Lamar University wins college fishing event on Lake Amistad
Iles, Royal take first place, net $1,500 during FLW College Fishing South Conference battle
DEL RIO, Texas – Lamar University’s Danny Iles, Hemphill, Texas, and Justin Royal, Vidor, Texas won the National Guard FLW College Fishing South Conference event on Lake Amistad Saturday with five bass weighing 21 pounds, 11 ounces. The victory earned the team $5,000. The win also helped them advance to the South Conference Regional Championship.
“You couldn’t have asked for better weather conditions,” said Iles, a senior mechanical engineering major. “It was overcast with a wind that really helped us with our bite, we wouldn’t have been able to catch anything without the wind we had today. It was perfect for rattle baits. We caught all our fish with a Red Eye Shad in about 2 to 8 feet of water. We fished the same grassy area all day long and were catching one fish about every 15 minutes, we must have had at least 25 keepers today.
“I think the fish are starting to move from deep to shallow to start spawning. That’s why you saw fish caught anywhere from 80 feet to 6 inches deep. We chose to fish shallow because you typically catch them faster shallow and we knew our time was limited.”
Fishing for the first year together Illes and Royal are no strangers to fishing big tournaments. Royal and his partner finished last year’s South Regional Championship in sixth place missing the National Championship by 6 ounces. Illes team finished in seventh. The newly formed team is fishing this year with something to prove.
Rounding out the top five teams and also advancing to the South Regional Championship:
2nd: Texas State University – Jared Brown, San Marcos, Texas, and David Cosner, Austin, Texas (five bass, 19-1, $1,500)
3rd: University of Louisiana-Monroe – Paul Clark and Brett Preuett, both of Monroe, La. (five bass, 18-14, $1,000)
4th: Tarleton State-Stephenville – Cody Metz and Shelby Floyd both of Stephenville, Texas (five bass, 15-12, $1,000)
5th: Texas A&M-Kingsville – Cody Burell, Uvalde, Texas, and Will Watson, Kingsville, Texas (five bass, 14-11, $1,000)
Complete results can be found at FLWCollegeFishing.com.
The top five teams from each tournament qualify for the regional championship where the first-place team will win 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.
College Fishing is free to enter and FLW 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 Texas Conference tournament is scheduled for Feb. 26 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Lufkin, Texas.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishingFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
About FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing unparalleled fishing resources and entertainment to our sponsors, fans and host communities. FLW is offering anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2012 over the course of 191 tournaments across five tournament circuits, each providing an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water,” through a variety of platforms including tournaments, outdoor expos and the world’s richest fantasy sports game – FLW Fantasy Fishing. For more information about FLW and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter and Facebook.