Columbus State wins college fishing event on Wheeler Lake

Cook-Light top team in National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division tourney

The Columbus State University team of Casey Cook and Christopher Light, both of Columbus, Ga., won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division event on Wheeler Lake Saturday with six bass weighing 11 pounds, 14 ounces. Anglers: Casey Cook, Christopher Light.

June 6, 2009 • MLF • Abu Garcia College Fishing

DECATUR, Ala. – The Columbus State University team of Casey Cook and Christopher Light, both of Columbus, Ga., won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division event on Wheeler Lake Saturday with six bass weighing 11 pounds, 14 ounces. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split evenly between the university and the university’s bass-fishing club.

“This feels great,” said Cook. “We worked hard for this. I came here last week and practiced and today we found some mayfly banks where the mayflies were hatching and the bream were eating the mayflies and the bass were attracted to that.”

“The last two tournaments we did what everybody else was doing,” said Light. “This time we did what we wanted to do.

“We targeted swarming baitfish and probably caught 20 fish or so fishing banks,” Light added.

Light said the team fished shallow banks in 3 feet of water with a white glitter weightless trick worm, then moved to deeper water and fished a crankbait.

“We caught a lot early, then it was tough for a couple of hours, then we finished it up with a couple of good ones,” said Cook.

Rounding out the top five teams were Georgia Southern – Oakley Walraven of Cartersville, Ga., and Kyle Giella of Statesboro, Ga., (six bass, 10-11, $5,000); Freed-Hardeman University – John Lawson of Henderson, Tenn., and Nathan Pirtle of Counce, Tenn., (six bass, 10-9, $4,000); North Florida – Cameron Shouppe and Josh McDermott, both of Jacksonville, Fla., (six bass, 8-10, $3,000); North Alabama – Nick Cupps of Decatur, Ala., and Cody Braden of Florence, Ala., (six bass, 8-8, $2,000).

FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008. The entire schedule, which is organized around the five Stren Series Divisions, can be found by visiting CollegeFishing.com along with rules, requirements and information on how to create a bass club.

Full-time students enrolled in four year colleges or universities are eligible to participate in the events. Schools can send two-person teams to each of the four qualifying events in their division, with each event limited to a maximum of 40 teams. Each team has the opportunity to win $10,000 for first and $2,000 through fifth place. Prize money is split evenly between the winning team’s club and the school they represent. The tournaments are free to enter, boats and drivers are provided and all collegiate teams receive a travel allowance. The top five teams in each qualifying event advance to one of five televised three-day National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships.

Each school represented in a televised Regional Championship will have team shirts and boats provided by Ranger. The purse for each Regional Championship includes a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $25,000 for the school they represent. Awards of $6,000 also extend through fifth place for the club and school to split evenly.

The National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship is a three-day televised event hosting the top five teams from each regional, 25 total teams. Teams will be provided shirts and wrapped Ranger boats towed by Chevy trucks for this competition. The purse for the championship ranges from $25,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $50,000 for the school they represent to $15,000 for fifth, split between the club and school.

The winning team will be declared the National Guard FLW Collegiate National Champion and will qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol in 2010. The winners will also receive use of a wrapped boat and Chevy truck for the Forrest Wood Cup.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.