FLW College Fishing Southern Conference Headed to Toledo Bend Reservoir
OutdoorHub 02.06.13
FLW College Fishing is headed to Toledo Bend Reservoir Feb. 16 for the second 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.
“In my opinion, it is the best tournament lake in the country,” said Kellogg’s pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas. “There are a lot of ways you can catch them and there are a ton of healthy fish. On Toledo you can fish any type of water that you like to fish. You can go shallow, you can go deep, you can fish wood or you can fish grass.
“It will be a definite pre-spawn tournament,” Tutt continued. “Depending on how warm the water gets there might be a few spawners here and there, but the majority of the fish will be pre-spawn. The way the hydrilla is setting up has made reaction-style baits hot. My advice to college anglers would consist of three things: Rat-L-Traps, Rat-L-Traps and Rat-L-Traps.”
Tutt suspected the only thing that could keep this event from being a great tournament would be a strong northern wind. Tutt said this can wreak havoc on Toledo Bend by dirtying the waters and making boat control a nightmare for even the most experienced anglers. Tutt estimates the winning team will bring more than 20 pounds to the scales.
Anglers will take off from Paradise Point Park located in Hemphill, Texas, at 7 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 Toledo Bend Reservoir tournament, which is hosted by Sabine County, include:
- Angelo State University – Raymond Bullard, Hawley, Texas, and Brody Miles, San Angelo, Texas
- Arkansas State University-Jonesboro – Alex Moery and Brittany Hanks, both of Wynne, Ark.
- Arkansas Tech University – Evan Barnes, Russellville, Ark., and Ryan Dorsett, Rison, Ark.
- Central Arkansas – Mia Tatum and Rober 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 Hubbel Allen, Graham, Texas
- Harding University – Todd Tyler Willams, Southwest Ranches, Fla., and Ryan Hadash, Keller, Texas
- Harding University – Trent Johnson, Harrison, Ark., and Ryan Miller, Searcy, Ark.
- Henderson State – William Stone, Arkadelphia, Ark., and Aaron Fullbright, Malvern, Ark.
- Lamar University – Justin Ridgaway, Nederland, Texas, and Josh Bowie, Port Neches, Texas
- Lamar University – Robert Parks, Port Neches, Texas, and Brandon Simoneaux, Bridge City, Texas
- Louisiana Tech University – Matthew Loetscher, Many, La., and Wade Tracy, Pineville, La.
- LSU – Brett Matherne, Westwago, La., and Logan Mount, Leesville, La.
- LSU – Drew Comeaux and Bryan Coleman, both of Denham Springs, La.
- LSU-Shreveport – J.L. Sepulvado, Zwolle, La., and Christopher Knotts, Bossier City, La.
- LSU-Shreveport – Michael Gaydos, Bossier City, La., and Gavin Harvard, Haughton, La.
- McMurry University – William Cooper, Fredericksburg, Texas, and Luke Scribner, Abilene, Texas
- McNeese State University – Cory Bono, Lake Charles, La., and Keith Suire Jr., Singer, La.
- Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Dylan Duncan, Kansas, Okla., and Dillion Robertson, Wagoner, Okla.
- Oklahoma State University – Chase Edmiston, Tulsa, Okla., and Trevor Parks, Stillwater, Okla.
- Oral Roberts University – Zach Vankeulen, Overland Park, Kan., and Peter Bjorkman, Dallas, Texas
- Sam Houston State – Robbie Laskoskie, League City, Texas, and Kurt Godso, Tomball, Texas
- Southeastern Louisiana University – Andrew Cavell and Billy Smith III, both from Baton Rouge, La.
- Southern Arkansas University – Jose Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., and Logan Owens, El Dorado, Ark.
- Southern Arkansas University – Troy Elliot, Waldo, Ark., and Casey Key, Prescott, Ark.
- Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Mitchell Decker, Coweta, Okla., and Kyle Springer, Weatherford, Okla.
- Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Nathan Colwell, Adair, Okla., and Shane McGlothlin, Anadarko, Okla.
- Stephen F. Austin – Jordan Grimm, West, Texas, and Jordan Lane, North Richland Hills, Texas
- Stephen F. Austin – Blaze Platt, Kennedale, Texas, and Kyle Turner, Tyler, Texas
- Tarleton State-Stephenville – Colt Farris, Joshua, Texas, and Zack Jones, Rockwall, Texas
- Texas A&M-Kingsville – Cody Garret and Colton Cavazos, both of Tomball, Texas
- Texas A&M – Tyler Bradfield, Boerne, Texas, and Reid O’Conner, Cypress, Texas
- Texas A&M – Zachary Wymer, Southlake, Texas, and Cole Temple, Bryan, Texas
- Texas A&M at Galveston – Matt Reihs, Victoria, Texas, and Roy Buxton, Decatur, Ga.
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – Derek Mangold, Castroville, Texas, and Johnathan Voitle, 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.
- U. of Louisiana-Lafayette – Neil Arnaud, Lafayette, La., and Cody McCrary, Baton Rouge, La.
- U. of Louisiana-Lafayette – Zachary Dubois, Kaplan, La., and Colby Drago, Livonia, La.
- U. of Louisiana-Monroe – Nick Ladart and Brain Eaton, both of Monroe, La.
- University of Arkansas-Little Rock – Jeremy Hall and Troy Johnson, both of Benton, Ark.
- University of Arkansas – Jared Kennemer, Pea Ridge, Ark., and Paul Lefluer, Benton, Ark.
- University of North Texas – Michael Worley, Bedford, Texas, and Branden Barnett, Denton, Texas
- University of Oklahoma – Johnathan Haines, Tulsa, Okla, and Alex Edgeman, Sandpoint, Ind.
- University of Texas – Cody Levy, Grapevine, Texas, and Eric Goette, Austin, Texas
- University of Texas-Dallas – Kyle Guest, Houston, Texas, and Adam Hemphill, Baytown, Texas
- UT-Arlington – Nicholas Sproul, Mansfield, Texas, and Christopher Stevenson, North Richland Hills, Texas
- UT-Arlington – Todd Fontenot, Waco, Texas, and Payton Gilcrease, Allen, Texa
Three regular-season qualifying events are held in each conference – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Texas and Western. The top 15 teams from each qualifying tournament will advance to one of five two-day FLW College Fishing Conference Invitational tournaments, where the first-place team wins $4,000 for their club. The top 10 teams from each Conference Invitational advance to the 2014 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.
