FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Headed to Maryland’s Potomac River
OutdoorHub 06.12.13
FLW College Fishing is headed to the Potomac River June 22 for the second of four stops in the Northern Conference. Fifty college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Northern Conference Invitational tournament.
“The great thing about the Potomac River is that it hardly ever changes,” said Castrol pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., who has three top-10 finishes on the Potomac River in Walmart FLW Tour competition. “It’s been a little bit slower than it has been in the past, but it’s starting to pick up.”
Dudley said that despite recent heavy rainfalls, water levels should be normal, and he guaranteed that the tournament would be won fishing shallow, grassy areas.
“This year has been a very wet season across the United States,” Dudley said. “The good thing about a tidal fishery, though, is that it empties out quick. There was a bunch of rain here last week that brought it up a little, but the next day the tide had flushed it all out. I 100-percent guarantee that the winner is going to be fishing the grass in just a few feet of water.”
Dudley estimated that the winning team would probably bring around 18 to 20 pounds to the scales, and had some advice for college anglers who may be visiting the tidal fishery for the first time.
“If you don’t have a lot of experience on the river, don’t run all over the river trying to find bass,” the Castrol pro said. “The Potomac is such a fertile fishery; there are bass everywhere. The tournament is going to be won out of one of these four areas – Aquia, Chickamoxen or Mattawoman Creeks or Belmont Bay. Pick one and go there and never pick your trolling motor up. You just have to figure out how to catch them for that day.”
Anglers will take off from Smallwood State Park located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury, Md., 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 Potomac River tournament include:
- Bowling Green State University – Kane Godfrey, Marysville, Ohio, and Jason Scott, Perrysburg, Ohio
- Carnegie Mellon University – Eric Bykowsky, Columbia, S.C., and Michael Terrick, Munhall, Pa.
- Castleton State College – Daniel Infurna and Patrick Infurna, both of Castleton, Vt.
- Centenary College of New Jersey – Evan Miles, West Orange, N.J., and Scott Catton, Blairstown, N.J.
- Central Michigan University – Ross Parsons, Dewitt, Mich., and Will Sprague, Hastings, Mich.
- Christopher Newport University – Cody Griffey, Carrollton, Va., and Charlie Hill, Ashburn, Va.
- Fairmont State University – Ryan Radcliff, Parkersburg, W. Va., and Bryson Grimes, Kingwood, W. Va.
- Glenville State College – Brandon Abbott, Gandeeville, W. Va., and Nick Lambert, Oceana, W. Va.
- Grand Valley State – Scott Taege, Algonquin, Ill., and Matt Smartt, St. Clair Shores, Mich.
- Hampden-Sydney College – Braxton Elliot, Appomattox, Va., and Tyler Wolfe, Powatan, Va.
- Harvard University – Manuel Cominsky, Utica, N.Y., and Brian Diminianni, Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.
- Kent State University – Greg Perry, Cortland, Ohio, and Trevor White, Newton Falls, Ohio
- La Roche College – Jonathan Coholich and Richard Smith, both of Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Lake Erie College – Cody Furr and Dave Grabowski, both of Lodi, Ohio
- Liberty University – Joseph Morales and Colby Bishop, both of Lynchburg, Va.
- Longwood University – Greg Ewing, Bristow, Va., and Matthew Morris, Richmond, Va.
- Mansfield University – Kyle McKee, Carlisle, Pa., and Garret O’Brock, Enola, Pa.
- Northwood University – Donald Buckingham, Midland, Mich., and Erik McKenna, Lansing, Mich.
- Ohio Northern University – Austin Hostetler, Strasburg, Ohio, and Cole Cochran, Troy, Ohio
- Ohio University – Dan Burtenshaw, Centerville, Ohio, and Matt Tarr, Akron, Ohio
- Penn State University – Stephan Tull, Media, Pa., and Joshua Shaffer, Bloomsburg, Pa.
- Radford University – Blaine Chitwood, Wirtz, Va., and Cole Campbell, Bassett, Va.
- Radford University – George Fleming and Tanner Blanks, both of Radford, Va.
- Radford University – Justin Witten, Radford, Va., and Philip Cox, Hiwassee, Va.
- Radford University – Austin Cox and Zachary Meadows, both of Hiwassee, Va.
- Ramapo College – Joseph Zapf and Andrew Zapf, both of Whippany, N.J.
- Ramapo College – Michael Concato, Clifton, N.J., and Jeffrey Voss, Secaucus, N.J.
- Rochester Institute of Technology – Jason Karol and Thomas Leonardo, both of Rochester, N.Y.
- Rutgers University-Camden – Miles Kong, Rockaway, N.J., and Brent Newton, Denville, N.J.
- Shippensburg University – Kevin Hollasch, Marriottsville, Md., and Hunter Chamberlin, Shippensburg, Pa.
- Siena Heights University – Dalton Breckel, Onsted, Mich., and Ricky Jones, Riley, Mich.
- Slippery Rock University – Tyler Branca, Hermitage, Pa., and Benjamin Tawney, Fayetteville, N.C.
- Springfield College – Daniel Patane, Canastota, N.Y., and Tyler Reid, Dighton, Mass.
- State University of New York-Canton – Anthony Carden, Franklin, Mass., and Steve Novak, Seymour, Conn.
- State University of New York-Buffalo – Daniel Vyverberg, Rochester, N.Y., and Simon Turkin, North Woodmere, N.Y.
- State University of New York-Plattsburgh – Ted Appleton, Penfield, N.Y., and Brendan Bolis, Canton, N.Y.
- U.S. Merchant Marine Academy – Shane Meehan, Fredericksburg, Va., and Fintan Moore, Keen, N.H.
- U.S. Military Academy at West Point – Matt Savage, Starkville, Miss., and James Tyler, Madison, Ala.
- U.S. Military Academy at West Point – Nick Koop, Roseville, Minn., and David Collins, West Point, N.Y.
- University of Akron – Nick Pribanich and Derrick Lockhart, both of Akron, Ohio
- University of Connecticut – Grant Cunningham and Ryan Styrczula, both of Unionville, Conn.
- Vermont Technical College – William Waite, Hartland, Vt., and Tylor Lahue, Colchester, Vt.
- Virginia Commonwealth University – Alexander Miller, Moseley, Va., and Donnie Miller, Midlothian, Va.
- Virginia Tech University – Dale Davis, Blacksburg, Va., and Sean Dougherty, Centreville, Va.
- Virginia Tech University – Jody White, Shaftsbury, Vt., and Andrew Jackson, Abingdon, Va.
- Virginia Tech University – John Sanderlin, Chesapeake, Va., and John Stables, Moseley, Va.
- Virginia Tech University – John Woodward and Gregory Callas, both of Centreville, Va.
- Wayne State University – Zac Zernec, Ortonville, Mich., and Jonathan Stroud, Saline, Mich.
- West Virginia University – Corey Straight, Barrackville, W. Va., and Benjamin Ray, Fairmont, W. Va.
- Xavier University – Alex Vaisvil, St. Charles, Ill., and Ian Goddard, Fairfield, Ohio
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.
