MANY, La. — Cody Huff and Dakota Pierce finished what they started and clinched a wire-to-wire victory on Saturday in the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series at Toledo Bend presented by Bass Pro Shops.

Cody Huff and Dakota Pierce of Bethel University won the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series at Toledo Bend presented by Bass Pro Shops with a three-day total of 60 pounds, 7 ounces. Photo by Ronnie Moore/B.A.S.S.

The duo from Tennessee’s Bethel University bagged another five-bass limit, weighing a tournament-high 20 pounds, 15 ounces. That gave them a three-day total of 60-7 and sealed a convincing victory at this famed 185,000-acre reservoir on the Louisiana/Texas border.

Huff and Pierce earned more than $3,000 for the Bethel bass fishing team with the win. They also earned a spot in the College Series National Championship, which is scheduled for later this year at a date and location to be determined.

“This is awesome,” Pierce said, still clutching his tournament title trophy. “We went out there and worked our butts off all week to do it. It wasn’t easy.”

They made it look easy, though, after grabbing the lead with a 19-11 limit on Thursday and following with a 19-13 bag a day later. That gave them nearly a 4-pound cushion over the 11 other teams that survived Friday’s cut. Their final margin of victory was an impressive 6-7.

There were no giants among the 15 bass Huff and Pierce weighed this week. Instead, they relied on a steady stream of 3 1/2- to 4 1/2 -pound largemouth.

“(We’ll take those) any day of the week, any week of the year,” Huff said.

The Bethel duo targeted larger ditches and channel swings where baitfish were concentrated all week. Their best bites came during the afternoons in 20 to 60 feet of water.

“We caught them on jigging spoons,” Pierce said. “There wasn’t much to it, we just had to get it down there quick. Those fish are always moving and following shad. All we had to do was get it in front of their face.”

The win continues a tremendous run for Huff, who now has led on six consecutive days in Bassmaster tournaments. He previously won all three of his matches in the Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket event on Tennessee’s Watts Bar Lake last August, and that qualified him for the 2020 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk which will take place March 6-8 on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville.

Huff said it wasn’t difficult to maintain focus at Toledo Bend, despite the fact he’ll compete in the biggest bass tournament in the world in six weeks.

“Everything’s just one week at a time right now,” he said. “I’m just going fishing and enjoying the year while it’s here.”

Huff and Pierce are both 22-year-old seniors, and they grew up together in Ava, Mo., which is five hours from McKenzie, Tenn., where Bethel is located. They credited the program’s culture of success and said they’ve become better anglers since enrolling at the school

“It’s cool to be around a bunch of guys who know what they’re doing,” Pierce said.

Brett Clark and Cody Ross of East Texas Baptist placed second with 54-0, and the Kent State duo of Tanner Ward and Rory Franks were third with 53-12.

In all, 248 teams from 26 states entered the tournament, and the Top 12 tandems split a total purse of $10,625 for their school fishing teams. The top 25 pairs in the standings advanced to nationals.

Stevie Mills and Baylor Howell of Bethel won the $500 Carhartt Big Bass Award for the 7-8 largemouth they caught on Thursday. Huff and Pierce won the Bass Pro Shops/Nitro Boats Big Bag Award and the $250 in merchandise that goes with it for having the biggest bag of the tournament (the 20-15 limit on Saturday.)

The Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series at Toledo Bend presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors will take place Sunday, as will the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Junior Series event. Takeoff for both fields is set for 7 a.m. CT at Cypress Bend Park. Juniors will weigh in back at the park at 1:30 p.m., with the high school anglers scheduled for 3 p.m.

All three tournaments are presented by the Louisiana Office of Tourism, Toledo Bend Lake Country, the Sabine River Authority, Desoto Parish Tourist Commission and the Vernon Parish Tourist Commission.

2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Carhartt

2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops

2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor Platinum Sponsor: Toyota

2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor Premier Sponsors: Abu Garcia, Berkley, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Skeeter Boats, Talon, Triton Boats, Yamaha

2020 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor Supporting Sponsors: HUK Performance Fishing, Mossy Oak Fishing, Rapala

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 515,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2 and The Pursuit Channel), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship, new Huk Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk.

