Bass Fishing 7/20/2018 9:22:00 PM Jordan Alves

Dunagan & Ratliff climb to fifth; will compete in final day of Bassmaster College Series Finals

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Bradley Dunagan and Nick Ratliff hauled in another three fish to total six pounds 14 ounces and moved up the leaderboard one spot to clinch a berth into Day 3 of the 2018 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.

The top Tiger duo improved on spot on the leaderboard after another solid bag on Day 2 of the championship. With their Day 1 total of 14-pounds 7-ounces and Day 2 catch of 6-14, they've totaled eight fish for 21-pounds 5-ounces.

With the duo of Dunagan/Ratliff in the finals, it is the first boat in program history to earn a bid to the final day of a Bassmaster College Series National Championship.

"Today was a lot more demanding and we missed our morning flurry," said coach Pete Hedgepath. "That caused the guys to lose a couple fish. Fishing pressure also really affected our backup areas. The guys were around the fish and if they can get them to bite we have a chance to move up a little more tomorrow."

The Tigers had two other boats in the field but both faltered on Day 2. Dakota Cantrell and Austin Moore failed to catch a fish in the second round and fell from 14^thplace to 46^thwith a total of 8-pounds 11-ounces.

Dustin Jones and Dalton Smith hauled in a 3-pound 10-ounce bass and finished in 52^nd.

Bethel University's Garrett Enders and Cody Huff extended their lead by a large margin on Friday with another big back of 15-pounds 10-ounces. The two have combined to catch a limit of five fish each day that weighed in at 32-pounds 4-ounces.

The field for Saturday is narrowed to 12 teams who will face off for the Championship title and a Top 4 ranking, which will move them on to the College Bracket set for Aug. 14-16 on Milford Lake out of Junction City, Kan. That's where they will split up to compete individually in a bracket-style, catch-and-release competition where eight will be cut down to the one who will be awarded a berth in the 2019 Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods, set for March 15-17 on the Tennessee River hosted at Knoxville.

Tenkiller Lake continued to test teams with searing heat, no wind and finicky fish as the Bethel seniors repeated their performance in front of the crowd in the tournament hosted by Northeastern State University and Tour Tahlequah.

"Moving day" did seem some swings but the Top 7 from Day 1 all made it through to the finale. Big movers who made the Top 12 include Tanner Ward of Kent State, fishing singly and filling the 12th spot after a move from 45th place on Day 1 with a bag of 12-2 for a total of 16-9. Right along with him from 44th place came Thad Simerly and Ethan Shaw of Bryan College with 12-3 for a 16-11 total.

The heartbreaker of the day saw home Northeastern State University team Taylor Hamburger and Carson Smith draw a blank and drop from fourth to 15th place and out of the running.

Swings both big and little will be on the minds of the top duo from Bethel as they launch Saturday with 11 bulls-eyes on their backs and a near miss from 2017 Championship, when they missed the Top 4 by a few ounces.

Miserably hot weather continued with a 106-degree high (and 112 heat index) on Tenkiller Friday with just enough breezes to raise hopes for a minor respite that never came.

Saturday's forecast calls for a few more clouds and a little less heat with a high in the mid 90s.

Carhartt Big Bass moved up from 5-9 to a 6-3 that came to the boat for sophomore Hayden Bartee of Alabama's Jefferson State University. It was caught off an offshore brushpile on a Strike King Structure Head with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog.

The contest continues Saturday with takeoff at 7 a.m. ET from Cherokee Landing State Park. The final weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. at Northeastern State University Beta Field in Tahlequah. Fans are encouraged to come early and enjoy the Bassmaster Outdoors Expo featuring interactive sponsor displays and free giveaways from 2-6 p.m. ET All activities are free and open to the public.

Information provided by Bassmaster.com and Ronnie Moore.

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