FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Opens on Smith Mountain Lake
OutdoorHub 04.22.14
FLW College Fishing is headed to Smith Mountain Lake May 3 for the first Northern Conference tournament of 2014. Fifty college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Northern Conference Invitational tournament.
“Smith Mountain Lake is my home lake,” said Castrol pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., who is FLW’s all-time leading money winner. “The college teams are going to find the bass lying on the beds everywhere.
“My advice to those anglers would be to bring your polarized sunglasses,” Dudley continued. “Burn your trolling motor up until you find the winning stringer. Look for the spawning fish on beds, and fish the boat docks while you’re looking. I think most teams are going to see 50 to 75 fish on the bed that day.”
Dudley said that if he was fishing this event he would be throwing a jig and a shaky-head rig for most of the day.
“In a one-day tournament like this, I think the sight-fishing is going to be the key,” Dudley said. “I’m going to guess that 18 pounds will be very strong in this event.”
Anglers will take off from Parkway Marina located at 16918 Smith Mountain Lake Parkway in Huddleston, Va., at 6:30 a.m. 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 competing in the Smith Mountain Lake tournament, which is hosted by the Parkway Marina, include:
- Bowling Green State University – Jon Fickert, Oak Harbor, Ohio, and Josh Dawson, Lima, Ohio
- Bowling Green State University – Maxwell Newcomer, Whitehouse, Ohio, and Sam Manning, Doylestown, Ohio
- Bowling Green State University – Zachary Goeglin, Livonia, Mich., and Jason Scott, Perrysburg, Ohio
- Centenary College of New Jersey – Evan Miles, West Orange, N.J., and Lucas Bogosian, Harrington Park, N.J.
- Central Michigan University – Hayden Gosen, Sanford, Mich., and Sheldon Miller, Frankenmuth, Mich.
- Christopher Newport University – Cody Griffey, Carrollton, Va., and Robert Seise, Gainesville, Va.
- Fairmont State University – Andrew Walker, Fairmont, W.Va., and Michael Barnett, Morgantown, W.Va.
- Fairmont State University – Kody Elam, Fairmont, W.Va., and Alex Vannest, Wheeling, W.Va.
- Fairmont State University – Landon Paul and Ryan Houser, both of Fairmont, W.Va.
- Grand Valley State University – Scott Taege, Algonquin, Ill., and Matt Smartt, St. Clair Shores, Mich.
- Grand Valley State University – Zachary Wiggers, Muskegon, Mich., and Justin Bruno, Nunica, Mich.
- Kent State University – Greg Perry, Cortland, Ohio, and Corey Locker, Canton, Ohio
- Kent State University – Matthew Fernandez, Dallas, Pa., and Evan Kruse, Sandusky, Ohio
- Lake Superior State University – Scott Hazewinkel, Cedar Springs, Mich., and Clifford Pattinson, Marshall, Mich.
- Liberty University – Brice Bahhur, Lexington, Va., and Shane Fetty, Williamsburg, Va.
- Liberty University – Landon Riggleman, Lynchburg, Va., and Chris Parent, Hermon, Maine
- Liberty University – Caleb Eppler, Sachse, Texas and Travis Rulle, Huntersville, N.C.
- Lynchburg College – Luke Taylor, Jefferson City, Mo., and Graham Byrd, Farram, Va.
- Mansfield University – Bryan Rupp, Archbald, Pa., and Colton Otto, Carlisle, Pa.
- Mansfield University – Matt Novitski, Kingston, Pa., and Alec Engleman, Milton, Pa.
- Mansfield University – Tyler Grabowski, Fairless Hills, Pa., and Ryan Fluharty, Perkiomenville, Pa.
- Ohio State University – Zach Ring and Brett Warrick, both of Columbus, Ohio
- Pennsylvania State University – Anthony Kashiwsky, Aliquippa, Pa., and Will Fennell, Ligonier, Pa.
- Pennsylvania State University – Joey Seidita, Covington Twp., Pa., and Steven Griffith, Imler, Pa.
- Radford University – Blaine Chitwood, Wirtz, Va., and Cole Campbell, Bassett, Va.
- Radford University – George Fleming, Lorton, Va., and Tanner Blanks, Radford, Va.
- Radford University – Austin Cox and Philip Cox, both of Hiwassee, Va.
- Radford University – Justin Witten, Radford, Va., and Will Bowling, Fincastle, Va.
- Ramapo College – Andrew Annuzzi, Oldbridge, N.J., and Andrew Zapf, Whippany, N.J.
- Ramapo College – Mike Concato, Clifton, N.J., and Joseph Zapf, Whippany, N.J.
- Roanoke College – Joe Maciejewski, Virginia Beach, Va., and Matthew Anderson, Salem, Va.
- Rochester Institute of Technology – Jason Karol and John Henderson Jr., both of Rochester, N.Y.
- Rutgers University-New Brunswick – Kyle Genova, Millstone Twp., N.J., and Andrew Ridinger, West Deptford, N.J.
- Shenandoah University – Thomas Arens and Billy Arens, both of Purcellville, Va.
- Shippensburg University – Kevin Hollasch, Marriottsville, Md., and Hunter Chamberlin, Shippensburg, Pa.
- Slippery Rock University – Jeremy Randour, Washington, Pa., and Billy Hines, Erie, Pa.
- State University of New York at Plattsburgh – Jason Barnes, Hadley, N.Y., and Kevin Grist, Wingdale, N.Y.
- State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry – Mike Longacre, Perkasie, Pa., and Austin Demarest, Syracuse, N.Y.
- United States Military Academy at West Point – Parker Hite, Ninety Six, S.C., and Craig Ferguson, Rock Hill, S.C.
- University of Akron – Mark Thaxton, Akron, Ohio, and Christian Combs, Norton, Ohio
- University of Southern Maine – Peter Kyros, Falmouth, Maine, and Nick Deering, Portland, Maine
- Virginia Commonwealth University – Alex Miller, Moseley, Va., and Donnie Miller, Midlothian, Va.
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Christopher Mecka, Chesapeake, Va., and Tyler Meighan, Blacksburg, Va.
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Dylan Cooper and Cory Fox, both of Luray, Va.
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Ricky Kassebaum, Salem, Va., and Trey Stewartson, Moneta, Va.
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Tyler Neff, Fredericksburg, Va., and Tyler Maschal, Ruskburg, Va.
- West Virginia University – Benjamin Ray, Fairmont, W.Va., and Matthew Combs, Huber Heights, Ohio
- West Virginia University – Matthew Gibson, Cumberland, Md., and Edward Rude III, Falling Waters, W.Va.
- Xavier University – Andrew Decilles, Batesville, Ind., and Alex Vaisvil, St. Charles, Ill.
- Youngstown State University – Charles Cremeans, Youngstown, Ohio, and Stan Miketa, New Middletown, Ohio
FLW College Fishing teams compete in three 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 ten teams from each conference invitational tournament will advance to the 2015 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.
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.
