Virginia Tech wins National Guard FLW College Fishing event on 1000 Islands

Team nets $10,000 in scholarships

The top-five teams at the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division event on 1000 Islands acknowledge the crowd.

July 18, 2009 • MLF • Abu Garcia College Fishing

CLAYTON, N.Y. – The Virginia Tech team of Ryan Slate of Augusta, N.J., and Caleb Brown of Richmond, Va., won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division event on 1000 Islands Saturday with six bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split evenly between the university and the university’s bass-fishing club.

“We started out looking at a map last night and decided we wanted to fish an island that had 3 to 4 feet of water and dropped off pretty deep, like 10 to 12 feet,” said Slate, who is a sophomore engineering student. “We kept trying different baits and kept sticking with it. We went around a turn and fished a dock and got a nice largemouth on a Senko. Right after that, Caleb hooked into a largemouth on the same spot. He netted his fish first and netted mine with his still in the net.”

Slate said the team fished weightless Texas-rigged and wacky-rigged five-inch green pumpkin watermelon flake Senkos, and both caught four bass on the Senko. The team moved to a different bay with two hours left to go, but the wind proved to be too much and the team called it a day.

“This was a cool tournament,” said Brown, who is a freshman university studies student. “I love the setup here. It was a lot of fun.

“FLW Outdoors fishes some great fisheries that we get to come out to, and they have great sponsors so we don’t have to play a whole lot,” Brown added. “I know I wouldn’t be able to come if it cost too much. Everybody makes a real big deal of it here at the tournament. It’s a blast.”

Rounding out the top five teams were Longwood University – John McKinney and McKayla McGregor, both of Farmville, Va., (six bass, 16-2, $5,000); N.C. State University – Casey Johnson of Raleigh, N.C., and Chris Wood of Wake Forest, N.C., (six bass, 14-9, $4,000); Plattsburgh State – Mitchell Davis of Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Scott Harrington of Cambridge, N.Y., (six bass, 14-3, $3,000); Shepherd University – Peter Rush of Herndon, Va., and Joe Pautler of Derwood, Md., (six bass, 11-10, $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, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.