FLW College Fishing is headed to Carlyle Lake Oct. 3-4 for the Central Conference Championship tournament. Forty-five college teams have qualified for this event and will be competing for a top award of $4,000 and a berth in the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“There are two different approaches to Carlyle Lake that we could see executed in this tournament,” said University of Wisconsin-La Crosse angler Pat Bowers, who along with partner Sig Finley posted a second-place finish on Carlyle Lake when FLW College Fishing visited the fishery in 2014. “The lake is essentially divided by a train bridge into north and south sections with the south being the much larger portion. Anglers who choose to stay south will likely target the vast stretches of riprap along the shoreline, as well as various marinas and coves. Teams heading north will likely have to navigate large clusters of stumps.
“The shad are going to be very active,” continued Bowers. “A spinnerbait or anything else that imitates shad in movement and color should dominate. The water is also very murky, so I could see vibrating jigs playing a big role as well. Teams fishing on the north end will likely be seen flipping a jig or throwing a square-billed crankbait to stumps.”
Bowers said he thinks a two-day catch of 10 bass nearing 30 pounds will be enough to take home top honors.
“Teams will be catching limits both days, but we’re going to need some big fish to win,” said Bowers.
Anglers will take off from the Dam West Boat Ramp located at 801 Lake Road, in Carlyle, at 7 a.m. CST each day. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at Dam West Boat Ramp, beginning at 3 p.m. The top-15 teams will compete and weigh in on Sunday at Walmart located at 2591 12th St., in Carlyle, at 3:30 p.m. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Schools currently registered to compete in the Central Conference Championship, which is hosted by the City of Carlyle, include:
Bemidji State University – Thor Swanson and Mitchell Swanson, both of Blaine, Minn.
Campbellsville University – Austin Moore, Smiths Grove, Ky., and Cameron Brooks, Greenville, Ky.
Campbellsville University – Mason Sapp , Campbellsville, Ky., and Dakota Cantrell, Monteagle, Tenn.
Eastern Illinois University – Mitchell Meinhart, Effingham, Ill., and Dan Martin, Elmhurst, Ill.
Eastern Kentucky University – Shaw Owens, Barboursville, Ky., and Ethan Snyder, Flaherty, Ky.
Greenville College – Ray Hingson, Montrose, Ill., and David Weyers, Peoria, Ill.
Illinois Central College – Justin Schick, Morton, Ill., and Tyler Rocke, Peoria, Ill.
Illinois State University – Bryce Wegman, Normal, Ill., and Taylor Umland, Gridley, Ill.
Indiana University – Chase Banister, Columbus, Ind., and Tyler Trout, Brazil, Ind.
Iowa State University – Justin Heim, Luxemburg, Iowa, and Andrew Paulsen, Ames, Iowa
Iowa State University – Tanner Bock, Ankeny, Iowa, and Ben McCord, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa
Kansas State University – Garrett Cates, Overland Park, Kan., and Brett Herder, Lees Summit, Mo.
Kansas State University – Kyle Alsop, Overland Park, Kan., and Taylor Bivins, Manhattan, Kan.
Kansas State University – Lance Maldonado, Junction City, Kan., and Ethan Dhuyvetter, Manhattan, Kan.
Kansas State University – Quinn Fowler, Olathe, Kan., and Dylan McKee, Abilene, Kan.
Missouri State University – Brian Bueker, Kansas City, Mo., and Darin Schildknecht, Springfield, Mo.
Murray State University – Cody Sieben, Belle Plaine, Minn., And Andrew Mohlenbrock, Marion, Ill.
Murray State University – Daniel Young, Louisville, Ky., and Boris Moskoff, Zeigler, Ill.
Murray State University – Mathew Cardani, New Philadelphia, Ohio, and Jason Shaw, Wildwood, Mo.
Murray State University – Seth Brock, Cedar Hill, Tenn., and Lance Freeman, Eddyville, Ky.
Northern Kentucky University – Brandon Houston, Burlington, Ky., and Brandon Knapmeyer, Union, Ky.
Purdue University-Fort Wayne – Parker Watts and Joseph Sittler, both of Fort Wayne, Ind.
Saint Ambrose University – Blake Vincent, Kewanee, Iowa, and Cole Atkinson, Comanche, Iowa
Southern Illinois University – Steve Seiler, Mokena, Ill., and Kyle Wagner, Waterloo, Ill.
University of Dubuque – Austin Brimeyer, Dubuque, Iowa, and Eric Nie, Jesup, Iowa
University of Evansville – Nick Uebelhor and Lee Knies, Jasper, Ind.
University of Illinois – Charlie Sterrett, Naperville, Ill., and Thomas Platt, Chicago, Ill.
University of Illinois – Qiurun Chen, Urbana, Ill., and Luke Stoner, Pekin, Ill.
University of Kentucky – Hunter Fulcher, Greenville, Ky., and Ryan Collins, Lebanon, Ohio
University of Minnesota-Duluth – Justin Sande, Orono, Minn., and Erik Gaffron, Maple Grove, Minn.
University of Missouri – Daniel Fuhrig and Michael Fink, both of St. Louis, Mo.
University of Nebraska – Zach Kroeger and Ben Kroeger, both of Omaha, Neb.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – Pat Bowers, Hudson, Wis., and Sig Finley, Wonder Lake, Ill.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Evan Chambers, St. Charles, Ill., and Jacob Clisch, Reedsburg, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Grant Ehlenfeldt, New Richmond, Wis., and Brett Stanek, Elroy, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Jordan Saladis, McFarland, Wis., and Brett Daggett, Cottage Grove, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Mark Hugus and Cody Hahner, both of Wausau, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Ryan Pinkalla, Eagan, Minn., and Kason Morley, Adams, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Samuel Sobieck, New Prague, Minn., and Connor Graham, Stevens Point, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Collin Cropp, Janesville, Wis., and Mitch Van Ert, Watertown, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Daniel Blasy, Eden Prarie, Minn., and Steven Sellnow, Watertown, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Nicholas Andersen, Racine, Wis., and Andrew Mlotek, Naperville, Ill.
Western Kentucky University – Cody Mattingly, Clarkson, Ky., and Ryan Coleman, Utica, Ky.
Western Kentucky University – Jacob Hopkins and Justin Hopkins, both of Lewisburg, Ky.
Winona State University – Wyatt Stout, Winona, Minn., and Cade Laufenberg, La Crosse, Wis.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in qualifying tournaments 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 Championship tournaments. The top ten teams from each of the five Conference Championship tournaments will advance to the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
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 fishing club recognized by their college or university.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
