FLW College Fishing Western Conference Readies for New Melones
OutdoorHub 08.27.14
FLW College Fishing is headed to the New Melones Lake Sept. 6 for the third and final regular-season tournament in the Western Conference. A field of up to 50 college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Western Conference Invitational tournament.
“New Melones is a very healthy fishery,” said Repel pro Cody Meyer of Auburn, Calif., a six-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “There are a lot of big spotted bass there – the world record was caught there earlier this year. It’s typically pretty tough this time of year. The water levels are definitely low, so the college teams are going to find the fish really grouped up. That’s such a fun way to fish because you can get on a good school and really catch a lot of fish.”
Meyer suggested that the college anglers should start their tournament day targeting shallow fish with a topwater bait and then move deeper as the day progresses.
“I would 100-percent be throwing a topwater bait for the first two hours of the day,” said Meyer. “I’d choose a Jackall Bowstick and target the main-lake points where the fish are feeding on trout. As the sun gets high, I would run the shade lines. The shade is key in getting some of those topwater bites. I’d throw the Bowstick and might mix in a swimbait – something like a 6-inch Basstrix or an 8-inch Huddleston.
“After a few hours, I’d focus on where the fish were suspended at, near the same spots where I started off in the morning,” Meyer continued. “I would fish a drop-shot rig with a Jackall Cross Tail Shad, or drag a jig. I wouldn’t hesitate to downsize to 4-pound test line either, in order to generate some bites in the deep, clear water.”
Meyer predicted that the winning team would bring about 15 pounds of bass to the scale.
“Studying your graphs will be key for this tournament,” Meyer went on to say. “Try to find the baitfish as soon as you can. If you find them at 25 feet it’ll typically be that way all over the lake. Then you can hit the obvious, good-looking points and start at 25 feet and you’ll eliminate a lot of the guess work. Keep it simple – the fish are going to be feeing on either trout, shad or crawdads.”
Anglers will take off from New Melones Lake Marina located at 6503 Glory Hole Road in Angels Camp, Calif., at 7 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools registered to compete in the New Melones tournament, which is hosted by New Melones Lake Marina, include:
California Polytechnic State University – Clayton Lauchland, Lodi, Calif., and Jonathan Fagot, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
California Polytechnic State University – Johan Eide, Sebastopol, Calif., and Colton Farquer, Oakdale, Calif.
California Polytechnic State University – John Zeolla, Oak Park, Calif., and Kyle Greenlaw, Paradise, Calif.
California State University – Rick Zatarain, Long Beach, Calif., and Seth Meyer, Lancaster, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Alex Klein, Oroville, Calif., and Jeff Karnthong, Antioch, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Andrew Loberg, Rocklin, Calif., and Michael Braswell, Walnut Creek, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Michael Woods, Olivehurst, Calif., and Chas Brannon, Santa Maria, Calif.
California State University-Chico – James Rodgers, Willows, Calif., and Andrew Eslick, Pleasanton, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Koulton Westbrook and Kevin Chen, both of Vacaville, Calif.
California State University-Fresno – Victor Evans, Fresno, Calif., and Carl Nelson, Hanford, Calif.
California State University-Fresno – Cory Kerber, Kerman, Calif., and Joseph Piedimonte, Salinas, Calif.
California State University-Fresno – Jeremy Pitts, Visalia, Calif., and Michael Cantu, Fresno, Calif.
California State University-Long Beach – Justin Gangel, Valley Center, Calif., and Alex Cox, Long Beach, Calif.
California State University-Monterey Bay – Joshua Smith, Clovis, Calif., and Andrew Sjostrom, Mariposa, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Matt Pagluica, Cameron Park, Calif., and Ethan Clark, Elk Grove, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Jeff Taluban and Greg Taluban, both of Salinas, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Jared Naval, Salinas, Calif., and Christopher Wells, Twain Harte, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – O’Shea Bennett and Christian Bennett, both of Rocklin, Calif.
Dixie State University – Mathew Baker, Ogden, Utah, and Nordel Erickson, St. George, Utah
Eastern Washington University – Cy Floyd, Wenatchee, Wash., and Tyler Wasilewski, Cheney, Wash.
Eastern Washington University – Mackenzi Brunner, Cashmere, Wash., and Taylor Throop, Cheney, Wash.
Humboldt State University – Christopher Childers, McKinleyville, Calif., and Erich Coulter, Castro Valley, Calif.
Humboldt State University – Drew White, Danville, Calif., and Graeme Lock, Arcata, Calif.
Humboldt State University – Alex Robbins, Novato, Calif., and Joseph Schiavoni, McKinleyville, Calif.
Oregon State University – Joseph Billmaier, San Jose, Calif., and Max Kitzmiller, Wilsonville, Ore.
Oregon State University – Eric Strickler, Florence, Ore., and Peter Kawamura, Corvallis, Ore.
Oregon State University – Zach MacDonald, Willits, Calif., and Zach Martinez, Linden, Calif.
San Jose State University – Travis Bounds, Roseville, Calif., and Patrick Friedman, Torrance, Calif.
Sonoma State University – Brent Nelson, Santa Rosa, Calif., and Jake Banuelos, Pinole, Calif.
University of California-Santa Cruz – Greg Christie, Paradise, Calif., and Jacob Sandler, Fairfax, Calif.
University of Nevada-Reno – Anthony Milano, Petaluma, Calif., and Brandon Cramer, Petaluma, Calif.
University of Nevada-Reno – Jake Tessmann, Minden, Nev., and Bryce Yearman, Sparks, Nev.
University of Nevada-Reno – Xavier Green, Elk Grove, Calif., and Steve Werth, Gardnerville, Nev.
University of Oregon – Daniel Marshall, Eugene, Ore., and Kaitlin Tanner, Missoula, Mont.
University of Oregon – Kyle Schneider, Beaverton, Ore., and Jacob Wall, Jacksonville, Ore.
University of Oregon – Mitchell Cole, Jefferson, Ore., and Eric Lee, Mather, Calif.
Utah Valley University – Tyler Dabling and Maegan Birdsey, both of Orem, Utah
Utah Valley University – Clif Gallagher, Eagle Mountain, Utah, and Matt George, Orem, Utah
Utah Valley University – Joseph Peterson, Orem, Utah, and Stephen Johnson, Lehi, Utah
Weber State University – Kory Tams, Hooper, Utah, and Schafer Summers, Ogden, Utah
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.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
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