Texas A&M leads on Somerville
Brush piles play big role at College Fishing Texas Regional
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Oct, 14 2011) – The Texas A&M team of Kyle Bates and
Cody Collins both of College Station, Texas grabbed the lead at the National
Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Regional championship presented by Mercury and
hosted by Texas A&M on Lake Somerville Friday with a five bass limit weighing 19
pounds, 15 ounces for a two day total of 10 bass weighing 38-15. The team holds
a two pound, 15 ounce lead over their nearest competitor, Stephen F. Austin,
going into the final day of competition. Teams are competing for a total award
of $50,000.
“This is not one of my favorite lakes,” said Bates, a senior
construction science major. “But we’ve got a lot of experience on it and we know
how to get our baits out in front of the fish. I really hope that we can bring
it home tomorrow. This is unreal, to be in our own backyard, in this unreal
Aggie environment, to win would be incredible.
“We started fishing slow with plastics today but it wasn’t really
working,” Bates continued. “We switched up to some reaction baits and started
covering a lot of water and then things started to happen for us. Our big fish,
the 7-pounder, came mid-day. We found him in an area that we didn’t touch
yesterday. It didn’t seem to get hit very hard today either so we’ll probably
start there tomorrow.”
The lead team from Texas A&M agreed that they fished a lot cleaner today
than they did yesterday. No fish were lost and the quality and quantity of bites
seemed to be better compared to yesterday. Both believe that the high pressure
system that moved in yesterday has left which should improve conditions for
tomorrow’s final day of competition.
“There are some impressive teams that we are fishing against tomorrow
and you really can’t count anybody out,” said Collins, a senior studying
wildlife fisheries science. “Andy (Shafer, fellow teammate from Texas A&M) knows
this lake well and it wouldn’t surprise me if he is sitting on something sweet
for tomorrow.
“We just need to go out there tomorrow and fish our game,” Collins went
on to say. “Making the National Championship is huge, but we want to win. We
didn’t come here to finish fifth. Tomorrow is going to be tough. Somerville
typically fishes small. The drought has concentrated the fish but the pressure
the lake has been under has really beat-up the bass and they are getting harder
and harder to catch.”
Rounding out the top five teams, fishing tomorrow and qualifying for the
2011 National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship are:
2nd: Stephen F. Austin University – Andrew Upshaw, Hemphill, Texas and Ryan
Watkins, Rockport, Texas, 10 bass, 36-0
3rd: Texas A&M University – Andrew Shafer, College Station, Texas, and Weston
Brown, Bryan, Texas, 10 bass, 33-7
4th: Louisiana State University – Timothy Morris, Donaldsonville, La., and
Richard Murdock, Lawrenceville, Ga., 10 bass, 29-5
5th: Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi – Jacob Heath, and Kennedy
Schwartzburg, both of Corpus Christi, Texas, nine bass, 28-2
For a complete list of final standings visit CollegeFishing.com.
Overall there were 65 bass weighing 182 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 20 teams.
There were eight five-bass limits caught.
Final take off will be at Rocky Creek Park located on Rocky Creek Park Road in
Burton, Texas, at 7:30 a.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held on the Texas A&M
campus at the corner of George Bush Drive and Wellborn Road just south of Bright
Football Complex in College Station at 2:30 p.m., or upon the completion of the
Texas A&M vs. Baylor football game. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to
the public.
Texas A&M will also be hosting a College Fishing Festival on Saturday. Students
and fishing fans alike will be treated to a Ranger Boat simulator, Sony PS3
Gaming Trailer, tailgate games, a sports zone along with contests for cash and
several prize giveaways. The festival will take place on the campus of Texas A&M
at the corner of George Bush Drive and Wellborn Road just south of Bright
Football Complex from 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. Free pizza will be available following
the football game and just prior to the final weigh-in.
Teams are fishing for a top award of $50,000 to be split between the university
and the university’s bass fishing club – $12,500 and a Ranger 177TR with a
90-horsepower outboard wrapped in school colors for the bass club and $12,500
for their school.
The top five teams from each of the five regional tournaments will
advance to the national championship where the first-place team will win a top
award of $100,000; $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.
Coverage of the Texas Regional Championship will be broadcast in
high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors,” will air Nov. 27 from 1 – 2 p.m.
ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500
million households worldwide.
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.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College
Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWCollegeFishing and on Twitter at
Twitter.com/CollegeFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a
club at your school.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors is the best in fishing, on and off the water. Anglers worldwide can
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 presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free
as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge. For more information
about FLW Outdoors and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or
FantasyFishing.com.