Eastern Kentucky University leads National Guard FLW College Fishing event on Kentucky Lake

MURRAY, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University team of Richard Cobb V of Richmond, Ky., and Tyler Moberly of Berea, Ky., took over first place at the National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake Sunday with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces for a two-day total of 11 bass weighing 23-11.

“This morning we actually started where we caught a lot of fish yesterday and caught about 10 shorts, but no keepers,” said Moberly. “So we ran back to the spot we caught our keepers yesterday, and the bite picked up throughout the day, and we were just catching a lot of schooling fish.”

“We caught our fish all day long. We probably caught 30 or 40 shorts, or more,” said Cobb. “We specifically picked a spot we thought we could catch them first thing in the morning. Granted it was a little community hole, but we hit that spot and knew our muddy water would warm up throughout the day and turn them on a little.”

“The wind actually helps a lot. It pushes the shad back in to the pockets, and the fish are right under them. It is almost easy if you find the schooling fish,” said Moberly.

Cobb displayed a lot of confidence heading in to the final day of competition and in his anticipation for the National Guard FLW College National Championship in Knoxville, Tenn.

“We were more worried about making the regional championship than the national championship,” said Cobb. “We feel, at the championship, it will fish a lot like our home lakes, and with it three hours away, I feel that we will be awful tough to beat down there.”

Rounding out the top five teams are Ohio State University team of Casey Hammann and Kevin Moeller, both of Cincinnati (eight bass, 22-11); Indiana University – Jesse Schultz and Dustin Vaal, both of Bloomington, Ind. (seven bass, 16-12); Southern Illinois University – Richard Dunham of Carbondale, Ill. and Travis Gould of Vandalia, Ill. (eight bass, 16-10); and Murray State University – Steve Miller and Kalem Tippett, both of Murray, Ky., (seven bass, 15-4).

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.

Anglers will take off from Kenlake Marina located at 888 Kenlake Marina Lane in Hardin, Ky., at 7 a.m. Monday. Weigh-in will be held at Roy Stewart Stadium on the campus of the University of Murray beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.

Qualified teams in the Central Regional Championship include Arkansas Tech University, Eastern Kentucky University, Henderson State, Indiana University, Kansas State University, Murray State University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, Southern Illinois University, Truman State University, University of Arkansas at Monticello, University of Central Arkansas, University of Iowa, University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin – Stout, Western Kentucky University and Western Michigan University.

In conjunction with the Central Regional Championship, the Reel Life Festival, which features live music, the National Guard Warrior Challenge and free giveaways and prizes, including iPod Nano’s and a MacBook Air, will be held on Monday beginning at 4 p.m. outside Roy Stewart Stadium. For complete details, visit CollegeFishing.com.

FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008. Additional information for the Central Regional Championship 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.

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 Forrest Wood Cup 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 has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports. Sign up for Player’s Advantage 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.