tight leaderboard left an open door for plenty of teams to jump up from back in the pack and take a swipe at the lead. Though several teams tried, no-one could overtake the Day 1 leaders. Bailey Fain and Preston Kendrick weighed in over 16 pounds of bass on the last day of competition to edge out second place by more than a pound and claim the title of National Champions.
“I just got to thank the good Lord. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have done nothing,” said Fain. “Practice was terrible, and I don’t know what to say.” Bryan College angler Bailey Fain stood at the mic on the weigh-in stage seemingly speechless after being crowned a National Champion. This title is something that these anglers work all their life for, and to win on a grand stage is quite the accomplishment to be proud of.
“Both days we caught all of our weight first thing in the morning.”
The team’s journey to a National Championship began with an inauspicious start. Following a poor practice, their goal was just to cut a check. But on Day 1 their fate changed in a flash. “The first day, we started off and we found one or two chasing on a spot,” added Fain. Fishing right near take off, they noticed fish chasing shad and quickly loaded the boat with 19 pounds of bass on Day 1. Today, they started on that same spot and sealed the victory in the first hour of competition. “Today we went there, and in probably 30 minutes we had a majority of our weight,” Fain concluded.
Bailey Fain and Preston Kendrick weighed in over 16 pounds of bass on the last day of competition… BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship photo
Working swimbaits and topwaters to schooling fish, our camera crews caught all of the action as Fain & Kendrick seized every opportunity that was presented to them in a hurry. “Both days we caught all of our weight first thing in the morning. It happened so fast, we didn’t know what to think,” noted Kendrick. “We didn’t know we had as much as we had either day.” Come to find out, they had the winning weight. To the tune of 35.99 pounds, Bailey Fain & Preston Kendrick are bringing home a national title at the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops to Bryan College.
