COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Oct. 15, 2011) – The Stephen F. Austin team of Andrew
Upshaw, Hemphill, Texas and Ryan Watkins, Rockport, Texas, won the National
Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Regional Championship presented by Mercury
Saturday in record setting fashion. Their five bass limit set a new FLW Outdoors
record for the heaviest one day catch at a college fishing event, weighing in at
26 pounds, 6 ounces. They had a three day total of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds, 6
ounces.
For their victory the team from Stephen F. Austin won $50,000 to be
split between the university and the university’s bass fishing club – $12,500
and a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower outboard wrapped in school colors for
the bass club and $12,500 for their school. The team also earned their first
berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship which will
be held in April 2012. Upshaw and Watkins beat their closest competitor, the
Texas A&M team of Shafer and Weston, by an incredible 9 pounds, 11 ounces.
“This feels great. To be able to represent our school, our families, the
fans,” said Watkins. “It’s unbelievable.
“The story of the day was rocks. We started on rocks and we finished on
rocks,” Watkins went on to say. “Typically in the fall the bass start a feeding
frenzy and rocky areas provide large areas for more fish to feed on. These areas
tend to replenish faster so the bass are constantly coming and going.
“We used three key baits and fished three key areas,” Watkins continued.
“The 6th Sense 1.5 Square Bill in clear sexy shad, Strike Pro Big Bubba in
crawfish and Strike King Series 3 in sexy shad. We fished a rock bed that was 4
to 6 feet deep, brush piles in 3 to 12 feet of water and a back pocket that had
a rock bottom.
“We lost a lot of fish today, it was ridiculous,” Watkins added. “But
then we caught the 7 1/2 – pounder and we knew we had it won. This is
unbelievable.”
Both Upshaw and Watkins graduated this spring but managed to qualify for
the Texas Regional, three times, prior to graduating. The team placed second at
Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Feb., second at Toledo Bend in March and third at Lake
Texoma in May.
“The fish changed every day,” Watkins said. “We won by chuckin’ and
grinding every day. There was a lot of hard work that went in to this victory. I
do have to give props to Texas A&M. They are excellent anglers and always bring
a good game. We knew that we couldn’t give them any slack.
“We wanted to fish this rocky bank all week,” Watkins continued. “We
knew there were some big fish in there and we saw both Texas A&M teams in there.
We just didn’t get the opportunity to fish in there until today.
“This is something that you just can’t explain, Watkins went on to say.
“We lost a lot of fish today but we caught a lot of big bass. Times like this
are few and far between and you just have to thank the man above for the
blessing.”
Rounding out the top five teams and also qualifying for the National
Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship are:
2nd: Texas A&M University – Andrew Shafer, College Station, Texas, and Weston
Brown, Bryan, Texas, 15 bass, 52-11, $10,000
3rd: Texas A&M University – Kyle Bates, and Cody Collins both of College
Station, Texas, 14 bass, 47-5, $5,000
4th: Louisiana State University – Timothy Morris, Donaldsonville, La., and
Richard Murdock, Lawrenceville, Ga., 14 bass, 39-1, $5,000
5th: Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi – Jacob Heath, and Kennedy
Schwartzburg, both of Corpus Christi, Texas, 12 bass, 36-1, $5,000
For a complete list of final standings visit CollegeFishing.com.
Overall there were 21 bass weighing 71 pounds, 11 ounces with two five
bass limits caught by the five teams.
The top five teams from each of the five regional tournaments will
advance to the national championship where the first-place team will win a top
award of $100,000; $25,000 for their school and $50,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR
bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard wrapped in school
colors for their fishing club.
Coverage of the FLW College Texas Regional Championship will be broadcast in
high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors,” will air Nov. 27 from 1 – 2 p.m.
ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500
million households worldwide.
College Fishing is free to enter and FLW Outdoors provides boats and
drivers for each competing team along with travel allowances. All participants
must be registered, full-time undergraduate students at a four-year college or
university and members of a fishing club recognized by their college or
university.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on
Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWCollegeFishing and on Twitter at
Twitter.com/CollegeFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a
club at your school.
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