Eastern Kentucky University Wins FLW College Fishing Central Conference Event on Table Rock Lake
OutdoorHub 03.24.14
The Eastern Kentucky University team of Kyle Raymer of Brandenburg, Ky., and Ethan Snyder of Vine Grove, Ky., won the FLW College Fishing Central Conference tournament on Table Rock Lake Saturday with five bass weighing exactly 19 pounds. Their win qualified them for the 2014 Central Conference Invitational on Kentucky Lake.
Raymer and Snyder may have been fishing their first College Fishing event as a team, but together they carried years of experience into the first Central Conference event of the season. The pair threw an umbrella rig better than any other team in the field en route to picking up the Eastern Kentucky University bass club’s 15th top-5 finish, and their fourth win.
“We were throwing umbrella rigs on sloping main-lake points with basketball-sized rock and standing timber that had channel swings right next to them,” explained Snyder. “We probably had the boat in 20 to 30 feet of water, and our fish were coming out of 12 to 16 feet of water.”
“During our pre-fish we caught a lot of scattered fish, so we had a lot of spots to check,” said Raymer. “We only had one little spotted bass in the boat when Ethan (Snyder) caught our big one at about 11 o’clock. We blew off and then pulled back around to that same spot and I caught our second biggest.”
“We knew we had a pretty good bag, but we misjudged our big fish,” continued Snyder. “We didn’t realize our big one weighed 6-15. We weren’t sure at all that we would win.”
“We’re extremely excited to be able to go fish the Invitational at Kentucky Lake,” finished Raymer. “The only bad thing about it is that September is a tough time to fish Kentucky Lake. I don’t know what to expect, but I know we’ll put in as much time as we can and try to qualify for the National Championship.”
The team said they used umbrella rigs with blades and Strike King Shadalicious Swimbaits to catch their fish.
The top 15 teams that advanced to the 2014 FLW College Fishing Central Conference Invitational are:
1st: Eastern Kentucky University – Kyle Raymer, Brandenburg, Ky., and Ethan Snyder, Vine Grove, Ky. (five bass, 19-0, $2,000)
2nd: University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., and Mark Hugus, Stevens Point, Wis. (five bass, 17-14, $1,000)
3rd: Iowa State University – Andrew Paulsen and Dustin Kroening, both of McHenry, Ill. (five bass, 17-0 $500)
4th: Illinois State University – Bryce Wegman and Carlos Thomas, both of Normal, Ill. (five bass, 14-11, $500)
5th: Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville – Zach Hartnagel, Edwardsville, Ill., and Colten Hunter, Brownstown, Ill. (five bass, 12-8, $500)
6th: Kansas State University – Nathan Kozlowski, Junction City, Kan., and Lance Maldonado, Chapman, Kan. (five bass, 12-0)
7th: Western Kentucky University – Stephen Compton, Bradenburg, Ky., and Ryan Coleman, Utica, Ky. (five bass, 11-11)
8th: University of Nebraska – William McCabe, Lincoln, Neb., and Jon Bash, Grayslake, Ill., (five bass, 11-0)
9th: Murray State University – Justin Graben, Murray, Ky., and Dan Schult, Millstadt, Ill. (five bass, 10-8)
10th: McKendree University – Dustin Pendegraft, Summerfield, Ill., and Phillip Germagliotti, Highland, Ill. (five bass, 10-5)
11th: University of Minnesota-Duluth – Erik Gaffron, Maple Grove, Minn., and James Chapman, South Haven, Minn. (four bass, 9-3)
12th: University of Saint Thomas – Michaela Anderson, Lino Lakes, Minn., and Bryan Billeadeau, Circle Pines, Minn. (four bass, 8-10)
13th: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Steve Nebel, Whitewater, Wis., and Jared Mataczynski, Wausau, Wis. (three bass, 8-6)
14th: Lindsey Wilson College – Shade Jacobs, Lexington, Ky., and Austin Grigsby, Stanford, Ky. (three bass, 7-14)
15th: University of Iowa – Mark Krutzfield, Iowa City, Iowa, and Tony Mehrl, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (three bass, 7-4)
Complete results can be found at CollegeFishing.com.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in three qualifying events in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top 15 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 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.
