YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE HEADS FOR LAKE HARTWELL
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HARTWELL, Ga. (March 7, 2017) – YETI FLW College Fishing is heading to Lake Hartwell March 18 for the third and final regular-season stop in the Southeastern Conference. A full field of college fishing clubs will be competing for the top award of a $2,000 club scholarship and a berth into the 2018 College Fishing National Championship.
“Lake Hartwell is an awesome fishery and the lake is extremely versatile,” said FLW Tour pro Brian Latimer of Belmont, South Carolina, who has three career top-10 finishes on Lake Hartwell in FLW competition. “There is a lot of structure in the lake – from 50 feet deep to the bank – and it’s one of those lakes where the college anglers are going to be able to pick their poison and fish however they want.
“The weather has been really warm recently, and there are already quite a few fish that have started to move up,” Latimer continued. “They aren’t necessarily spawning yet, but they’re cruising the pockets and under the docks already. The majority of fish will still be in prespawn mode but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a little bit of sight fishing going on.”
Latimer said that if he was fishing the tournament he’d be throwing a wacky-rigged Z-Man ZinkerZ stickbait or a 3-or 4-inch swimbait around the docks. He said that if a cold front came through before the tournament, or the fish weren’t on the docks, he’d concentrate on cranking the stained water in the creeks with a red Rat-L-Trap or a medium-diving crankbait.
“The thing about Lake Hartwell is that there is not a lot of dead water,” Latimer said. “There are fish to be caught in every single river arm, from the main lake all the way back to the creeks. My advice to the college anglers would be to find which river arm fits with the way that you like to fish, then concentrate on that area and cover a lot of water. There is no one particular portion of the lake that is better than the others.”
Latimer went on to predict that the winning team would bring a five-bass limit in the high teens to the scale, with the possibility of a 20-pound limit.
Anglers will take off from the Gum Branch Ramp, located at Gum Branch Circle in Hartwell, at 7:30 a.m. EDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the Ramp beginning at 3 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 registered to compete in the Lake Hartwell tournament, which is hosted by the Hart County Chamber of Commerce include:
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College – Henry Brown, Willacoochee, Ga., and Morgan Anderson, Fitzgerald, Ga.
Appalachian State University – Shawn Snow, Boone, N.C., and Austin Rozier, Mount Airy, N.C.
Appalachian State University – Charlie Sipe, Hickory, N.C., and Ethan Howell, Waynesville, N.C.
Auburn University – Mitchell Jennings, Auburn, Ala., and Brooks Phillips, Birmingham, Ala.
Austin Peay State University – Chase Melton and Jordan Brandt, both of Clarksville, Tenn.
Austin Peay State University – Michael Hulsey and Bryce Newsome, both of Clarksville, Tenn.
Bethel University – Kyler Chelminiak, Franklin, Wis., and Alec Piekarski, Greenfield, Wis.
Bryan College – Conner Fogg and Chandler Fogg, both of Kelso, Tenn.
Bryan College – Dylan Pritchett, Dayton, Tenn., and Conner Thompson, Fort Payne, Ala.
Bryan College – Matthew Kear, Clinton, Tenn., and Connor Cohran, Dalton, Ga.
Bryan College – Matt Brown, Corbin, Ky., and D.J. Barber, Gardendale, Ala.
Bryan College – Dalton Price, Seymour, Tenn., and Francisco Colin, Dayton, Tenn.
Bryan College – Johnathan Peck, Louisville, Ky., and Hunter Thrasher, Kelso, Tenn.
Bryan College – Jacob Foutz, Cleveland, Tenn., and Jake Lee, Knoxville, Tenn.
Bryan College – Braden Marshall, Hixson, Tenn., and Jalen Smith, Dayton, Tenn.
Bryan College – Nathan Bell, Riceville, Tenn., and Cole Sands, Dayton, Tenn.
Clemson University – Allan Stack, Summerville, S.C., and Ross Dove, Royston, Ga.
Clemson University – Tyler Brown, Lake Wylie, S.C., and Jacob Reome, Gaffney, S.C.
Clemson University – Derek Freeman, Anderson, S.C., and Robert White, Greenville, S.C.
Florida State University – Joshua Blackburn, Tallahassee, Fla., and Scott Duncan, Orlando, Fla.
Gadsden State Community College – Bryant West, Gadsden, Ala., and Noah Holmes, Alexandria, Ala.
Georgia Southern University – Tyler Wilson, Brooklet, Ga., and Madeline Conner, Statesboro, Ga.
Kennesaw State University – Spencer Guthrie, Acworth, Ga., and Cody Smith, Gainesville, Ga.
Middle Tennessee State University – Austin Wyatt, Gladeville, Tenn., and Mekiah Jack, Mount Juliet, Tenn.
Middle Tennessee State University – