Posted: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 12:02 am

The UT Martin bass anglers team continued its recent success as the team finished ninth in a field of 38 teams at the 2011 Boat US Collegiate Bass Fishing Open June 29-30, on Kentucky Lake near Paris Landing State Park.
Eastern Kentucky University claimed the tournament championship for the second year at the Boat US Open, which was presented by Pepsi.
“It was a team tournament rather than the usual individual tournaments,” said Grayson Smith, team president from Clarksville. “Not as good as we were hoping for (the team’s finish) of course, but it’s a great way to keep moving the team in the right direction toward being a tough-to-beat team.”
The top-10 finish followed a second-place showing by Smith and fellow UT Martin team member Dylan Powley of Paris in a Tennessee Collegiate Bass Fishing Trail tournament, sponsored by the UT Chattanooga bass anglers team.
The tournament was held the weekend of June 25, also on Kentucky Lake.
Smith and Powley were unable to pre-fish the June 25 tournament because of boat-motor problems in a previous tournament.
“We weren’t on any fish but decided to try and find some, which is what we did,” Smith said. “We found a school of fish and sat on it most of the day.
“All the fish we weighed in came from that spot.”