National Guard FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Monroe Oct. 21-23 for the Southeast Regional Championship. Twenty college teams from across the region have qualified and will be competing for a top award of $50,000, which includes a Ranger 177TR with 90-horsepower outboard wrapped in school colors for their bass club and $25,000 for their school.
“We’ve just gotten our first cool snaps of the season so the fish will be starting to get into their fall patterns,” said FLW Tour pro J.T. Kenney of Palm Bay, Fla., who has two wins and 27 top 10-finishes in his nine year FLW career. “There will be two dominate patterns in this tournament; catching schooling fish in grass patches and flipping heavy rigs in thick grass.
“The key to winning any tournament in Florida is catching a limit and hoping that one is a giant, and by giant I mean a 7- to 8-pounder,” Kenney went on to say. “The fish are really active right now, especially in the morning. The kids are going to want to make sure they have two to three fish in the boat early and they should be covering a lot of water. It’s going to take 13 to 16 pounds per day to win here.”
Kenney indicated that the weather is pretty stable right now, barring a late season hurricane, morning temperatures will be about 55 to 60 degrees and it will warm up to about 85 degrees with very little wind.
Anglers will take off from Monroe Harbour located at 531 North Palmeto Ave. in Sanford, Fla., at 7 a.m. each morning. Weigh-ins will be held at UCF – IOA Plaza: Bright House Networks Stadium beginning at 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and approximately 6:30 p..m. Saturday (following the football game). Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The University of Central Florida also is hosting the College Fishing Festival throughout the three day tournament. Students and fishing fans alike will be treated to live music, the National Guard Warrior Challenge, a Ranger Boat simulator, tailgate games, a sports zone along with contests for cash and several prize give-aways. The festival will take place at UCF – IOA Plaza: Bright House Networks Stadium from 2 – 4 p.m.. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Schools competing for the Southeast Regional Championship are:
| Auburn University | Caleb Rodgers, Center, Ala., and Kyron Browning, Auburn, Ala. |
| Auburn University | Shaye Baker, Reeltown, Ala., and Jordan Lee, Vinemont, Ala. |
| Austin Peay | Chase Hunnell, Ashland City, Tenn., and Ethan Ingle, Burlington, N.C. |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Drew Underwood, Fort Myers, Fla., and Garrett Farmer, Estero, Fla. |
| Freed-Hardeman University | Nathan Pirtle, Counce, Tenn., and Brad Martin, Henderson, Tenn. |
| Georgia College | Jared Kutil, Milledgeville, Ga., and Josh Futch, Milledgeville, Ga. |
| Georgia Southern | Jed Thigpen, Waycross, Ga., and Wesley Maples, Statesboro, Ga. |
| Kennesaw State University | Jake Akin, Powder Springs, Ga., and Thomas Frink, Kennesaw, Ga. |
| LaGrange College | Torre Pike, Lagrange, Ga., and Ryan Wakenigg, Cataula, Ga. |
| Lipscomb University | James Crague, Hendersonville, Tenn., and Bobby Blackwell, Nashville, Tenn. |
| Middle Tennessee State | Nolen Spencer, Bell Buckle, Tenn., and Tyler Barnes, Madison, Tenn. |
| Southern Polytechnic State University | Dustin Holland, Ellijay, Ga., and Zachary Dixon, Kennesaw, Ga. |
| Tennessee Tech | Cody Gass, Lynchburg, Tenn., and Adam Goodwin, Hendersonville, Tenn. |
| Troy University | Jeremy Knight, Titus, Ala., and Connor Bedsole, Arab, Ala. |
| University of Central Florida | Leonard Gordon, Baker, Fla., and Miles Burghoff, Orlando, Fla. |
| University of Florida | Jake Gipson, Niceville, Fla., and Matthew Wercinski, Gainesville, Fla. |
| University of Florida | Dennis Croyle, Sarasota, Fla., and Travis Gates, Gainesville, Fla. |
| University of Florida | Travis Fledderman, Gainesville, Fla., and Rhett Rampi, Orlando, Fla. |
| University of Tennessee | Hunter Shults, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and Bradley Cooper, Knoxville, Tenn. |
| University of South Carolina, Upstate | Michael Smith, Piedmont, S.C. and David Scruggs, Spartanburg, S.C. |
The top five teams from each regional championship, 25 total teams, will advance to the 2011 National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship that will be hosted by Murray State University on Kentucky Lake, April 7-9. The National Championship is a three-day televised event. Teams will be provided jerseys and wrapped Ranger boats towed by Chevy trucks for this competition. The first-place team will win $100,000 with $50,000 of that for their school and $25,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR bass boat for their fishing club along with a berth in the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.
FLW Outdoors provides boats and drivers for each competing team along with travel allowances. 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.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000.By: Julie Huber,
