National Guard FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Somerville Oct. 13-15 for the Texas Regional Championship which is being hosted by Texas A&M University. Twenty college teams will be competing for a top award of $50,000 to be split between the school and bass fishing club; $37,500 for bass club, which includes $12,500 in cash as well as a Ranger 177TR with a 90 horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard wrapped in school colors and $12,500 for their school.
“The water is really, really low on Somerville,”said Walmart FLW Tour pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas. “We are in a huge drought right now, so I think the fish will be in obvious shallow cover like rocky shorelines and brush piles.
“I don’t think the fishing will be that tough, especially with it being a fairly small field, but there won’t be much out in the water. If someone figures out the right shallow pattern they’ll have the best chance of winning. I think it will take 15 to 17 pounds per day, and somewhere around 40 pounds total to win the tournament.”
Anglers will take off from the Lake Somerville Marina located at 505 Marina Drive in Brenham, Texas, at 7:30 a.m. each morning. All weigh-ins will be held at Duncan Field located at 830 George Bush Drive in College Station. Thursday and Friday weigh-ins will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at 5 p.m., or upon the completion of the Texas A&M vs. Baylor football game. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Central Regional tournament, which is hosted by Southern Illinois University, include:
- Baylor University-Alton Jones, Woodway, Texas, and Brian Bauer, Waco, Texas
- Lamar University-Justin Royal, Vidor, Texas, and Troy Luce, Beaumont, Texas
- Lamar University-Matt Morrison, Tomball, Texas, and John Iles, Hemphill, Texas
- Louisiana Tech University-Brian Eaton, Monroe, La., and Wade Tracy, Alexandria, La.
- Louisiana State University-Timothy Morris, Donaldsonville, La., and Richard Murdock, Lawrenceville, Ga.
- Louisiana State University-Mason McCain and Doug Greenman both of Lake Charles, La.
- Louisiana State University-Douglas McClung, Gramercy, La., and Travis Laurent, Gonzales, La.
- Northeastern State University, Tahlequah-Rod Green and Jonathan James both of Tahlequah, Okla.
- Oral Roberts University-Zach Vankeulen, Overland Park, Kan., and Mark Johnson, Glenpool, Okla.
- Sam Houston State University-Seth Brittain, Center, Texas, and Tanner Walker, Gonzales, Texas
- Southeastern Louisiana University-Andrew Cavell, Baton Rouge, La., and Austin Crowson, Livingston, La.
- Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Nathan Colwell, Pryor, Okla., and Shane McGlothlin, Andarko, Okla.
- Stephen F. Austin University-Andrew Upshaw, Hemphill, Texas, and Ryan Watkins, Rockport, Texas
- Texas A&M University, Kingsville-Jerod Hawkes, Sabinal, Texas, and Cody Burrell, Kingsville, Texas
- Texas A&M University-Andrew Shafer, College Station, Texas, and Weston Brown, Bryan, Texas
- Texas A&M University-Kyle Bates and Cody Collins both of College Station, Texas
- Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi-Jacob Heath, and Kennedy Schwartzburg, both of Corpus Christi, Texas
- University of Oklahoma-Paul Muzljakovich, Wagoner, Okla., and Tyler Nipper, Tahlequah, Okla.
- University of Texas, Tyler-Mason Holmes, Bullard, Texas, and Dean Mize, Tyler, Texas
- University of Texas-Mason Holmes, Bullard, Texas, and Steve Cermak, North Richland Hills, Texas
The top five teams from each regional tournament advance to the national championship where the first-place team wins an award of $100,000; $25,000 for their school and $50,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR bass boat with a 90 horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard wrapped in school colors for their fishing club.
Texas A&M will be hosting the College Fishing Festival throughout the three day tournament. Students and fishing fans alike will be treated to the a Ranger Boat simulator, Sony PS3 Gaming Trailer, tailgate games, a sports zone along with contests for cash and several prize give-aways. The festival will take place at Duncan Field from 2 – 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
College Fishing is free to enter and FLW Outdoors provides boats and drivers for each competing team along with travel allowances. All participants must be registered, full-time undergraduate students at a four-year college or university and members of a fishing club recognized by their college or university.
Coverage of the Central Regional Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors,”will air Nov. 27 from 1-2 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,”hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors is the best in fishing, on and off the water. Anglers worldwide can compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge.By: Julie Huber,
