STOCKTON, Calif. – The Fresno State team of Christopher Delgado and Kong Moua dominated the National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Division event on the California Delta Saturday with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 14 ounces. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split between the university and the university’s bass fishing club – $7,500 for the bass club and $2,500 for their school. The win also helped them advance to the Western Division Regional Championship.
“We started out early in the morning using a drop-shot but were only catching smaller bass,” said Moua, a freshman from Fresno, Calif. “We knew those small fish were not going to get us into the top five so we went to some familiar spots I fished in 2009 and 2010.”
“We were hoping to catch some fish that had not spawned yet,” said Delgado, a senior from Fresno, Calif., majoring in history. “We pulled up on our spot this morning and saw some fish on beds and were excited.
“After our drop-shot was not working, I switched to a 7-inch Senko and was dead-sticking it similar to winter fishing,” continued Delgado. “I kept it real calm as the larger fish were not moving much and that helped us bring in our five big ones.”
“We put it on the line today,” added Moau. “I did not want this to be Chris’ last tournament and now we are heading to regional’s.”
Rounding out the top five teams and also advancing to the Western Regional Championship are:
2nd: Humboldt State University – Ben Smith and Dominic Vitali, both of Samoa, Calif. (five bass, 16-10, $3,000)
3rd: University of Nevada, Reno – Jared Malone, Sonora, Calif., and Brandon Murphy, Boulder City, Nev. (five bass, 15-1, $3,000)
4th: Sacramento State – Thomas Kanemoto, Elk Grove, Calif., and Robert Matsuura, Sacramento, Calif. (five bass, 14-7, $3,000)
5th: Boise State University – Tanner Bice, Middleton, Idaho, and Michael Zawacki, Boise, Idaho (five bass, 13-5, $3,000)
For complete results, visit CollegeFishing.com.
The top five teams from each tournament qualify for the regional championship where the first-place team will win $12,500 cash for their school and $12,500 cash and a Ranger 177TR bass boat with a 90 horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard wrapped in school colors for their fishing club. The top five teams from each regional tournament advance to the national championship where the first-place team will win $25,000 for their school and $50,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard wrapped in school colors for their fishing club.
College Fishing is free to enter and FLW Outdoors provides boats and drivers for each competing team along with travel allowances. 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.
The next National Guard FLW College Western Division tournament is scheduled for Sept. 24 on Clear Lake in Clearlake, Calif., and is hosted by Twin Pine Casino & Hotel.
For complete details and updated information, browse this website. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWCollegeFishing.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is the largest tournament-fishing organization in the world, offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing at FantasyFishing.com, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge.