FLW College Fishing Heads to Lake Dardanelle for Southern Conference Championship
OutdoorHub 09.26.12
National Guard FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Dardanelle Oct. 4-6 for the Southern Conference Championship presented by Chevy. Twenty college teams will be competing for a Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“Lake Dardanelle is getting really good,” said Scotch Brand Tape pro Ray Scheide of Dover, Ark. “The shallow bite is really coming on. I’ve seen a lot of winning stringers lately anywhere from 15 to 19 pounds, so fishing’s good.”
Scheide said the flipping and topwater bites should be strong throughout the event. He predicts the leaders will need about 34 pounds over the first two days of competition to make the cut.
“The college anglers just need to be open,” Scheide said. “Lake Dardanelle is notorious for fish being in one place today and not tomorrow. And in the fall, more than anything, you have to play to the wind. Any time you’re fishing shallow the wind is a big factor. Those guys will need to be open-minded and not let themselves get locked into a certain area. They’ll need to find a pattern, not an area.”
Anglers will take off from Lake Dardanelle State Park located at 100 State Park Drive in Russellville, Ark., at 7 a.m. each morning. Weigh-ins will be at Walmart located at 2409 E. Main St. in Russellville beginning at 4 p.m. each day. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Southern Conference Championship, hosted by Russellville Advertising & Promotions, include:
- Angelo State – Ethan George, Breckenridge, Texas, and Josh Seale, San Angelo, Texas
- Arkansas Tech University – Reagan Moore, Russellville, Ark., and Evan Barnes, Dierks, Ark.
- Central Arkansas – Robert Bartoszek, Mayflower, Ark., and Justin Harrell, Hohenwald, Tenn.
- Henderson State – Shane Stoddard, Camden, Ark., and Drew Rabb, Hot Springs, Ark.
- Henderson State – William Reeder, Jessieville, Ark., and Matt Harper, Sweeny, Texas
- Lamar University – Danny Iles, Evadale, Texas, and Justin Royal, Hemphill, Texas
- Louisiana Tech University – Peyton Igo, Many, La., and Matthew Loetscher, Minden, La.
- LSU-Shreveport – Joseph Landry, Haughton, La., and Gavin Havard, West Monroe, La.
- Northwestern State – Alan Carson, Kolin, La., and Chantz Wilkinson, Calvin, La.
- Stephen F. Austin – Kyle Turner, Kennedale, Texas, and Robert Platt, Tyler, Texas
- Tarleton State-Stephenville – Cody Metz, Stephenville, Texas, and Shelby Floyd, Grapevine, Texas
- Texas A&M-Kingsville – Cody Burell, Utopia, Texas, and Will Watson, Uvalde, Texas
- Texas A&M – Josh Haddox, Bryan, Texas, and Timothy Temple, Martinsville, Texas
- Texas State University – David Cosner, Austin, Texas, and Jared Brown, San Jose, Calif.
- Texas Tech University – Tyler Holmes, Odessa, Texas, and Travis McGuire, Plano, Texas
- University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Cody McCrary, Lafayette, La., and Neil Arnaud, Baton Rouge, La.
- University of Louisiana-Monroe – Jacob Slade, Monroe, La., and Jackson Blackett, Bastrop, La.
- University of Louisiana-Monroe – Nick Ladart, Monroe, La., and Brian Eaton, Monroe, La.
- University of Louisiana-Monroe – Paul Clark, Pineville, La., and Brett Preuett, Monroe, La.
- University of Texas-Tyler – Charlie Brown, Tyler, Texas, and Matthew McClellan, Jasper, Texas
Fans will be treated to the FLW Expo at Walmart on Thursday and Friday from 2–4 p.m. and Saturday from noon–4 p.m. prior to weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors. Fans can also learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.
Four regular-season qualifying events were held in each conference – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southern and Western – and the top five teams from each regular-season event qualified for one of the five conference championships. The top five teams from each conference championship advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.
College Fishing is free to enter and FLW 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.
Coverage of the Southern Conference Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs Dec. 30 from 1-2 p.m. EST. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
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 CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
