FLW COLLEGE FISHING WESTERN CONFERENCE HEADS FOR CALIFORNIA DELTA
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OAKLEY, Calif. (April 28, 2015) – FLW College Fishing is headed to the California Delta May 9 for the second of three regular-season stops in the Western Conference. A full field of college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Western Conference Championship tournament.
“The timing of this tournament is perfect,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Jimmy Reese of Witter Springs, California, who has five top-20 finishes on the Delta in FLW competition, including back-to-back Rayovac FLW Series wins in 2006 and 2007. “Competitors are going to be able to find fish prespawn, spawning and postspawn. The weather will dictate which avenue will be better, but it has been very good lately and if it stays stable we can expect to see some really heavy weights.”
Reese said that tournament competitors would be targeting many different areas on the Delta. Some anglers will choose to target the rock on the main-river channels with jigs and crankbaits. Others will choose to flip and pitch the tules or hyacinth. Shallow-water specialists could also do well if the conditions set up right. Reese also said that swimbaits would be a huge factor in this event.
“There is a Rayovac FLW Series event happening that weekend as well, and a lot of the teams competing will be watching what the winning anglers are doing in that event,” Reese continued. “But, that is a mistake and my advice to teams would be to fish the moment. If you hear that three anglers are fishing in an area and they catch 100 pounds of fish, those fish are now gone. If you try to go back and fish that same spot, you’re doomed.
“The key will be to fish the style that you are confident in, not what you see other teams doing. You need to find your own fish and fish your strengths.
“I think the winning team will bring a limit in the mid- to upper-20-pound range to the scale,” Reese went on to say. “Every once in a while Mother Nature throws us a curveball and we see the 30 to 40 mph winds and that can make the fishing a little tougher. But, I’m confident that anglers are going to hammer them in this tournament.”
Anglers will take off from Russo’s Marina located at 3995 Willow Road in Bethel Island, Calif., at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 1:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools are allowed to register up until the morning of the tournament. Entries may be made either by phone or at CollegeFishing.com. Schools currently registered to compete in the California Delta tournament, which is hosted by the City of Oakley, include:
California Polytechnic State University – Johan Eide, Sebastopol, Calif., and Colton Farquer, Oakdale, Calif.
California State University – Matthiew Grant, Bellflower, Calif., and Rick Zatarain, Long Beach, Calif.
California State University – Seth Myer, Lancaster, Calif., and Via Thao, Long Beach, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Alex Klein, Oroville, Calif., and Jeff Karnthong, Antioch, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Chas Brannon, Santa Maria, Calif., and Michael Woods, Olivehurst, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Frank Tomasello and Jakob Conlan, both of Morgan Hill, Calif.
California State University-Chico – Kevin Chen and Koulton Westbrook, both of Vacaville, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Jeff Taluban, Salinas, Calif., and Matt Pagluica, Cameron Park, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – O’Shea Bennett and Christian Bennett, both of Rocklin, Calif.
California State University-Sacramento – Tanner Austin, El Dorado Hills, Calif., and Ethan Clark, Elk Grove, Calif.
Dixie State University – Mathew Baker, Ogden, Utah, and Nordel Erickson, Saint George, Utah
Oregon State University – Erick Kennedy, Woodland, Calif., and Joseph Billmaier, San Jose, Calif.
Oregon State University – Zach MacDonald, Willits, Calif., and Zach Martinez, Linden, Calif.
San Jose State University – Joey Fortina, Ben Lomond, Calif., and Adam McAndrews, Santa Clara, Calif.
San Jose State University – Manuel Munoz, Hollister, Calif., and Patrick Friedman, Torrance, Calif.
Sonoma State University – B.J. Kendrick, Morgan Hill, Calif., and Landon Moore, San Dimas, Calif.
Sonoma State University – Jake Banuelos, Pinole, Calif., and Brent Nelson, Santa Rosa, Calif.
University of Idaho – Tanner Mort and Austin Turpin, both of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
University of Nevada-Reno – Jake Tessmann, Minden, Nev., and Bryce Yearman, Sparks, Nev.
University of Oregon – Jacob Wall, Jacksonville, Ore., and Mitchell Cole, Jefferson, Ore.
University of Oregon – Ryan Habenicht, Auburn, Calif., and Riley Russen, Redding, Calif.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in qualifying tournaments 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 Championship tournaments. The top ten teams from each of the five Conference Championship tournaments will advance to the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
College Fishing is free to enter. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college 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.
