YETI FLW College Fishing is heading to Fort Gibson Lake May 6 for the second of three regular-season stops in the Southern Conference. A full field of college fishing clubs will be competing for the top award of a $2,000 club scholarship and a berth into the 2018 College Fishing National Championship.
“Fort Gibson is a good fishery and I think the college anglers will do well,” said FLW Tour pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, a six-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier who finished in 4th place when the Costa FLW Series competed on Fort Gibson Lake in 2016. “There are a lot of 3 to 4 pound fish in it, and there are some good spotted bass as well.
“If I was fishing on Fort Gibson this time of year, I’d have four baits tied on to throw,” Tutt continued. “I’d have something to flip with – a brush hog or a beaver, something like that. I’d have a big ½-ounce white and chartreuse-colored spinnerbait with a double Colorado blade, because the water is dingy. I’d have a squarebill crankbait tied on, and you have to have a green-pumpkin (Yamamoto) Senko.”
Tutt predicted that high water levels will likely have the bass up in the flooded willow trees and he expects this tournament to be mainly a shallow-water bite. He predicted a five-bass limit in the upper-teens as the eventual winner.
“A good limit that I would feel very proud of is 15 pounds and up,” Tutt said. “However, I think the winning weight will likely be 18 to 22 pounds.”
Anglers will take off from Taylors Ferry North Recreation Area in Wagoner, at 6:30 a.m. CDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the launch ramp 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 FLWFishing.com.
Schools registered to compete in the Fort Gibson Lake tournament, which is hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce, include:
Arkansas Tech University – Philip Gottsponer, Morrilton, Ark., and Ethan Stokes, Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Colorado State University-Pueblo – Austin Miles, Durango, Colo., and Tyler Hassler, Fountain, Colo.
East Texas Baptist University – Colby Simmons and Brandon Barber, both of Legion Fields, Texas
East Texas Baptist University – Mason Beatty, Hallsville, Texas, and Dustin Pearcy, Marshall, Texas
East Texas Baptist University – Chad Poulsen, Bossier City, La., and Jared Penton, Grand Junction, Colo.
Harding University – Ethan Flowers, Dexter, Mo., and Cole Swede, Little Rock, Ark.
McMurry University – Chad Moore and Ryan Nevil, both of Mesquite, Texas
Rogers State University – Dillon Roberts, Claremore, Okla., and Kyle Clark, Oologah, Okla.
Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Chris Bradley, Thomas, Okla., and Andy Thurston, Noble, Okla.
Tarleton State University – Stetson Overton, Glen Rose, Texas, and Cason Kelly, Stephensville, Texas
West Texas A&M University – Hunter Hastings and Mason Moore, both of Canyon, Texas
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff – Cody Salzmann, Dickeyville, Wis., and Kenneth Prince, White Hall, Ark.
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. 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.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit FLWFishing.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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 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. For more information visit FLWFishing.com.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
