Lake Chickamauga Readies for YETI FLW College Fishing Event presented by Bass Pro Shops

DAYTON, Tenn. – The 2018 YETI FLW College Fishing season will continue next week when college teams from the Southeastern Conference gather to compete at the YETI FLW College Fishing event at  Lake Chickamauga presented by Bass Pro Shops on Saturday, May 5. The tournament, hosted by the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council, is the third and final regular-season events for anglers in the Southeastern 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.

“They were starting to spawn on Chickamauga last week, so the fishing should be really good for the college anglers in this tournament,” said FLW Tour pro Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, who has two career top-10 finishes on Lake Chickamauga in FLW competition. “I haven’t been home for a while but I know that we’ve gotten some rain, so the levels could be up a little bit. If that is the case, it could fish a little tougher than normal. But someone is always going to catch them on Chickamauga.”

Gross said that he expects the best bites to come from the creeks. He specifically mentioned Soddy Creek, Chester Frost Park and Sale Creek as all being productive areas. He suggested that there could be some good bites to be found up the river as well.

“I think Rat-L-Traps and spinnerbaits should do well, especially if the water is up,” Gross said. “For the teams that are sight-fishing Yamamoto Senkos and jigs will be popular.

“If I were fishing the event, I’d stick to the shallow flats and stay close to the bank,” Gross continued. “It’s that time of year – everything is pulling up and moving shallow. I think we’ll see the winning team bring 22 to 25 pounds to the scale.”

Competitors will take off from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton, at 7 a.m. EDT Saturday. Weigh-in will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock beginning at 3 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 expected to compete in the Lake Chickamauga tournament include:

Auburn University – Anthony Vintson, Fort Gordon, Ga., and Julian Suero, Winter Springs, Ala.

Auburn University – Patrick Pelt, Bremen, Ga., and Logan McEwen, Coumbiana, Ala.

Auburn University – Logan Parks and Lucas Lindsay, both of Auburn, Ala.

Auburn University – Peyton Nance, Auburn, Ala., and Brandon Matthews, Cullman, Ala.

Augusta University – Joshua Rockefeller, Harlem, Ga., and Zachary Ramsey, Canton, Ga.

Clemson University – Liam West, Greenville, S.C., and Brady Waits, Clemson, S.C.

Clemson University – Derek Freeman, Anderson, S.C., and Robert White, Greenville, S.C.

Clemson University – Zach Kronewitter, Clemson, S.C., and Caleb Allgood, Fair Play, S.C.

East Carolina University – Aaron Digh, Denver, N.C., and Bryce Fowler, Putnam Valley, N.Y.

East Carolina University – Christopher Bowen, La Crosse, Va., and Ryan Howard, Greenville, N.C.

Georgia College & State University – Austin Stanley, Lawrenceville, Ga., and Knox Daniels, Augusta, Ga.

Georgia Southern University – David Brashear, Thomasville, Ga., and Ryan Kent, Waynesboro, Ga.

Jacksonville State University – Jarred Jones, Oxford, Ala., and Devin Mobbs, Piedmont, Ala.

Kennesaw State University – Spencer Guthrie, Acworth, Ga., and Ryan Kennedy, Woodstock, Ga.

Kennesaw State University – Garrett Guinan, Marietta, Ga., and Will Leonard, Kennesaw, Ga.

LaGrange College – Tanner Johnson and Jacob Wood, both of LaGrange, Ga.

Lander University – Ben Stone, Donalds, S.C., and Greyson Williams, Greenwood, S.C.

Lipscomb University – Wesley Culpepper, Nashville, Tenn., and John Thompson, Brentwood, Tenn.

Mississippi State University – Connor McNabb, Hernando, Miss., and Brandon Boyd, Dayton, Tenn.

Mississippi State University – David Albritton, Starkville, Miss., and Nik Labella, Lindale, Texas

Mississippi State University – David Grant, Milton, Fla., and Cole Smith, McComb, Miss.

Newberry College – Joe Cook, Pomaria, S.C., and Tucker Johnson, Irmo, S.C.

Polk State College – Trever Stephens, Auburndale, Fla., and Jerod Gadd, Bartow, Fla.

Roane State Community College – Coby Clark and Garrett Greene, both of Harriman, Tenn.

Tennessee Technological University – Austin Poston, Cookeville, Tenn., and Garrett Turner, Sparta, Tenn.

Tennessee Technological University – Caden Watson, Cleveland, Tenn., and Cody Hoenie, Cookeville, Tenn.

Tennessee Technological University – Travis Howard, Sparta, Tenn., and Sam Carris, Knoxville, Tenn.

Truett-McConnell College – Dalton Bruce, Jasper, Ga., and Caleb Edwards, Commerce, Ga.

University of Alabama – Andrew Deloney, Newton, Ala., and Jacob Daily, Mattoon, Ill.

University of Central Florida – Caleb Bundy, Lake City, Fla., and Christian Waters, Winter Haven, Fla.

University of North Georgia – Ethan Seitz, Hixson, Ga., and Peyton Byers, Buford, Ga.

University of South Carolina – Austin Bradberry and Dalton Tumblin, both of Williamston, S.C.

University of South Carolina – Hunter Buice, Pacolet, S.C., and William Bond, Moncks Corner, S.C.

University of South Carolina – Zack Catoe, Lancaster, S.C., and Colton Parrott, Simpsonville, S.C.

University of South Carolina-Beaufort – Tyler Black, Moncks Corner, S.C., and Alex Altman, Bluffton, S.C.

University of South Carolina-Beaufort – Charley Kuhn, Fort Mill, S.C., and Parker Wingard, Lexington, S.C.

University of Tennessee-Chattanooga – Austin Traffansteadt, Chickamauga, Ga., and Wyatt Beavers, Soddy Daisy, Tenn.

University of West Georgia – Chase Christie, Park Ridge, Ill., and Brandon Black, Douglasville, Ga.

Wake Forest University – Ryan Edwards, Stuart, Fla., and Matthew Bogdan, Spring Lake, N.J.

Wallace State Community College – Justin Baxley, Pinson, Ala., and Weston Partain, Arab, Ala.

Wallace State Community College – Tyler Pendergrass and Noah Garnett, both of Cullman, Ala.

Winthrop University – Brent Blackwood, York, S.C., and Caleb Blackwood, Rock Hill, S.C.

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 2019 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.

# # #