2020 Tour Stop Toledo Bend Reservoir 1/23-1/25
Toledo Bend Reservoir, Many  LA.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3

Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Cody Huff – Dakota Pierce                    Bethel University                   250
Day 1: 5   19-11     Day 2: 5   19-13     Day 3: 5   20-15   Total:  15  60-07
2.  Brett Clark – Cody Ross                      East Texas  Baptist University      249
Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 5   19-00     Day 3: 5   18-05   Total:  15  54-00
3.  Tanner Ward – Rory Franks                    Kent State University               248
Day 1: 5   17-10     Day 2: 5   15-08     Day 3: 5   20-10   Total:  15  53-12
4.  Thaddeus Simerly – Ethan Shaw                Bryan College                       247
Day 1: 5   18-13     Day 2: 5   12-02     Day 3: 5   18-00   Total:  15  48-15
5.  Ty Cox – Fisher Overton                      Blue Mountain College               246
Day 1: 5   17-01     Day 2: 5   16-00     Day 3: 5   12-01   Total:  15  45-02
6.  Austin Carr – Justin Carr                    Illinois State University           245
Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   16-05     Day 3: 5   11-13   Total:  15  43-01
7.  Brett Fregia – Jack Tindell                  Lamar State College Orange          244
Day 1: 5   16-14     Day 2: 5   13-10     Day 3: 5   12-02   Total:  15  42-10
8.  Charles Norris – Braxton Resweber            University of Louisiana at LaFay    243
Day 1: 5   16-02     Day 2: 5   18-04     Day 3: 4   07-10   Total:  14  42-00
9.  Griffin Phillips – Ethan King                University of Montevallo            242
Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   15-13     Day 3: 5   12-00   Total:  15  41-09
10. Grant Lesage – Zach Davis                    Southeastern Louisiana Universit    241
Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 5   17-06     Day 3: 5   10-01   Total:  15  40-14
11. Jacob Pfundt – Emil Wagner                   Ole Miss                            240
Day 1: 5   15-10     Day 2: 5   15-03     Day 3: 4   07-15   Total:  14  38-12
12. Austin Smith – Maddux Walters                Carson Newman                       239
Day 1: 4   15-05     Day 2: 4   14-12     Day 3: 2   03-07   Total:  10  33-08
13. Cole Sands – Conner Dimauro                  Bryan College- TN                   238
Day 1: 5   15-12     Day 2: 5   13-10   Total:  10  29-06
14. Boone Faulkner – Nikolas Beckstein           Mississippi State                   237
Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 5   12-05   Total:  10  29-00
15. Jack York – Samuel Harrison                  stephen f austin state universit    236
Day 1: 5   16-07     Day 2: 5   12-02   Total:  10  28-09
16. James Willoughby – Chance Schwartz           University of Montevallo            235
Day 1: 4   12-03     Day 2: 5   16-00   Total:   9  28-03
17. Adam Carroll – Justin Barnes                 University of Montevallo            234
Day 1: 5   15-13     Day 2: 5   12-06   Total:  10  28-03
18. Chase Mundhenke – Blake Milligan             Auburn                              233
Day 1: 5   11-12     Day 2: 5   15-12   Total:  10  27-08
19. Wesley Pennington – Austin Mize              University of North Alabama         232
Day 1: 5   12-12     Day 2: 5   14-10   Total:  10  27-06
20. Zeke Gossett – Lucas Smith                   Jacksonville State                  231
Day 1: 5   12-00     Day 2: 5   15-02   Total:  10  27-02
21. Tommy Sendek – Tyler Turk                    Grand Canyon university             230
Day 1: 5   11-05     Day 2: 5   15-10   Total:  10  26-15
22. Jarred Jones – Logan Tate                    Jacksonville State University       229
Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   11-01   Total:  10  26-10
23. Cole Breeden – Cameron Smith                 Drury University                    228
Day 1: 5   11-09     Day 2: 5   14-12   Total:  10  26-05
24. Kyle Everett – John Higginbotham             LA Tech                             227
Day 1: 5   12-00     Day 2: 5   14-03   Total:  10  26-03
25. Jake Maddux – Chace Gregory                  Southern Union                      226
Day 1: 5   13-14     Day 2: 5   12-05   Total:  10  26-03
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
1       100       772      1924-11
2        70       587      1438-04
3         9        55       154-15
———————————-
179      1414      3517-14