Fairmont State University Wins FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Event On Chesapeake Bay

The Fairmont State University team of Aaron Davis of Pleasant Valley, W.Va., (L) and Bryson Grimes of Kingwood, W.Va., (R) won the FLW College Fishing Northern Conference event on the Chesapeake Bay Saturday with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces. The victory earned the club $2,000 and advanced the team to the FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Invitational tournament. Anglers: Bryson Grimes, Aaron Davis, Andrew Walker.

July 12, 2014 • MLF • Abu Garcia College Fishing

NORTH EAST, Md. – The Fairmont State University team of Bryson Grimes of Kingwood, W.Va., and Aaron Davis of Pleasant Valley, W.Va., won the FLW College Fishing Northern Conference event on the Chesapeake Bay Saturday with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces. The victory earned the club $2,000 and advanced the team to the FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Invitational tournament.

“My first cast this morning I caught a 4½-pounder,” said Grimes, a senior majoring in Criminal Justice. “We were fishing the southern end of the Susquehanna Flats, targeting the grass. All of our fish came real shallow – in two feet of water or less. We culled four or five times and I’d estimate that we caught around 10 keepers throughout the day.”

“We just moved down the grass lines,” added Davis, a freshman majoring in Occupational Safety. “We probably covered 15 square miles, but we had two spots that turned out to be pretty key for us. I would definitely say that we are comfortable fishing shallow and would consider it one of our strengths.”

The duo said that the majority of their fish came via on white and chartreuse-colored War Eagle spinnerbaits. Davis said that two key fish came late in the day on a white Spro Bronzeye Frog 65, allowing them to cull up two pounds and seal the victory.

“I fished here last year in the Conference Invitational tournament and I only weighed in one fish,” Grimes went on to say. “I really wanted to come back and redeem myself and I’m happy that we were able to do that. The Potomac River is one of my favorite fisheries so I’m really looking forward to fishing in the Invitational again and hopefully we can qualify for the National Championship.”

The top 15 teams that advanced to the Northern Conference Invitational tournament on the Potomac River are:

1st: Fairmont State University – Bryson Grimes, Kingwood, W.Va., and Aaron Davis, Pleasant Valley, W.Va. (five bass, 19-7, $2,000)

2nd: State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry – Mike Longacre, Perkasie, Pa., and Zack Longo, Mohegan Lake, N.Y. (five bass, 18-7, $1,000)

3rd: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Cory Fox and Dylan Cooper, both of Luray, Va. (five bass, 17-9, $500)

4th: Mansfield University of Pennsylvania – Tyler Grabowski, Fairless Hills, Pa., and Ryan Fluharty, Perkiomenville, Pa. (five bass, 17-8, $500)

5th: Rutgers University-New Brunswick – Kyle Genova, Millstone Township, N.J., and Andrew Ridinger, West Deptford, N.J. (five bass, 16-5, $500)

6th: Pennsylvania State University – Anthony Kashiwsky, Aliquippa, Pa., and Kevin Barber, Lancaster Pa. (five bass, 16-3)

7th: Bowling Green State University – Maxwell Newcomer, Whithouse, Ohio, and Sam Manning, Doylestown, Ohio (five bass, 15-15)

8th: Shenandoah University – Thomas Arens and Billy Arens, both of Purcellville, Va. (five bass, 13-11)

9th: Radford University – George Fleming, Lorton, Va., and Tanner Blanks, Radford, Va. (five bass, 12-3)

10th: Mansfield University of Pennsylvania – Bryan Rupp, Archbald, Pa., and Colton Otto, Carlisle, Pa. (four bass, 12-3)

11th: Pennsylvania State University – Steven Griffith, Imler, Pa., and Maurice Hudson Jr., Broomall, Pa. (five bass, 11-15)

12th: Northwood University – Travis Riedel, Falmouth, Mich., and Zach Lowe, Huntington Woods, Mich. (four bass, 11-8)

13th: Mansfield University of Pennsylvania – Matt Novitski, Kingston, Pa., and Alec Engleman, Milton, Pa. (four bass, 9-15)

14th: Central Michigan University – Brian Bustamante, Dearborn, Mich., and Blake Goodell, Traverse City, Mich. (five bass, 9-4)

15th: Youngstown State University – Charles Cremeans, Youngstown, Ohio, and Stan Miketa, New Middletown, Ohio (four bass, 9-2)

Complete results can be found at CollegeFishing.com.

FLW College Fishing teams compete in three qualifying events in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top fifteen teams from each regular-season tournament will qualify for one of five conference invitational tournaments. The top 10 teams from each conference invitational tournament will advance to the 2015 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

College Fishing is free to enter. 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.

This FLW College Fishing Northern Conference tournament was hosted by Cecil County Tourism. The final regular-season Northern Conference tournament is scheduled for Aug. 23 at Lake Chautauqua in Bemus Point, N.Y., and is hosted by the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau.

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.