FL Gateway College Bassmaster Seth Slanker Moves Into Final of Bassmaster Collegiate Series
Today, collegiate anglers Louis Monetti and Seth Slanker will go head-to-head in the 2022 Bassmaster Classic
October 3, 2022 12:45 am | Updated 07:49 am
The match ups and how they got there. |
Bassmaster draw and photos
GREENWOOD, S.C. — On a lake where 1 to 2 pound spotted bass are plentiful, catching a big largemouth or two becomes paramount to success. UNC Charlotte’s Louis Monetti did just that on Semifinal Sunday at the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket at Lake Greenwood presented by Lew’s, landing a 6 pounder and a 4 pounder on his way to a 16 lb-14 ounce day.
By catching the biggest bag of the tournament thus far, Monetti powered past Florida Gateway College’s Jackson Swisher in the head-to-head matchup to advance to Championship Monday. There, he will face Florida Gateway College’s Seth Slanker, who caught 9lb-11oz and defeated McKendree University’s Tyler Christy, who caught 8lb-12oz Sunday.
Coming
into the event, Monetti expected 14 or 15 pounds
would be a really big bag. With overcast and
calm conditions on Day 1, he landed 10-4 to
advance. On Sunday, sunnier and breezier
conditions took over, although Monetti said he
wasn’t sure how much that contributed to his
increase in quality.
While the final tally looked good on paper, Monetti said he lost several key bass. But just as he and his partner Michael Fugaro did throughout their 2022 Team of the Year campaign, Monetti kept a positive mindset and was rewarded.
Mr. Monetti (left) and Mr. Slanker (right) |
Bassmaster photo
After losing a couple of bass between 2 and 4 pounds early in the day, Monetti made a short move to the other side of the lake to clear his head. He picked up a Whopper Plopper, and after a few casts, he hooked and landed the biggest bass of the tournament.
Slanker meanwhile had a tougher start to the morning. After several bass blew up on his topwater bait but did not get hooked, he made a move to an area where he caught fish on Saturday and caught three on a ChatterBait.
The areas he has been fishing haven’t produced as well during the event as they did in practice. Slanker isn’t sure what changed, but later in the day, he noticed his ChatterBait bite began to improve and he hopes that will continue into the final day.
Most of his bites have been spotted bass, but
Slanker added he would love to have a kicker
largemouth in his bag Monday.
“I’m going to pick up a ChatterBait more and throw it around,” Slanker said. “I would hope to catch a bunch more largemouth. My chances of getting a bigger bite would be a lot better. I know if I can get some quality spotted bass and a kicker largemouth, I’ll be happy.”
Monetti and Slanker will take off from Greenwood State Park at 7 a.m. ET and will have until 3 p.m. to catch their five biggest bass. The winner will earn their spot in the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic scheduled for March 24-26 in Knoxville, Tenn., as well as paid entries into the 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by Mossy Oak Fishing with use of a fully loaded Toyota Tundra and Nitro boat.
Live coverage will be available starting at 8 a.m. on Bassmaster.com. With this being a catch, weigh, release event, all scores will be official on BassTrakk.
The tournament is being hosted by Discover Greenwood, S.C.
