FLW College Fishing Central Conference Continues on Pickwick Lake, Alabama
OutdoorHub 04.24.13
FLW College Fishing is headed to Pickwick Lake May 4 for the second of four stops in the Central Conference. Fifty college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Central Conference Invitational tournament.
“Normally at this time of the year the bass should be wrapping up the spawning phase,” said Walmart pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Ark., who has more than $1.6 million dollars in career earnings and three victories in FLW competition on Pickwick Lake. “But there are still a lot of fish up on the beds. By the time the tournament rolls around we should start to see some strong post-spawn patterns happening.”
Rose predicts that the winning team will bring 15 or 16 pounds to the scales, and offered some advice to college anglers who will be fishing the lake for the first time.
“I would show up with some good post-spawn, topwater baits and cover a lot of water,” Rose said. “Look for the bass that are guarding the fry and the fish that are on their way out to the river ledge, and figure out where they are stopping. Try to target the main lake points and shallow-river bars, and the college anglers should find some success.”
Anglers will take off from McFarland Park located at 200 James M. Spain Drive in Florence, Ala., at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 12:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Pickwick Lake tournament, which is hosted by the Florence/Lauderdale Tourism Bureau, include:
- Ball State University – Rhett Braun, Parker City, Ind., and Alex Davis, Atlanta, Ind.
- Central Christian College – Brady Sherman, McPherson, Kan., and Michael Shayne-Baxter, Olathe, Kan.
- Eastern Kentucky University – Ethan Snyder, Flaherty, Ky., and Matt Salmons, Somerset, Ky.
- Eastern Kentucky University – Kyle Raymer, Brandenburg, Ky., and John Smith, Harlan, Ky.
- Georgetown College – John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., and Vincent Timperio, Corbin, Ky.
- Illinois State University – Stephan Jurgens, Batavia, Ill., and Anthony Cancelli, Mundelein, Kan.
- Indiana State University – Steve Judson, Terre Haute, Ind., and Zac Niehaus, Brazil, Ind.
- Iowa State University – Alex Anderson, Des Moines, Iowa, and Dustin Kroening, Wonder Lake, Ill.
- Kansas State University – Nathan Kozlowski and Lance Maldonado, both of Junction City, Kan.
- Marian University – Justin McDonald, Noblesville, Ind., and Joel Bone, Decatur, Ind.
- MidAmerica Nazarene University – Zech Johnson, and Ryan Rockwell, both of Lenexa, Kan.
- Milwaukee School Of Engineering – Eric Logisz, Mount Prospect, Ill., and Scott Watry, Fredonia, Wis.
- Minnesota State University-Mankato – Jonathan Bents, Morrison, Colo., and Chad Benson, Whittemore, Iowa
- Missouri State University – Joe McBride, Springfield, Mo., and Brent Stock, Buckner, Mo.
- Morehead State University – Brandon Johnson, Salt Lick, Ky., and Zachary Fletcher, Lowmansville, Ky.
- Murray State University – Vincent Campisano, Louisville, Ky., and Justin Berger, Murray, Ky.
- Northern Illinois University – Daniel Kosycarz, Hoffman Estates, Ill., and Quinn Groenwald, Dekalb, Ill.
- Northwest Missouri State University – Andrew Nordbye, St. Joseph, Mo., and Andrew VanSchoiack, Savannah, Mo.
- Northwestern University – Matthew Kestufskie, Georgetown, Ill., and Jimmy Morrow, Arlington Heights, Ill.
- Purdue University – Chris Kaiser, Carmel, Ind., and Ryan Spicer, Arcola, Ind.
- St. Cloud State University – Brandon Donovan, White Bear Lake, Minn., and Tony Abramowski, Buffalo, Minn.
- Southern Illinois University – Ryan Dunn, Harrisburg, Ill., and Aaron Conner, Murphysboro, Ill.
- Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville – Brad Lemasters, Springfield, Ill., and Zach Hartnagel, Edwardsville, Ill.
- Southeast Missouri State – Tim Randell, St. Charles, Mo., and Andrew Pinkley, Malden, Mo.
- University of Central Missouri – Layne Woods, Hollister, Mo., and Brett Fickle, Clinton, Mo.
- University of Dubuque – Marcus Prull, Monticello, Iowa, and Brian Swalley, Galena, Ill.
- University of Evansville – Nick Uebelhor and Eric Kieffner, both of Jasper, Ind.
- University of Illinois – Jacob Jagust, Lockport, Ill., and Zach Wienhoff, Carlinville, Ill.
- University of Indiana – Sean Gillenwater, Bloomington, Ind., and Josh Collier, Ellettsville, Ind.
- University of Iowa – John Mercer, Burlington, Iowa, and Jim Vojahosky, St. Charles, Ill.
- University of Kentucky – Alex Glockner, South Shore, Ky., and Blake Glockner, Firebrick, Ky.
- University of Louisville – Russell Deakins, Louisville, Ky., and Erik Cox, Georgetown, Ind.
- University of Minnesota – Joe Ponessa, St. Paul, Minn., and Mark Shirley, St. Cloud, Minn.
- University of Missouri – Mark Kern Jr., St. Ann, Mo., and Nick Russell, Ballwin, Mo.
- University of Nebraska – Sean Mulholland, Deerfield, Ill., and Jon Bash, Lincolnshire, Ill.
- University of Nebraska-Omaha – Ben Milliken, Bennington, Neb., and Ben Kroeger, Omaha, Neb.
- University of North Dakota – Nick Lindner, Brainerd, Minn., and Kyle Harren, Eagan, Minn.
- University of St. Thomas – Bryan Billeadeau, Circle Pines, Minn., and Michaela Anderson, Lino Lakes, Minn.
- University of Southern Indiana – Brady Houghland, Fulda, Ind., and Josh Koester, Chicago, Ill.
- University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh – Mark Juedes, Deforest, Wis., and Chad Janke, Marshall, Wis.
- University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Travis Ketterhagen, Bassett, Wis., and Ty Iverson, Burlington, Wis.
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., and Steve Maliborski, Milwaukee, Wis.
- University of Wisconsin-Stout – Jeremy Anibas, Colfax, Wis., and Ryan Helke, Menomonie, Wis.
- University of Wisconsin-Superior – Brad Thomas and Cody Hallanger, Frederic, Wis.
- University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Max Geyer, Rockton, Ill., and Tyler Zimmerman, Roscoe, Ill.
- Wichita State University – John Wright, Newton, Kan., and Josh Miller, Andover, Kan.
- Winona State University – Cade Laufenberg, La Crosse, Wis., and Kody Mattson, Blair, Wis.
- Western Kentucky University – Jordan Bozarth, Lewisport, Ky., and Jacob Hopkins, Lewisburg, Ky.
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 ten 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.
