FLW College Fishing is headed to Somerville Lake Jan. 16 for the first of three regular-season stops in the Southern Conference. A full field of college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth into the 2017 College Fishing National Championship.
“The bass in Lake Somerville should be starting to migrate into shallow water for the spawn,” said Keystone Light pro Jeff Sprague of Point, Texas. “But, with the amount of rain we’ve had in the area many of the fish could be misplaced so teams are going to have to cover more water than usual.
“I think a lot of competitors will focus on drains where bass move onto the flats,” Sprague continued. “Umbrella rigs and square-billed crankbaits are going to be major players. I also see jerkbaits and reaction-type baits like lipless crankbaits and vibrating jigs being a factor as well.”
Sprague said that due to unseasonably warm water temperatures, teams may have to get creative with their bait and color choices.
“I could see competitors reaching for shad- or bluegill-colored baits,” said Sprague. “I also wouldn’t count out craw colors and different shades of red – they tend to do well in these conditions.”
Sprague went on to say that the winning team will likely need a 17-pound stringer to take home top honors.
“A lot of big bass live out there in Lake Somerville,” said Sprague. “The catch is really going to depend on the weather patterns leading up to the day of the tournament.”
Anglers will take off from Lake Somerville Marina, located at 505 Marina Drive in Brenham, at 7:30 a.m. CST Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3:30 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 Lake Somerville tournament, which is hosted by the Bryan-College Station Convention & Visitors Bureau, include:
Arkansas Tech University – Ethan Stokes, Lees Summit, Mo., and Philip Gottsponer, Morrilton, Ark.
Bacone College – Ursula Kellett and Mason Kellett, both of Henryetta, Okla.
Bossier City Community College – Hunter Moss, Mooringsport, La., and Jacob McRae, Shreveport, La.
Colorado State University – Alex Stuart, Highlands Ranch, Colo., and Adam Deakin, Broomfield, Colo.
Colorado State University-Pueblo – Austin Miles, Pueblo, Colo., and Tyler Hassler, Fountain, Colo.
Dallas Baptist University – Zackery Hines, Clyde, Texas, and Reed Foster, Combine, Texas
East Central University – Wyatt Ryan, Ada, Okla., and Cain Brinlee, Allen, Okla.
East Texas Baptist University – Randy Clark and Jay Clark, both of College Station, Texas
Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Christian Brown, Pelican, La., and Jared Rascoe, Stonewall, La.
Louisiana State University-Shreveport – James Kimbrough and Taylor Nussbaum, both of Bossier City, La.
McNeese State University – James Hovey, Joaquin, Texas, and Trent Manuel, Orange, Texas
Northwestern State University – Christian Hamous, Natchitoches, La., and Dylan Toches, Natchez, La.
Sam Houston State University – Dillon Harrell, New Caney, Texas, and Dustin Moreno, Shepherd, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University – Robert McGonagle, San Antonio, Texas, and Robert Morgan, San Augustine, Texas
Texas A&M University – Brennan Fertig, Medina, Texas, and Evan Cook, Seabrook, Texas
Texas A&M University – Tyler Anderson, Austin, Texas, and Josh Bensema, Willis, Texas
Texas A&M University-Galveston – Grant Pietsch, Montgomery, Texas, and Garrett Goettee, Tomball, Texas
Texas Tech University – Donald Peters, Las Cruces, N.M., and Joseph Smith, Midland, Texas
University of Central Oklahoma – Andrew Madison, Mustang, Okla., and Jose Palma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
University of Central Oklahoma – Chris Zins, Oklahoma City, Okla., and Zach Holliday, Yukon, Okla.
University of Texas-Tyler – Blake Haghighi, Palestine, Texas, and Jacob Shannon, Arlington, Texas
University of Texas-Tyler – Cameron Bradbury, Wadestown, Texas, and Caleb Young, Maud, Texas
FLW College Fishing teams compete in 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 15 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2017 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 college fishing club.
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 2016 over the course of 235 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
