FLW College Fishing is headed to Indian Lake July 11 for the second of three regular-season stops in the Northern Conference. A full field of college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Northern Conference Championship tournament.
“There are a couple of patterns that I think will be popular in this tournament,” said Ranger Boats pro Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio, a 13-year veteran on the Walmart FLW Tour. “This time of year, targeting shallow weeds and docks can be a good choice. Even though we’ve had some 90-degree days, bass will be seeking shade as early as 10 a.m. and using the docks to ambush bluegill. I could also see some competitors dialing in on fish along the ends of points in deeper water.
“Jigs usually do well near the points, but I prefer a worm in these conditions,” continued Vatalaro. “Small spinnerbaits and certain topwaters will work well for the morning bite. I also expect to see crankbaits and buzzbaits come into play. As for popular colors, I like fishing green-pumpkin, June-bug and watermelon-candy varieties on Ohio lakes this time of year.”
Vatalaro said he thinks a five-bass stringer nearing 15 pounds will take top honors.
“The nice thing about this tournament is that there are a lot of options for catching fish,” said Vatalaro. “It should be an exciting weigh-in.”
Anglers will take off from Indian Lake State Park, located at 12774 State Route 235 N. in Lakeview, at 6:30 a.m. EST Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the marina 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 CollegeFishing.com. Schools currently registered to compete in the Indian Lake tournament include:
Adrian College – Jacob Bayer, Westfield, Mich., and Jarrett Martin, Gallipolis, Ohio
Adrian College – Jeff Morton, Troy, Mich., and Nicholas Marsh, Commerce Township, Mich.
Carnegie Mellon University – Eric Bykowsky, Columbia, S.C., and Ro Reynolds, Lutherville, Md.
Central Michigan University – Zack Smalldon, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Hayden Gosen, Sanford, Mich.
Fairmont State University – Andrew Walker, Fairmont, W. Va., and Michael Barnett, Morgantown, W. Va.
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania – Alec Engleman, Milton, Pa., and Bryan Rupp, Archbald, Pa.
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania – James Grassi, Cabot, Pa., and Ryan Fluharty, Perkiomenville, Pa.
Michigan Technological University – Zachary Reuter, Houghton, Mich., and Samuel Richards, Oregon, Wis.
Northwood University – Zach Lowe, Huntington Woods, Mich., and Travis Riedel, Falmouth, Mich.
Ohio State University – Jeremy McLaughlin, Wheelersburg, Ohio, and Kain Fadeley, New Philadelphia, Ohio
Ohio State University – Michael Whitacre, Hudson, Ohio, and Haleigh Caldwell, Gallipolis, Ohio
Ohio State University – Tom Csepe, Copley, Ohio, and Sidney Hoover, Findlay, Ohio
Pennsylvania State University – Anthony Kashiwsky, Aliquippa, Pa., and Ben Barcaskey, Moon Township, Pa.
Pennsylvania State University – Sean Cummins, Huntingdon, Pa., and Maurice Hudson, Broomall, Pa.
Ramapo College of New Jersey – Marc Concato, Wayne, N.J., and Andrew Zapf, Whippany, N.J.
Ramapo College of New Jersey – Mike Concato, Clifton, N.J., and Andrew Annuzzi, Oldbridge, N.J.
Shenandoah University – Thomas Arens and Billy Arens, both of Purcellville, Va.
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania – Gage Schilling, Hermitage, Pa., and Billy Hines, Erie, Pa.
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania – Kyle Brown, Wexford, Pa., and Tyler Sheppard, Hermitage, Pa.
University of Akron – Anthony Villalba, Silver Lake, Ohio, and Robert Webber, Elyria, Ohio
University of Dayton – Robert Petrick, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Sam Tunnacliffe, West Chester, Ohio
West Chester University of Pennsylvania – Matt Woolcock, Springville, Pa., and Thomas Arena, Carlisle, Pa.
Xavier University – Alex Vaisvil, Saint Charles, Ill., and Stephen Todd, Cary, Ill.
Youngstown State University – Stan Miketa, New Middletown, Ohio, and Charles Cremeans, Youngstown, Ohio
FLW College Fishing teams compete in qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top fifteen teams from each regular-season tournament will qualify for one of five Conference Championship tournaments. The top ten teams from each of the five Conference Championship tournaments will advance to the 2016 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 fishing club recognized by their college or university.
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 2015 over the course of 240 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.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
