FLW College Fishing Southern Conference Headed to Lake Hamilton,
OutdoorHub 09.12.13
FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Hamilton Sept. 22 for the third 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.
“Lake Hamilton has been fishing better than most of the lakes in our area this year,” said Folgers pro Scott Suggs of Bryant, Ark. “It’s better right now than (Lake) Ouachita or DeGray, and the weights have really been up over there.”
Suggs said that the long summer has the fishery behind schedule, and anglers are still finding the bass in their summer patterns.
“It’s been 100-plus degree temperatures here lately,” Suggs said. “We haven’t had any true fall weather yet. If it remains warm, the college teams should find that the deep bite is still very good. But, the latest weather forecasts that I have seen have said that a cool-down is coming. The temperatures are supposed to be in the 50s overnight starting this weekend, so that should speed the shallow bite along.”
Suggs said that the college anglers would be able to fish to their strengths in this event and fish would be caught in multiple patterns.
“For the teams that want to fish deep, shaky-head rigs, big worms and crankbaits will all produce,” said Suggs. “For those teams that are fishing shallow for the schooling fish, it’ll be your normal reaction baits – spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and Zoom Horny Toads. I would recommend a small, clear topwater bait as well – a Heddon Zara Spook or a Heddon Torpedo.”
Suggs predicted that the winning team would bring around 13 pounds to the scales, but said the possibility is there for a team to bring in a very large stringer.
“In a local tournament here last weekend 13 pounds won the tournament, but 10 pounds didn’t get a check,” Suggs said. “If the lake cools off, though, the potential is there for a team to catch a couple of 4-pounders, and they could easily bring 15 pounds to the scales.”
Anglers will take off from the AGFC Hulsey Hatchery Access located at 350 Fish Hatchery Road in Hot Springs at 7 a.m. Sunday. Weigh-in will be held at the take-off location beginning at 1 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Lake Hamilton tournament, which is hosted by the Hot Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau include:
- Angelo State University – Logan Clark, Marble Falls, Texas, and Blake Turner, San Angelo, Texas
- Angelo State University – Raymond Bullard, Hawley, Texas, and Brody Miles, San Angelo, Texas
- Arkansas State University – Dail Baldwin and Tyler Gaskin, both of Wynne, Ark.
- Arkansas Tech University – Evan Barnes, Russellville, Ark., and Evan Smith, Mansfield, Ark.
- Arkansas Tech University – Brandon Rieve, Sheridan, Ark., and Derek Furr, Kirby, Ark.
- Baylor University – Tyler Torwick, San Diego, Calif., and Connor Case, Plano, Texas
- 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 Tyler Williams, Southwest Ranches, Fla., and Bradley Lamb, Melbourne, Ark.
- Harding University – Trent Johnson, Harrison, Ark., and Ryan Miller, Searcy, Ark.
- Henderson State University – Shane Stoddard, Hot Springs, Ark., and Cobey Wingfield, Malvern, Ark.
- Henderson State University – William Stone, Arkadelphia, Ark., and Theron Asbery, Grove, Okla.
- Lamar University – Justin Royal, Evadale, Texas, and Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas
- Louisiana Tech University – Tyler Moses, Deville, La., and Brandon Greco, Shreveport, La.
- Louisiana State University – Drew Comeaux and Bryan Coleman, both of Denham Springs, La.
- Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Michael Gaydos, Bossier City, La., and Gavin Harvard, Haughton, La.
- McNeese State University – Jeff Conley, Lake Charles, La., and Brian Murphy, Deridder, La.
- Nichols State University – Tyler Rivet, Raceland, La., and Cameron Naquin, Gray, La.
- Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Dylan Duncan and Kyrston Dozier, both of Kansas, 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, Kan., and Peter Bjorkman, Dallas, Texas
- Southeastern Oklahoma State University – Cory Johnson and J.C. Thompson, both of Calera, Okla.
- Southern Arkansas University – Jose Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., and Lindsey Witham, Benton, Ark.
- Southern Arkansas University – Josh Roberts, Murfreesboro, Ark., and Morgan Gwin, Hampton, Ark.
- Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Shane McGlothin, Anadarko, Okla., and Mitchell Decker, Coweta, Okla.
- Stephen F. Austin University – Shelby Hutchens, Spring, Texas, and Owen Best, Buna, Texas
- Tarleton State-Stephenville – Colt Farris, Joshua, Texas, and Zack Jones, Rockwall, Texas
- Tarleton State-Stephenville – James McCaleb, Stephenville, Texas, and Marshall Hughes, Port Neches, Texas
- Texas A&M University – Tyler Bradfield, Boerne, Texas, and Reid O’Conner, 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 Johnathan Voitle, Tomball, Texas
- Texas A&M University-Galveston – Hugh Keller, Houston, Texas, and Garrett Goettee, Tomball, Ga.
- Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Cody Garret 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
- University of Arkansas – Jared Berkshire, Rogers, Ark., and Kyle Lowdermilk, Greenwood, Ark.
- University of Arkansas-Little Rock – Jeremy Hall and Troy Johnson, both of Benton, Ark.
- University of Arkansas-Little Rock – Zachary Rollings and Tyler Hamby, both of Bryant, Ark.
- University of Arkansas-Monticello – Richard Harris and Austin Johnson, both of Monticello, Ark.
- University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Brandon Stutes, Mire, La., and Hayden Pinell, Plaquemine, La.
- University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Neil Arnaud, Lafayette, La., and Cody McCrary, Baton Rouge, La.
- University of Louisiana-Monroe – Jackson Blackett, Monroe, La., and Jacob Slade, Bastrop, La.
- University of North Texas – Sean Watson, Rowlett, Texas, and Grant Higbee, Burleson, Texas
- University of Oklahoma – Landon Dixon, Hinton, Okla., and Paul Muzljakovich, Wagoner, Okla.
- University of Texas – Cody Levy, Grapevine, Texas, and Eric Goette, Austin, Texas
- University of Texas-Arlington – Nicholas Sproul, Mansfield, Texas, and T.J. Saladino, Midlothian, Texas
- University of Texas-Dallas – Dan Ngyuen, Plano, Texas, and John Miller, Terrell, Texas
- University of Tulsa – Justin Strathe and Cameron Philpott, both of Owasso, Okla.
- University of Tulsa – Tyler Strathe, Owasso, Okla., and Jake Proffitt, Tulsa, Okla.
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.
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.
