FLW College Fishing is headed to Fort Gibson Lake on April 30 for the second of three regular-season bass-fishing tournaments in the Southern Conference. A full field of college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“Fort Gibson Lake is fishing excellent right now,” said FLW Tour pro Andrew Upshaw, a former collegiate fishing standout from Stephen F. Austin University who now resides in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. “The lake is loaded with fish and the teams are going to be able to spread out and fish their strengths.
“They can run up the river where the water is dirty and throw spinnerbaits and squarebill crankbaits, or they can stay down in the clearer water and finesse fish,” Upshaw continued. “The fish are super close to spawning and a lot of them are coming from secondary points that lead into the spawning flats. I think targeting the inside edges of boat dock with big jigs and flipping baits will be a very strong pattern.”
Upshaw said that black and blue-colored baits would do better in the dirty water, while he would opt for green-pumpkin or watermelon red-colored baits in the clear water. He said that a team that concentrates on finesse fishing with shaky-head rigs should also do well.
“My advice would be to slow down and don’t get in too big of a hurry,” Upshaw said. “Fort Gibson is a really good finesse lake and there will definitely be quite a few fish caught on shaky-heads.
“Really study the maps as well,” Upshaw went on to say. “There is a lot of information out there as far as where the best creeks are, so really pick the area you want to fish based on your strength and put the time in. I think the winning team is going to weigh between 18 to 20 pounds.”
Anglers will take off from the Taylor Ferry Marina & Resort, located at 34179 Marina Drive in Wagoner, 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 Fort Gibson Lake tournament, which is hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce, include:
Abilene Christian University – Clay Gilbert, Sherman, Texas, and Garrett Daley, Abilene, Texas
Arkansas Tech University – Ethan Stokes, Lee’s Summit, Mo., and Philip Gottsponer, Morrilton, Ark
Bossier Parish Community College – Hunter Moss, Mooringsport, La., and Jacob McRae, Shreveport, La.
Colorado Mesa University – Josh Worth, Grand Junction, Colo., and Kennedy Kinkade, Alpine, Utah
Colorado State University-Pueblo – Tyler Hassler, Fountain, Colo., and Austin Miles, Pueblo, Colo.
Dallas Baptist University – Zackery Hines, Clyde, Texas, and Reed Foster, Combine, Texas
East Central University – Wyatt Smith, Depew, Okla., and Wyatt Ryan, Ada, Okla.
Harding University – Jonathan Gossett, Searcy, Ark., and Chandler Cupp, Parogold, Ark.
Harding University – Riley Mason, Searcy, Ark., and Jacob Frawley, Nolensville, Tenn.
Lamar University – Brandon Simoneaux, Bridge City, Texas, Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas
Louisiana State University-Shreveport – James Kimbrough, Bossier City, La., and Adam Burkett, Converse, La.
Northeastern State University – Cody Metzger and Michael King, both of Wagoner, Okla.
Northeastern State University – Devin Duncan and Dylan Duncan, both of Kansas, Okla.
Northeastern State University – Donald Hart, Peggs, Okla., and Matt Alberty, Tahlequah, Okla.
Northeastern State University – Shane Litterell, Park Hill, Okla., and Conner Schwab, Broken Arrow, Okla.
Oklahoma State University – Bates Enmeier, Enid, Okla., and Eric Hanna, Allen, Texas
Oklahoma State University – Clayton Daniel, Cashion, Okla., and Cole Sweetin, Walters, Okla.
Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology – Logan Moody, Claremore, Okla., and Blake Capps, Muskogee, Okla.
Rogers State University – John Gann, Salina, Okla., and Benny Boone, Owasso, Okla.
Southeastern Oklahoma State University – Kyler Taylor, Wright City, Okla., and Darrah Stanford, Calera, Okla.
Stephen F. Austin University – Alec Castonguay, Rockwall, Texas, and Garret Whitley, Quinlan, Texas
Tarleton State University – Zach Montalvo and Tanner Crim, both of Devine, Texas
Texas A&M University – Brennan Fertig, Medina, Texas, and Evan Cook, Springfield, Mo.
Texas A&M University – Josh Bensema, Willis, Texas, and Tyler Anderson, Austin, Texas
Texas A&M University-Galveston – Grant Pietsch, Montgomery, Texas, and Garrett Goettee, Tomball, Texas
Texas A&M University-Texarkana – Justin Snow, Pittsburg, Kan., and Josh Cole, Texarkana, Texas
University of Central Oklahoma– Chris Zins, Oklahoma City, Okla., and Zach Holliday, Yukon, Okla.
University of North Texas – Jared Penton, Grand Junction, Colo., and Mason Lucas, Krum, Texas
University of Texas-Tyler – Jacob Shannon, Arlington, Texas, and Blake Haghighi, Palestine, Texas
FLW College Fishing teams compete in regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top 10 teams from each regular-season tournament 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.
Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. 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.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
