Stephen F. Austin tops at Somerville

Upshaw and Watkins win National Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Regional

Stephen F. Austin's Ryan Watkins Andrew Upshaw bagged the largest single-day weight for a National Guard FLW College Fishing regional with their day-three limit of 26-6. Photo by David A. Brown. Anglers: Andrew Upshaw, Ryan Watkins.

October 15, 2011 • MLF • Abu Garcia College Fishing

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Oct. 15, 2011) – The Stephen F. Austin team of Andrew

Upshaw, Hemphill, Texas and Ryan Watkins, Rockport, Texas, won the National

Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Regional Championship presented by Mercury

Saturday in record setting fashion. Their five bass limit set a new FLW Outdoors

record for the heaviest one day catch at a college fishing event, weighing in at

26 pounds, 6 ounces. They had a three day total of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds, 6

ounces.

For their victory the team from Stephen F. Austin won $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 team also earned their first

berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship which will

be held in April 2012. Upshaw and Watkins beat their closest competitor, the

Texas A&M team of Shafer and Weston, by an incredible 9 pounds, 11 ounces.

“This feels great. To be able to represent our school, our families, the

fans,” said Watkins. “It’s unbelievable.

“The story of the day was rocks. We started on rocks and we finished on

rocks,” Watkins went on to say. “Typically in the fall the bass start a feeding

frenzy and rocky areas provide large areas for more fish to feed on. These areas

tend to replenish faster so the bass are constantly coming and going.

“We used three key baits and fished three key areas,” Watkins continued.

“The 6th Sense 1.5 Square Bill in clear sexy shad, Strike Pro Big Bubba in

crawfish and Strike King Series 3 in sexy shad. We fished a rock bed that was 4

to 6 feet deep, brush piles in 3 to 12 feet of water and a back pocket that had

a rock bottom.

“We lost a lot of fish today, it was ridiculous,” Watkins added. “But

then we caught the 7 1/2 – pounder and we knew we had it won. This is

unbelievable.”

Both Upshaw and Watkins graduated this spring but managed to qualify for

the Texas Regional, three times, prior to graduating. The team placed second at

Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Feb., second at Toledo Bend in March and third at Lake

Texoma in May.

“The fish changed every day,” Watkins said. “We won by chuckin’ and

grinding every day. There was a lot of hard work that went in to this victory. I

do have to give props to Texas A&M. They are excellent anglers and always bring

a good game. We knew that we couldn’t give them any slack.

“We wanted to fish this rocky bank all week,” Watkins continued. “We

knew there were some big fish in there and we saw both Texas A&M teams in there.

We just didn’t get the opportunity to fish in there until today.

“This is something that you just can’t explain, Watkins went on to say.

“We lost a lot of fish today but we caught a lot of big bass. Times like this

are few and far between and you just have to thank the man above for the

blessing.”

Rounding out the top five teams and also qualifying for the National

Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship are:

2nd: Texas A&M University – Andrew Shafer, College Station, Texas, and Weston

Brown, Bryan, Texas, 15 bass, 52-11, $10,000

3rd: Texas A&M University – Kyle Bates, and Cody Collins both of College

Station, Texas, 14 bass, 47-5, $5,000

4th: Louisiana State University – Timothy Morris, Donaldsonville, La., and

Richard Murdock, Lawrenceville, Ga., 14 bass, 39-1, $5,000

5th: Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi – Jacob Heath, and Kennedy

Schwartzburg, both of Corpus Christi, Texas, 12 bass, 36-1, $5,000

For a complete list of final standings visit CollegeFishing.com.

Overall there were 21 bass weighing 71 pounds, 11 ounces with two five

bass limits caught by the five teams.

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 FLW College 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.

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