The University of Wisconsin team of Turner Truttschel of Madison, Wisconsin, and Colin Steck of Waunakee, Wisconsin, won the YETI FLW College Fishing Central Conference tournament on the Mississippi River Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces. The victory earned the Badgers’ bass club $2,000 and a slot in the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship, scheduled for May 30-June 2 on the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The duo said they spent the tournament picking apart five different areas in Pool No. 9. They said the areas were far enough off of the main river to be considered backwaters, but still had current pushing through them.
“Four of the spots we fished had one or two bigger fish in them, and one had a big school,” said Steck, a freshman majoring in pre-med. “They had grass, rocks and weeds and were anywhere from 1 to 5 feet deep.”
Truttschel, a freshman majoring in pre-business, said the duo caught their first fish on a topwater bait, and the rest on a Brovarney Baits Silicon Swim Jig with either a grub or minnow-style trailer.
“We also lost a good fish at our first spot early on the topwater, but ended up catching it later in the day around 2:30 (p.m.) on the swim jig,” said Truttschel. “Overall we caught around 10 keepers and ended up weighing two smallmouth and three largemouth.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2018 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: University of Wisconsin – Turner Truttschel, Madison, Wis., and Colin Steck, Waunakee, Wis., five bass, 16-10, $2,000
2nd: Winona State University – Wyatt Stout, Sauk City, Wis., and Tayler Stolpa, Winona, Minn. five bass, 15-11, $1,000
3rd: University of Wisconsin – Alexander Lemke, De Pere, Wis., and Jacob Anderson, Princeton, Wis., five bass, 15-3, $900
4th: University of Wisconsin-Stout – Gavin Hessler, Roberts, Wis., and Noah Lindus, Woodville, Wis., five bass, 15-1, $500
5th: Saint Ambrose University – John Baumunk and Michael Wolthusen, Stickney, Ill., five bass, 14-14, $500
6th: Southeast Missouri State – Nick Moore, Desoto, Mo., and Jacob Harris, Bonne Terre, Mo., five bass, 14-9, $200
7th: University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Grant Ehlenfeldt, New Richmond, Wis., and Brett Stanek, Elroy, Wis., five bass,14-2
8th: Saint Charles Community College – Dale McCrackin and Gable Moeller, both of Lake Saint Louis, Mo., five bass, 14-1
9th: University of Northern Iowa – Conner Hinckle and Jack Mauer, both of Cedar Falls, Iowa, five bass, 13-6
10th: Central College – Cameron Timok, Pella, Iowa, and Dillon Peters, Urbandale, Iowa, five bass, 13-3
This YETI FLW College Fishing Central Conference tournament on the Mississippi River was hosted by the Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Council, and was the third and final regular-season qualifying tournament for Central Conference anglers in 2017. The next YETI FLW College Fishing event will be the Southern Conference finale, scheduled for Oct. 14 on Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in three 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 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship on the Red River, hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission & Red River Waterway Commission. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.
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 that is recognized by their 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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 258 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa 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
