FLW College Fishing Southern Conference Opens on Lake Amistad
OutdoorHub 01.16.13
FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Amistad Jan. 26 for the first of four stops in the Southern Conference. Fifty college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Southern Conference Invitational tournament.
“Amistad is really a fun lake to fish,” said FLW Tour pro Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas, who has 21 top-10 tournament finishes in FLW competition. “It’s a deep, clear reservoir right on the Mexico border, and it’s a little warmer down there. The weights haven’t been as big lately as when FLW has been there in years past, but there’s definitely still the potential to catch 25 pounds.
“Water levels have been down this year,” Bird continued. “Last year in the EverStart tournament here it seemed like the bigger fish were in the hydrilla, and it seems to me that the hydrilla really flourishes when the levels are low. That’s what I’d be targeting if I was fishing this event.
“I’d try to find what grass that I could and really work the grass lines,” said Bird. “Fish different depths with different-sized crankbaits. Throw some deep divers and throw some spinnerbaits. I’m not much of a jerkbait fisherman, but that’s a very good bait for Amistad. I’ve seen some monster bags come on a jerkbait there.”
Bird said the winter had been pretty mild in Texas up until Christmas. Since then, it’s cooled down. Bird said that fishing in Texas is really different every day during the winter, and if anglers were struggling shallow that he would have a backup plan of finding some structure.
“Find the structure and target the humps and drops,” Bird said. “Football jigs and Carolina rigs will catch fish there, too. Last year you could catch a ton of fish out on the structure, but they were mostly small ones.”
Bird predicted that the winning college anglers would bring around 18 to 20 pounds to the scales.
Anglers will take off from the East Diablo Launch Ramp located at Highway 90 W. in Del Rio, Texas, at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 1:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Lake Amistad tournament, which is hosted by the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce, include:
- Angelo State University – Raymond Bullard, Hawley, Texas and Brody Miles, San Angelo, Texas
- Angelo State University – Ryan Easterly and Ethan George, both of San Angelo, Texas
- Baylor University – Jonathon Weiss, Fort Worth, Texas and Tyler Torwick, San Diego, Calif.
- Baylor University – Joseph Garland, West, Texas and Alton Jones, Waco, Texas
- Central Arkansas – Mia Tatum and Robert Bartoszek, both of Hohenwald, Tenn.
- Dallas Baptist University – Jacob Sepeda, Roby, Texas and Trent Newman, Midlothian, Texas
- Hardin-Simmons University – Randy Sullivan, Woodson, Texas, and Hubbell Allen, Graham, Texas
- Harding University – Todd Williams, Southwest Ranches, Fla., and Ryan Hadash, Keller, Texas
- Harding University – Trent Johnson, Harrison, Ark., and Ryan Miller, Searcy, Ark.
- Henderson State University – Shane Stoddard, Hot Springs, Ark., and Kevin Vaughn, Glenwood, Ark.
- Lamar University – Justin Royal, Evadale, Texas, and Josh Bowie, Port Neches, Texas
- Lamar University – Robert Parks, Port Neches, Texas and Brandon Simoneaux, Bridge City, Texas
- Louisiana Tech University – Dalton Tam, Deville, La., and Peyton Igo, Minden, La.
- Louisiana Tech University – Matthew Loetscher, Many, La., and Wade Tracy, Pineville, La.
- Louisiana State University – Brett Matherne, Westwego, La., and Logan Mount, Leesville, La.
- Louisiana State University – Drew Comeaux and Bryan Coleman, both of Denham Springs, La.
- Louisiana State University – Richard Murdock, Lawrenceville, Ga., and Beau Hadskey, Baton Rouge, La.
- McMurry University – William Cooper, Fredericksburg, Texas, and Matt Barnes, The Woodlands, Texas
- McNeese State University – Keith Suire Jr., Singer, La., and Brian Murphy, Sulphur, La.
- New Mexico State University – Nicholas DiCamillo, Las Cruces, N.M., and Jesse Wilkinson, Albuquerque, N.M.
- New Mexico State University – Tanner Cooper, Farmington, N.M., and Guillermo Nunez, Las Cruces, N.M.
- Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Charles Watson, Westville, Okla., and Dillon Robertson, Wagoner, Okla.
- Oklahoma State University – Chase Edmiston, Tulsa, Okla., and Trevor Parks, Stillwater, Okla.
- Oklahoma State University – Spencer Randolph, Broken Arrow, Okla., and Rana Rose, Davis, Okla.
- Oral Roberts University – Zach VanKeulen, Overland Park, Texas, and Peter Bjorkman, Dallas, Texas
- Southeastern Oklahoma State University – Spencer Barnett, Broken Arrow, Okla., and Nick Grimmett, Beggs, Okla.
- Southern Arkansas University – Troy Elliott, Waldo, Ark., and Casey Key, Prescott, Ark.
- Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Mitchell Decker, Coweta, Okla., and Kyle Springer, Weatherford, Okla.
- Stephen F. Austin University – Jordan Grimm, West, Texas, and Jordan Lane, North Richland Hills, Texas
- Stephen F. Austin University – Blaze Platt, Kennedale, Texas, and Kyle Turner, Tyler, Texas
- Tarleton State University-Stephenville – Colt Farris, Joshua, Texas, and Zack Jones, Rockwall, Texas
- Texas A&M University – Tyler Bradfield, Boerne, Texas, and Reid O’Connor, Cypress, Texas
- Texas A&M University – Zachary Wymer, Southlake, Texas and Cole Temple, Bryan, Texas
- Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi – Derek Mangold, Castroville, Texas, and Jonathan Voitle, Tomball, Texas
- Texas A&M University-Galveston – Matt Riehs, Victoria, Texas, and Roy Buxton, Decatur, Ga.
- Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Cody Garrett and Colton Cavazos, both of Tomball, Texas
- Texas Christian University – Austin Tucker, San Angelo, Texas, and Guillermo Gonzalez, Miami, Fla.
- Texas Lutheran University – Chase Janecek, Baytown, Texas, and Marc Michel, Pearland, Texas
- Texas State University – Jared Brown, Austin, Texas, and David Cosner, San Jose, Calif.
- University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Brandon Stutes, Mire, La., and Colby Drago, Livonia, La.
- University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Neil Arnaud, Lafayette, La., and Cody McCrary, Baton Rouge, La.
- University of Louisiana-Monroe – Blake Alford, West Monroe, La., and Paul Clark, Monroe, La.
- University of Louisiana-Monroe – Nick Ladart and Brian Eaton, both of Monroe, La.
- University of North Texas – Branden Barnett and Evan Pritchard, both of Denton, Texas
- University of Oklahoma – Jonathan Haines, Tulsa, Okla., and Alex Edgeman, Sandpoint, Idaho
- University of Oklahoma – Landon Dixon, Hinton, Okla., and Paul Muzijakovich, Wagoner, Okla.
- University of Texas – Cody Levy, Grapevine, Texas, and Eric Goette, Austin, Texas
- University of Texas-Arlington – Todd Fontenot, Waco, Texas, and Payton Gilcrease, Allen, Texas
- University of Texas-Dallas – Dan Nguyen, Plano, Texas, and John Miller, Perrell, Texas
- University of Texas-Dallas – Kyle Guest, Houston, Texas, and Adam Hemphill, Baytown, Texas
FLW College Fishing teams compete in four qualifying events 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 invitational tournaments. The top 10 teams from each conference invitational tournament will advance to the 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
College Fishing is free to enter and 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.
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.
