Baylor University holds on to lead at National Guard FLW College Fishing event at Sibley Lake

NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Baylor University team of Jay Holland of Waco, Texas, and Andrew McAdams of Lorena, Texas, added to their lead at the National Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Regional Championship on Sibley Lake Sunday with five bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces for a two-day total of 11 bass weighing 17-4.

“I hope we have some fish left for tomorrow,” said McAdams, a senior in general studies. “We are going to have to make some adjustments especially with the change of weather that is predicted; it’s going to be a grind tomorrow.”

“We worked hard today,” added Holland, who is a junior studying marketing. “We are hoping for an early bite, we are going to have to slow down and be patient. We are ready to go fishing and have some fun!”

“If the fish bite, we’ll win” were the fighting words spoken by the Baylor team who spent the day running the lake.

Rounding out the top five teams are Texas State University – Jay McCollum of Athens, Texas and David Cosner of Austin, Texas, (8 bass, 16-12); Tarleton State Texas – Tanner Morgan of Stephenville, Texas, and John Anderson of Tom Bean, Texas, (10 bass, 14-12); Northwestern State University – Aaron Sistrunk of Converse, La., and Jeffrey Rich of Alexandria, La. (9 bass, 13-9); and Texas A&M – Paul Manley of Orange, Texas, and Andrew Shafer of Chatfield, Texas, (10 bass, 13-5).

These top five teams from the Texas Regional have earned a spot in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship in Knoxville, Tenn., April 10-12, 2010. They will be fishing for a top prize package of $100,000 and a chance to compete in the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.

“Sibley Lake is my baby,” said Sistrunk who is a senior at Northwestern State University and sits in fourth place. “I am a little surprised the weights have been so low, I expected it to take about 30 pounds to make the top five. I know the fish are there; they’ll bite tomorrow.”

The NSU team believes that without the heavy boat traffic tomorrow the weights should definitely pick up. They are pumped up and ready to find the “big ones”.

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 the Public Boat Ramp at Sibley Lake located at 2019 Texas Street in Natchitoches, La., at 7 Monday morning. Monday’s final weigh-in will be held at Northwestern State University Prather Coliseum parking lot beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Qualified teams in the Texas Regional Championship include Angelo State; Baylor University; Lamar University; Louisiana State University; Louisiana State University, Shreveport; Northwestern State University; Oklahoma State University; Sam Houston State; Stephen F. Austin; Tarleton State Texas; Texas A&M; Texas A&M, Corpus Christi; Texas A&M, Kingsville; Texas State University; Texas Tech University; University of Louisiana; University of North Texas; and University of Texas.

In conjunction with the Texas Regional Championship, the Reel Life Festival, which features the National Guard Warrior Challenge, is being held and will begin at 1 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of Prather Coliseum.

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.

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.

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.

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.