FLW College Fishing gears up for Cal Delta
Second Western conference event slated for May 17
BETHEL ISLAND, Calif. – FLW College Fishing is headed to the California Delta May 17 for the second Western Conference tournament of the season. Up to 50 college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the 2014 Western Conference Invitational tournament.
“My favorite thing about the Delta is that there are so many giant fish there,” said FLW Tour pro Ish Monroe, who has six top-10 finishes on the California Delta in FLW competition. “The Delta probably has more 3 to 5 pounders than 99% of the lakes in the country.”
Monroe’s statement is backed up by past results. Chico State won last year’s College Fishing event on the California Delta with a five-bass limit weighing just over 24 pounds.
“Some of the college anglers are really good,” said the California pro. “The tournament will be won with a big swimbait, a big topwater bait, topwater frog or by punching the mats with a jig. For the average anglers, you can’t go wrong with a Senko. You can also catch them on the Delta drop-shotting but I don’t think the tournament will be won that way.
“I think it’ll take 22 to 26 pounds to win the College Fishing event,” finished Monroe.
Anglers will take off from Russo’s Marina located at 3995 Willow Road in Bethel Island, Calif., at 6:00 a.m. Weigh-in will be held at the marina starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Takeoff and weigh-in is free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the California Delta tournament, which is hosted by the Hook, Line & Sinker, include:
Arizona State University – Austen Schmalz, San Carlos, Calif., and Marcus Noblisse, Honolulu, Hawaii
California Polytechnic State University – John Zeolla, Oak Park, Calif., and Kyle Greenlaw, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Alex Klein, Oroville, Calif., and Jeff Karnthong, Antioch, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Kevin Chen and Koulton Westbrook, both of Vacaville, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Andrew Loberg, Rocklin, Calif., and Michael Braswell, Chico, Calif.
California State University-Chico – James Rodgers, Willows, Calif., and Andrew Eslick, Pleasanton, Calif.,
California State University-Long Beach – Alex Cox, Long Beach, Calif., and Justin Gangel, Huntington Beach, Calif.
California State University-Monterey Bay – Andrew Sjostrom, Marina, Calif., and Matthew Diaz, Castroville, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Greg and Jeff Taluban, both of Sacramento, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Jared Naval and Christopher Wells, both of Sacramento, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Matt Pagluica, Cameron Park, Calif., and Jacob Vasquez, Sacramento, Calif.
Dixie State University – Mathew Baker and Nordel Erickson, both of St. George, Utah
Eastern Washington University – Cy Floyd, Wenatchee, Wash., and Tyler Wasilewski, Cheney, Wash.
Eastern Washington University – Jarred Walker, Westerville, Ohio, and Nick Barr, Cheney, Wash.
Eastern Washington University – Travis Opel and Steven White, both of Spokane, Wash.
Fresno State University – Victor Evans, Fresno, Calif., and Carl Nelson, Hanford, Calif.
Fresno State University – Cory Kerber, Kerman, Calif., and Joseph Piedimonte, Salinas, Calif.
Humboldt State University – Alex Robbins, McKinleyville, Calif., and Jeffery Russell, Eureka, Calif.
Humboldt State University – Christopher Childers, McKinleyville, Calif., and Erich Coulter, Arcata, Calif.
Northern Arizona University – John and Jim Herrero, both of Kingman, Ariz.
Northern Arizona University – Daniel Vine and Alex Stewart, both of Flagstaff, Ariz.
Oregon State University – Eric Strickler and Chase Cochran, both of Corvallis, Ore.
Oregon State University – Joseph Billmaier, San Jose, Calif., and Brandon Hua, Corvallis, Ore.
Oregon State University – Scherf Montgomery, Fremont, Ohio, and Cady Gebhart, Boulder, Colo.
Oregon State University – Zach MacDonald, Willits, Calif., and Ryan Sparks, Gearhart, Ore.
Oregon State University – Zach Martinez, Linden, Calif., and Derek Mathes, Corvallis, Ore.
San Jose State University – Cody Wilson, Newark, Calif., and Andrew Sumi, Hercules, Calif.
San Jose State University – Patrick Friedman, San Jose, Calif., and Travis Bounds, Roseville, Calif.
Sonoma State University – Brent Nelson, Santa Rosa, Calif., and Ryan Bruce, Canyon Country, Calif.
University of Nevada-Reno – Jake Tessmann, Minden, Nev., and Bryce Yearman, Sparks, Nev.
University of Nevada-Reno – Xavier Green and Steve Werth, both of Reno, Nev.
University of Oregon – Daniel Marshall and Kaitlin Tanner, both of Eugene, Ore.
University of Oregon – Kyle Schneider, Beaverton, Ore., and Jacob Wall, Jacksonville, Ore.
University of Oregon – Mitchell Cole, Jefferson, Ore., and Eric Lee, Mather, Calif.
Utah Valley University – Maegan Goodstein and Tyler Dabling, both from Orem, Utah
Utah Valley University – Matt George, Orem, Utah, and Clif Gallagher, Eagle Mountain, Utah
Utah Valley University – Stephen Johnson, Bluffdale, Utah, and Joseph Peterson, Orem, Utah
Weber State University – Kory Tams, North Ogden, Utah, and Schaver Summers, Ogden, Utah
FLW College Fishing teams compete in three qualifying events in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top 15 teams from each regular-season tournament will qualify for one of five conference invitational tournaments. The top 10 teams from each conference invitational tournament will advance to the 2015 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
College Fishing is free to enter. 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/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
About FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.