College Anglers set to Compete at YETI FLW College Fishing at Kentucky and Barkley Lakes presented by Berkley

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – The 2018 YETI FLW College Fishing season will continue next week when college teams from around the country gather to compete at the YETI FLW College Fishing tournament at Kentucky and Barkley lakes presented by Berkley on Saturday, April 28. The tournament, hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, is the first of three regular-season events for anglers in the Central Conference, and will feature a top prize of a $2,000 club scholarship and an invitation to compete in the 2019 College Fishing National Championship.

“Kentucky Lake has been fishing tough lately, but I really believe that is due to the water and temperature fluctuations that we have experienced,” said FLW Tour pro Charlie Evans of Berea, Kentucky, a seven-year FLW Tour veteran. “There are still plenty of bass there, it’s just a matter of the weather settling down a little bit. If we get some stable, warmer weather, this tournament could be an absolute slugfest.

“I think the winning team will weigh in 24 or 25 pounds,” Evans continued. “Somebody is going to find them, and when you do find them on Kentucky Lake this time of year you’re going to think ‘my day has come.’ There is absolutely potential for a team to weigh in a 30-pound limit.”

Evans said that normally the bass are already on their spawning beds this time of year, however the recent conditions have the bass a little disturbed and unstable. Still, he expects the vast majority of the bass caught in this event will be shallow.

“The key will be figuring out what kind of shallow cover they are around,” Evans said. “Bushes, yellow flowers, buck brush, creek ditches – that’s the kind of cover you should be keying on.

“I’d be throwing a 5/8-ounce Zorro Aggravator spinnerbait with a gold Colorado blade up front and a nickel willow blade on the back with a chartreuse-colored Zoom Fat Albert,” Evans went on to say. “You also can’t go wrong with a 3/8-ounce black and blue-colored Booza Bug with a green-pumpkin Zoom Big Salty Chunk. If you want something faster, a red Rat-L-Trap or a Rapala DT6 is about as good on the points as you can get.”

Competitors will take off from Moors Resort & Marina, located at 570 Moors Road in Gilbertsville, at 6:30 a.m. CDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.

Schools are allowed to register up until the morning of the tournament. Entries may be made either by phone or at CollegeFishing.com.

Schools currently registered to compete in the Kentucky Lake tournament include:

Bellarmine University – Andrew Kuebler, Louisville, Ky., and Jacob Schmidt, Medina, Ohio

Bellarmine University – Trevor Hulsey, Louisville, Ky., and Patrick McPhillips, Floyds Knob, Ky.

Campbellsville University – Justin Mayfield and Colby Hays, both of Somerset, Ky.

Central College – Cameron Timok and Steven Candley, both of Pella, Iowa

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College – Ryan Dowell, Brandenburg, Ky., and Andrew Davis, Greensburg, Ky.

Greenville University – Christopher Brooks, Greenville, Ill., and Ricky Huge, Carlyle, Ill.

Greenville University – Cordell Beckmann, Breese, Ill., and Evan Seggerman, Minonk, Ill.

Greenville University – Joseph Casey, Trenton, Ga., and Quinten Brown, Staunton, Ill.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis – Ethan Maag, Kendallville, Ind., and Jacob Sanders, Marion, Ill.

Iowa State University – Taggert Tesdal, Jefferson, Wis., and Josef Rogers, Ames, Iowa

Lewis University – Joe Skvarla, Tinley Park, Ill., and Zachary Spesia, Coal City, Ill.

Marquette University – Patrick Naumann, Elm Grove, Wis., and James McQuillen, Natick, Mass.

Marquette University – Michael Galeana, Livonia, Mich., and Maciek Chmielewski, Willowbrook, Ill.

McKendree University – Ethan Jones, Worden, Ill, and Blake Jackson, Carterville, Ill.

McKendree University – Chris Thompson, Sandwich, Ill., and Josh Kasalko, Manteno, Ill.

McKendree University – Jacob Louis, Pinckneyville, Ill., and Curtis Lilly, Sterling, Ill.

McKendree University – Shane Campbell, Highland, Ill., and Nathan Doty, Decatur, Ill.

McKendree University – Taylor Schmitt, Lebanon, Ill., and Trevor McKinney, Benton, Ill.

Morehead State University – Ethan Raleigh, Partridge, Ky., and Austin Polly, Ermine, Ky.

Northwest Missouri State University – Logan Newlin and Jacob Cacek, both of Maryville, Mo.

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville – Brendan Magruder, Edwardsville, Ill., and Justin Lowry, Moro, Ill.

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville – Sean Clarkson, Edwardsville, Ill., and Alex Nail, Springfield, Ill.

University of Southern Indiana – Connor Deweese and Wayne Ellison, both of Evansville, Ind.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – Brady Fernette, Prairie du Chien, Wis., and Kilian Boland, Gays Mills, Wis.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Jayden Schmitz and Dakota Koepp, both of Pewaukee, Wis.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Brad Hamilton and Gavin Clayton, both of Palatine, Ill.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Reed Frederick, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and Nick Dagel, Round Lake Beach, Ill.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Tyler Rush and Tommy Torkelson, both of Black River Falls, Wis.

YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats. The 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship will take place May 30-June 1 on the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission & Red River Waterway Commission.

YETI FLW College Fishing is free to enter. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

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