FLW College Fishing is headed to the Ouachita River Oct. 8 for the third and final regular-season bass-fishing tournament 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 fish are likely going to be transitioning between summer and fall patterns,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Chris Neau of New Orleans, Louisiana.
“They’ll be moving from deep water into shallow areas, which means there’s going to be a lot of options for teams to catch bass.
“There should be a great topwater bite,” Neau continued. “Shad schools will be moving into creeks, and you can bet that bass will be chasing them. There should be a lot of laydowns to sift through. You’ll likely see teams targeting these fish with topwater baits, as well as crankbaits and spinnerbaits.
“If I were fishing the event, I’d use a topwater bait or a Yamamoto Senko along banks and rocky points,” said Neau. “Crankbaits, Carolina-rigged soft-plastics and buzzbaits would also be on my boat deck.”
Neau predicted that a 15-pound limit of bass should be enough to win the tournament.
“We could see a 20-pound limit come across the stage,” said Neau. “They’ll just need to cover a lot of water.”
Anglers will take off from Forsythe Park, located at 2401 Sycamore St. in Monroe, at 7 a.m. CDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 3 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 Ouachita River tournament, which is hosted by the Monroe-West Monroe Convention & Visitors Bureau, include:
Abilene Christian University – Garrett Daley, Abilene, Texas, and Clay Gilbert, Sherman, Texas
Arkansas Tech University – Ethan Stokes, Lees Summit, Mo., and Philip Gottsponer, Morrilton, Ark.
Baylor University – Chandler Stewart, San Antonio, Texas, and Denver Lawless, McGregor, Texas
Bossier City Community College – Hunter Moss, Mooringsport, La., and Jacob McRae, Shreveport, La.
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 – Bryce Harris and Cain Brinlee, both of Ada, Okla.
East Central University – Keltyn Hendrix, Washington, Okla., and Blake Rauch, Roff, Okla.
Harding University – Ethan Flowers, Dexter, Missouri, and Cole Swede, Little Rock, Ark.
Lamar University – Brandon Simoneaux, Bridge City, Texas, and Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas
Lamar University – Luke Potter and Stephen Thomas, both of Woodville, Texas
Louisiana Tech University – Brandon Soileau, Lake Charles, La., and Adam Forester, Pineville, La.
Louisiana Tech University – Scott McClellan, Leesville, La., and Gunner Durrett, Simsboro, La.
Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Jeffery Ramsey, Minden, La., and Riley Bornaman, Shreveport, La.
McMurry University – Ryan Nevil and Chad Moore, both of Mesquite, Texas
Rogers State University – David Stellfox, Collinsville, Okla., and Tyler Hastings, Claremore, Okla.
Rogers State University – Dillon Roberts, Claremore, Okla., and Bret Fite, Selina, Okla.
Rogers State University – Kelsey Winnie, Stillwater, Okla., and Lane McCartney, Catoosa, Okla.
Southern Arkansas University – Brandon Oglesby and Jared Hunter, both of Magnolia, Ark.
Southern Arkansas University – Warren Basinger, Magnolia, Ark., and Hunter Bruce, Paris, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University – Alec Castonguay, Rockwall, Texas, and Garret Whitley, Quinlan, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University – Easton Heigley, Brookeland, Texas, and Blake Schroeder, Cypress, Texas
Tarleton State University – Corbin Bogart and Jonathan McHazlett, both of Joshua, Texas
Tarleton State University – Logan Wilson, Rockwall, Texas, and Cole Reichle, Austin, Texas
Tarleton State University – Wayne Carrillo, Stephensville, Texas, and Brandon Consalus, Midlothian, Texas
Texas A&M University – John Moore, Granbury, Texas, and Connor Whisenant, The Woodlands, Texas
Texas A&M University-Galveston – Grant Pietsch, Montgomer, Texas, and Garrett Goettee, Tomball, Texas
Texas State University – Sam Stone, Austin, Texas, and Evan Coleman, Georgetown, Texas
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff – Cody Salzmann, Dickeyville, Wis., and Aaron Porterfield, White Hall, Ark.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Andre Adams, Berwick, La., and Grant Curran, Montgomery, Texas
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Dawson Cranford, Shreveport, La., and Charles Norris, New Iberia, La.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Jon Hebert, Youngsville, La., and Jed Hebert, Lafayette, La.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Logan Abshire, Duson, La., and Alex Lamabe, Baton Rouge, La.
University of North Texas – Jared Penton, Grand Junction, Colo. and Mason Lucas, Krum, 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 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: Brian Johnson, FLW
