National Guard FLW College Fishing marches to Mississippi River
Final stop of Central Conference set for July 28
LA CROSSE, Wis. – National Guard FLW College Fishing is headed to the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis., July 28 for the fourth and final stop of the Central Conference. Forty college teams will be competing for a top award of $5,000 and a berth in the Central Conference Championship tournament.
“The water is falling,” said FLW Tour pro Shane Long of Springfield, Mo., who will be fishing the EverStart Series Central Division event that coincides with the College Fishing tournament. “That means the bass are being pulled into the shallow grass flats on the main river. Fishing grass edges on the main river with frogs or some other topwater bait is probably going to be what wins the tournament for the college kids. They might be successful flipping hard cover as well, but I would stick to the grassy edges.
“The key is going to be finding where the clear and dirty water is mixing,” Long continued. “The grass is cleaning the water, and bass are coming out to hide in the dirtier water.
“Teams are also going to have to be big fish hunting from the beginning. With a three-bass limit you can’t worry about numbers; you have to go for the quality fish. It is probably going to take 9 or 10 pounds to win.”
Anglers will take off from Clinton Street Landing West located at Clinton Street Bridge in La Crosse, Wis., at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-in will also be at the marina beginning at 12:45 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Mississippi River tournament include:
Ball State University – Brody Carter and Zach Fields, both of Muncie, Ind.
Eastern Illinois University – Chase Sanford, Charleston, Ill., and Lee Buehnerkemper, Teutopolis, Ill.
Eastern Kentucky – Ethan Snyder, Vine Grove, Ky., and Matt Salmons, Bronston, Ky.
Georgetown College – Clay Elliott, Georgetown, Ky., and John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky.
Grace College – Christopher Valentine, Warsaw, Ind., and Mike Depositar, Winona Lake, Ind.
Illinois State University – Anthony Cancelli, Mundelein, Ill., and Brian Souza, Arlington Heights, Ill.
Indiana University – Dustin Vaal, Bloomington, Ind., and Steven Bressler, Fremont, Ind.
Kansas State University – Ethan Dhuyvetter, Manhattan, Kan., and Nathen Kozlowski, Junction City, Kan.
Marian University – Justin McDonald, Noblesville, Ind., and Joel Bone, Decatur, Ind.
MidAmerica Nazarene University – Jacob Johnson, Lenexa, Kan., and Ryan Rockwell, Des Moines, Iowa
Missouri State University – Brennan Halbersma, Springfield, Mo., and Joe McBride, Olathe, Kan.
Missouri University of Science and Technology – Scott Kuhl and William Kleine, both of Rolla, Mo.
Morehead State University – James Martin, Carlisle, Ohio, and Brandon Johnson, Salt Lick, Ky.
Milwaukee School of Engineering – Scott Watry, Milwaukee, Wis., and Steven Digrazia, Mokena, Ill.
Murray State University – Brett Rounsaville, Indianapolis, Ind., and Cody Santel, Petersburg, Ill.
Northern Illinois University – Jason Penuel and Steve McClone, both of Dekalb, Ill.
Northwest Missouri State University – Andrew Nordby, St. Joseph, Mo., and Bradley Stoll, Stanberry, Mo.
Northwestern University – Jimmy Morrow, Arlington Heights, Ill., and Matthew Kestufskie, Evanston, Ill.
Purdue University – Ryan Spicer, Arcola, Ind., and Chris Kaiser, Carmel, Ind.
Saint Cloud State University – Korey Sybrant, Rush City, Minn., and Eric Tessmer, Glencoe, Minn.
Southern Illinois University – Dominick Dinovo, Oak Lawn, Ill., and Aaron Connor, Murphysboro, Ill.
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville – Jacob Hicks, Morris, Ill., and Joseph Tischer, Edwardsville, Ill.
Southeast Missouri State – Tim Randell and Adam Zielinski, both of St. Charles, Mo.
St. Ambrose University – Joe Bailey, Davenport, Iowa, and Tyler Boyle, Montgomery, Ill.
University of Dubuque – Marcus Prull, Monticello, Iowa, and Jarett Svihlik, Dubuque, Iowa
University of Illinois – Luke Stoner, Pekin, Ill., and Brock Phillips, Pawnee, Ill.
University of Iowa – Tony Mehrl, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and James Steffen, Iowa City, Iowa
University of Minnesota – Garrett Prahl, Minneapolis, Minn., and Kenneth Schofield, Canyon, Minn.
University of Missouri – Taylor Knight, Columbia, Mo., and Champ Caldwell, Perry, Mo.
University of Nebraska – Everett Ridderbos, Lincoln, Neb., and Jon Bash, Lincolnshire, Ill.
University of Nebraska-Omaha – Ben Milliken, Bennington, Neb., and Ryan Nieto, Fort Calhoun, Neb.
University of Saint Thomas – Andrew Heitzman, Andover, Minn., and Dan Reichert, St. Paul, Minn.
University of Wisconsin – Brandon Neldner, Milwaukee, Wis., and Alex Ebertowski, Burnsville, Minn.
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh – Jordan Mortenson, Iola, Wis., and Chad Janke, Oshkosh, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Noah Humfeld, Monona, Wis., and Jered Lex, Cottage Grove, Minn.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Ted Johnson and Jody Derks, both of Waupaca, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Stout – Alec Beigle, Oakdale, Wis., and Jeremy Anibas, Colfax, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Brooks Gullixon, Iola, Wis., and Bradley Taylor, Wausaukee, Wis.
Winona State University – Cade Laufenberg, Stoddard, Wis., and Alex Welter, Winona, Minn.
Western Kentucky University – Ryan Coleman, Utica, Ky., and Justin Hopkins, Lewisburg, Ky.
Four regular-season qualifying events are held in each conference – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southern and Western. The top five teams from each qualifying tournament will advance to one of five televised three-day National Guard FLW College Fishing Conference Championships, where the first-place team wins a Ranger 177TR bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard. The top five teams from each conference championship 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.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
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