UW-Whitewater leads on stingy Lake Monroe

Central Regional field struggles with shifting conditions

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Numbers often tell the truest tale, and the scorecard from day one of the National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Regional Championship looks like a desert with the occasional oasis.

Consider these stats:

• The field produced no limits, and a total of just 35 bass with a combined weight of 73 pounds, 6 ounces.

• Four teams zeroed, and five caught just one fish.

• One of those teams with a single fish – UW-Stout – sits in eighth place on the strength of Jeremy Anibas’ 5-pounder – the day’s biggest bass.

• Second-place Indiana University’s Jesse Shultz and Dustin Vaal caught just two keepers for a weight of 8-3.

A day that began with chilly, partly cloudy conditions quickly yielded to the approaching wave of frigid, damp and blustery conditions on tap for tomorrow. Winds increased to about 15 mph, the temperature began sliding, and the fish got a major attitude. A handful of anglers managed to locate big fish that had not yet shut their mouths. Overall, though, it was a tough day to be fishing Lake Monroe.

Henderson State’s Michael Jennings and Justin Westfall went fishless today, and Jennings expressed his dismay at bass that snubbed their thorough effort. “We threw everything in the boat at them, but we couldn’t get them to bite.”

Westfall was more optimistic: “We’re saving them for tomorrow.”

Leading the field, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Jordan Truttschel and Tyler Netzer caught four fish for 9 pounds, 7 ounces. Although many of their competitors reported better catches in the afternoon, UW-Whitewater got their business done early.

The leaders targeted deeper wood and stump fields in creeks and caught their fish on crankbaits. Truttschel said that finding baitfish and focusing their efforts on areas with abundant forage was key. This formula worked well in the morning, but as conditions changed, the bite vanished.

“As the wind (increased), I didn’t get a bite in the last three hours,” Netzer said. “Our bite was really early. We had all of our fish by noon.”

Netzer said he and his partner fished jigs and worms later in the day.

Late rally lifts local favorite IU to second

As the hometown team, Schultz and Vaal certainly had the advantage of local knowledge. However, as Schultz said, that does not necessarily guaranty and easy ride.

“Stuff is running through your head all day long, like, `Will this spot produce? Will this one work?'” he said.

At the morning launch, the IU anglers were expecting a later bite, so they were not surprised by their day-ending rally. They were, of course, dismayed that they found only two that would measure – a couple of 4-pounders.

“We got 10 other bites today and caught them all, so we took advantage of the opportunities we had,” Vaal said. “We just couldn’t find any other keepers.”

Vaal said he and Schultz caught their fish on moving baits after putting together a pattern toward the end of their fishing time.

“We figured something out later in the day and got those two big ones back to back,” Vaal said. “We were just chunking and winding and staying on `em.”

Winona State winds in third

Zac Cassill and Jerry Jonsgaard sacked up four keepers that weighed 7-15 to put Winona State in the third-place spot. The anglers targeted wood and caught their fish on 5/16-ounce black/blue jigs in 8 feet of water. The day’s conditions made for a tough early going, but once the action kicked into gear by midday, they found their quartet of keepers, which included one that went about 4 pounds.

“Going into the morning, we had a 15-spot milk run planned out,” Cassill said. “We followed it to a T, but it didn’t work out until about 12:30 or so, and then we caught that big one and two other keepers (quickly). We burned almost a full tank of gas today.”

Eastern Kentucky, Truman State round out top five

Eastern Kentucky’s Kyle Raymer and Jonas Ertel placed fourth with 7-13. Truman State’s Mike McCarthy Jr. and Spencer Clark took fifth with 7-13.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 leaders at the CF Central Regional Championship:

6th: Purdue University, Chris Bookout and Michael Ruhana, 7-4

7th: University of Iowa, Tyler Mehrl and John Mercer, 5-7

8th: UW-Stout, Jeremy Anibas and Ryan Helke, 5-0

9th: UALR, Brian Duckett and Trent Gephardt, 4-1

10th: Purdue University, Charles Spicer and Chris Kaiser, 3-6

Day two of FLW National Guard College Fishing Series action continues at Friday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 7:30 a.m. Central time at Cutright Ramp located at 8012 Knightridge Road in Bloomington, Ind.