FLW College Fishing is headed to the Mississippi River May 31 for the third and final regular-season stop in the Central Conference. Up to 50 college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Central Conference Invitational tournament.
“The Mississippi River can be tough,” said Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts pro Greg Bohannan, who finished 13th in a Rayovac FLW Series event there in 2009. “You need to go in with the mindset that a limit is really good. You have to capitalize on all your bites and be mentally tough. Also, don’t catch a lot of fish in practice. Be conscious to only catch one or two out of an area and then save those fish for the tournament.”
Bohannan went on to say that there were three staple pieces of cover in Pool 19 – rock jetties, grass in the southern end and backwaters with wood cover upriver.
“If I was going there tomorrow, I would check out the south end and see what the vegetation is like,” said Bohannan. “That’s usually where the bigger bites are going to be. If that didn’t work out, I would start checking the wood cover and if there was current I would fish the jetties.
“For the grass, I like a Gambler Big EZ to swim through it, a Gambler Ugly Otter to flip in it or a topwater frog to run over it,” finished Bohannon. “A square-bill crankbait, a buzzbait or a jig would be good bets around the rocks and wood.”
Anglers will take off from the Fort Madison Marina located at 902 4th St. in Fort Madison at 6:30 a.m. Weigh-in will be held at the takeoff location starting at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday. Takeoff and weigh-in is free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Mississippi River tournament which is presented by Fort Madison Partners, include:
Ball State University Reed Emerson and Alex Forsthoefel, both of Muncie, Ind.
Bradley University Adam Laible, Washburn, Ill., and Ryne Krall, Oswego, Ill.
Bradley University Tyler Flynn, Mackinaw, Ill., and Zach Cline, Farmington, Ill.
Eastern Illinois University Kurt Williamson, Charleston, Ill., and Tyler McCune, St. Joseph, Ill.
Eastern Kentucky University Kyle Raymer, Brandenburg, Ky., and Ethan Snyder, Vine Grove, Ky.
Georgetown College – Mike Huff, Corbin, Ky., and John Hunter, Georgetown, Ky.
Indiana State University Nicholas Gallina and Steve Judson, both of Terre Haute, Ind.
Indiana University Derrick Hoffman, South Elgin, Ill., and Brody McWilliams, Greenwood, Ind.
Indiana University Hayden Holmes, Bloomington, Ind., and Tyler Trout, Brazil, Ind.
Indiana University/Purdue University-Indianapolis Thomas Spandau, Martinsville, Ind., and Caleb Taylor, Zionsville, Ind.
Iowa State University Tanner Hamelau, Legrand, Iowa, and Justin Heim, Ames, Iowa
Kansas State University Nathen Kozlowski, Junction City, Kan., and Brandon Patterson, Manhattan, Kan.
Kansas State University Sheldon Rogge, St. George, Kan., and Drake Standefer, Manhattan, Kan.
Lindsey Wilson College Shade Jacobs, Lexington, Ky., and Austin Grigsby, Stanford, Ky.
Lindsey Wilson College Matthew Mattingly, Gravel Switch, Ky., and Williams Masters, St. Augustine, Fla.
McKendree University Dustin Pendegraft, Summerfield, Ill., and Phillip Germagliotti, Highland, Ill.
McKendree University Brian McClanahan, Elkville, Ill., and Austin Chapman, Blue Mound, Ill.
Milwaukee School of Engineering Marshall Sandretto, Winthrop Harbor, Ill., and Zach Regnier, Plum City, Wis.
Missouri University of Science and Technology William Kleine, St. Charles, Mo., and Drew Schrader, Troy, Mo.
Murray State University Cody Santel, Petersburg, Ill., and Justin Berger, Freeburg, Ill.
Northern Illinois University Derek Malanowski, Woodridge, Ill., and Chris Kosior, Palos Hills, Ill.
Northern Illinois University – Quinn Groenwald, Dekalb, Ill., and David Taylor, Roscoe, Ill.
Northern Kentucky University – Zach Dressman, Morning View, Ky., and Brandon Houston, Burlington, Ky.
Northwest Missouri State University Andrew Nordbye, St. Joseph, Mo., and Adam Almohtadi, Blue Springs, Mo.
Purdue University Dylan Catlett, Indianapolis, Ind., Garrett Vankirk, Ferdinand, Ind.
Southern Illinois University Jordan Smith, Millstadt, Ill., and Stephen Farley, Metropolis, Ill.
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Zach Hartnagel, Edwardsville, Ill., and Colten Hunter, Brownstown, Ill.
St. Ambrose University Kyle Gates, Decatur, Ill., and Ted Lowery, Oak Lawn, Ill.
St. Cloud State University Souvan Yang, St. Paul, Minn., and Troy Switajewski, St. Cloud, Minn.
University of Central Missouri Layne Woods, Warrensburg, Mo., and Brett Fickle, Clinton, Mo.
University of Evansville Gilbert Sanchez, Chicago, Ill., and Lee Knies, Jasper, Ind.
University of Iowa Mark Krutzfield, Iowa City, Iowa, and Tony Mehrl, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
University of Kentucky Ryan Collins, Lebanon, Ohio, and Andrew Day, Versailles, Ky.
University of Louisville Jacob Meadows and Jeffery Endly, both of Louisville, Ky.
University of Minnesota Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., and Chris Burgan, Minneapolis, Minn.
University of Minnesota-Duluth Jill Erickson, Sandstone, Minn., and Joseph Miller, White Bear Lake, Minn.
University of Missouri Ben Verhoef, Osage Beach, Mo., and Christian Ponzetti, Excelsior, Minn.
University of Nebraska Everett Ridderbos and Sean Mulholland, both of Lincoln, Neb.
University of Nebraska William McCabe, Lincoln, Neb., and Jon Bash, Grayslake, Ill.
University of St. Thomas Bryan Billeadeau, Circle Pines, Minn., and Michaela Anderson, Lino Lakes, Minn.
University of Wisconsin Tanner Blaschka and Josh Pagel, both of Wausau, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville Matt Vandenheuvel, Depere, Wis., and Ryan Gilbert, Sterling, Ill.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville Evan Chambers, St. Charles, Ill., and Jered Lex, Cottage Grove, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Kyle Casper, Itasca, Ill., and Tyler Hillen, Stevens Point, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Mark Hugus, Stevens Point, Wis., and Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Tyler Zimmerman, Roscoe, Ill., and Andrew Mlotek, Naperville, Ill.
Western Illinois University – Caleb Shoemaker, Blandinsville, Ill., and Travis Wilson, La Harpe, Ill.
Western Kentucky University Stephen Compton, Brandenburg, Ky., and Ryan Coleman, Utica, Ky.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in three qualifying events in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top 15 teams from each regular-season tournament will qualify for one of five conference invitational tournaments. The top 10 teams from each conference invitational tournament will advance to the 2015 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
College Fishing is free to enter. 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.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter/FLWFishing. Visit the CollegeFishing website to sign up or to start a club at your school.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.
By: Jody White, Communications Specialist, FLW Outdoors
