Purdue University Wins National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Conference Championship
OutdoorHub 09.10.12
The Purdue University team of Nicholas Schuetz of Loogootee, Ind., and Elliott Myers of Anderson, Ind., won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Conference Championship on Carlyle Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit that weighed 11 pounds, 6 ounces. Their three day total weight of 37-15 beat rivals Indiana University by a solid 3 pounds, 8 ounces. The team won a Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“I did a good job netting,” joked Schuetz, a recent graduate in electrical engineering. “I didn’t know what to do; Elliott was putting on a show today. I was netting and fighting the wind and the trolling motor all day. I could have put my rod down and it wouldn’t have mattered.”
Indicating that they fished the same area throughout the tournament the team was targeting wood today unlike Thursday and Friday when they were targeting grass. According to Schuetz the cold front that ran through last night kept th.
“We used three key baits,” Myers, an undeclared sophomore added. “On Thursday we were using Secret Lures Stupid Tubes, Friday we whacked ‘em with Terminator Spinnerbaits and today we were using YoMama baits, it’s beaver type bait.”
Sharing the same water with Winona State all week the Purdue team said the separator today was their patience. According to Schuetz Winona left the area early while they (Purdue) toughed it out. They slowed down their fishing and just kept pitching wood all day long.
“We probably aren’t the best fisherman out there,” Schuetz went on to say. “But we were able to find the fish and any time you find the fish it’s a score. After we qualified for the Central Conference Championship both Elliott and I spent as much time as we could practicing here and we knew where they were not! Being able to do that really helped us eliminate water and focus on other more productive areas.”
Top-five teams are:
1st: Purdue University – Nicholas Schuetz, Loogootee, Ind., and Elliott Myers, Anderson, Ind., 15 bass, 37-15, Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury
2nd: Indiana University – Dustin Vaal, Bloomington, Ind., and Steven Bressler, Fremont, Ind., 15 bass, 34-7, $5,000
3rd: Eastern Kentucky – John Smith, London, Ky., and Kyle Raymer, Brandenburg, Ky., 15 bass, 33-14, $3,000
4th: Winona State University – Cade Laufenberg, Stoddard, Wis., and Sam Schollmeier, Rochester, Minn., 13 bass, 33-3, $3,000
5th: Georgetown College – Mike Huff, Corbin, Ky., and Nick Huff, Georgetown, Ky., 15 bass, 32-13, $3,000
For complete results visit CollegeFishing.com
Four regular-season qualifying events were held in each conference – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southern and Western – the top five teams from each regular-season event qualified for one of five conference championships. The top five teams from each conference championship advance to the National GuarUsersd FLW College Fishing National Championship.
College Fishing is free to enter and FLW 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.
TBF along with FLW held the High School Central Conference Championship on Saturday in conjunction with the FLW College Fishing Central Conference Championship. Eight teams from across the region were represented and Nick Marsh, Commerce Township, Mich., and Kyle Boe, Lake Porion, Mich., from Michigan – SAF, won the tournament which was also held on Carlyle Lake.
The team beat their closest competitor, Winamac/Decatur Central High School out of Indiana by 2 pounds, 9 ounces. They were the only two teams to catch five bass limits.
After having what was described as a really lousy pre-practice on Friday, the team was extremely jubilant with their victory today.
“We went out there today not expecting much and doing something completely different than we did yesterday,” Marsh said. “And it all just clicked; we stayed focused and were lucky it worked out.”
The team said they were fishing the same areas as Eastern Kentucky and Indiana University for most of the day. They were targeting deep grass with ChatterBaits and Texas rig centipedes. According to Boe the team had six keepers all day and went from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. without catching a keeper, “it was nerve wracking”.
“I am speechless, Boe said. “This has been an incredible experience with TBF and FLW giving us this opportunity to fish these tournaments.”
1st: Michigan Student Angler Federation (SAF) – Nick Marsh, Commerce Township, Mich., and Kyle Boe, Lake Porion, Mich., five bass, 15-1
2nd: Winamac/Decatur Central High School – Greg Zellers, Winamac, Ind., and Brody McWilliams, Greenwood, Ind., five bass, 12-8
3rd: Minnesota – SAF – Kolton Ressemann, Richmond, Minn., and Shane Childers Cold Springs, Minn., three bass, 4-8
4th: Marist High School – Nick Engel, Chicago, Ill., and Nick Kushnerik, Oak Lawn, Ill., one bass, 3-10
5th: Wisconsin – SAF – Mitch Van Ert and Steven Sellnow, both of Watertown, Wis., two bass, 2-15
6th: Wheeling Park High School – John Burkley and Nikita Slivchenko, both of Wheeling, W. Va., two bass, 2-15
7th: Ohio – SAF – Logan Williams and Hunter Colwell, Bellefontaine, Ohio, one bass, 1-13
7th: Burlington High School – Max Mercer and Jobe Ashby, both of Burlington, Iowa, one bass, 1-13
High School Fishing Tournaments are open to all ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students, including home schooled students, that are members of the Student Angler Federation. The winning team from each state championship advances to a High School Fishing Conference Championship. Boats are provided upon request at all Conference Championships. The winning team from each Conference Championship will receive trophies and commemorative jerseys, and advance to the 2013 High School Fishing National Championship, held in conjunction with the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship in the spring.
Each member of the winning National High School Fishing Championship team will receive a $5,000 scholarship to use at the University of their choice. Teams participating in the conference championships and National Championship will also receive a travel allowance to help offset their expenses.
Coverage of the Central Conference Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs Nov. 11 from 1-2 p.m. EST. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
