(Nov. 04, 2009 - Natchitoches, LA.)... National Guard FLW College Fishing is heading to Sibley Lake Nov. 14-16 for its $100,000 Texas Regional Championship, where college teams compete for a top award of $50,000. Teams representing 18 universities will take off from the public boat ramp on Sibley Lake located at 2019 Texas Street in Natchitoches, La., at 7 each morning. Weigh-ins will be held daily at the Prather Coliseum Parking Lot of Northwestern State University beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Teams will fish for a top award of $25,000 for their university plus a 177TR Ranger wrapped in school colors and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard for their bass fishing club.
The top five teams from each of five National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships will advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship April 10-12, 2010, on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tenn. The winning team at the national championship will qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.
Teams slated to compete in the Texas Regional Championship are:
| Angelo State |
| Baylor University |
| Lamar University |
| Louisiana State University |
| Louisiana State University, Shreveport |
| Northwestern State |
| Oklahoma State University |
| Sam Houston State |
| Stephen F. Austin |
| Tarleton State Texas |
| Texas A&M |
| Texas A&M, Corpus Christi |
| Texas A&M, Kingsville |
| Texas State University |
| Texas Tech University |
| University of Louisiana |
| University of North Texas |
| University of Texas |
Northwestern State University will also host the Reel Life Festival in conjunction with the Texas Regional Championship. The free festival will be located in the Prather Coliseum Parking Lot and will feature a Battle of the Bands, the National Guard Warrior Challenge ropes course, rock-climbing wall, paintball range, geocachingplus a variety of other activities and kicks off Saturday, Nov. 14 from noon to 4 p.m.; tournament weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. Saturday. Sunday Nov. 15 the Reel Life Festival will run from 4 to 7 p.m. with the weigh-in beginning at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16 the Reel Life Festival will begin at 1 p.m. with weigh-in starting at 4 p.m. Reel Life Festival visitors can register to win iPod Nanos, which will be given away on Nov. 14-15, and a MacBook Air, which will be given away Nov. 16.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000.
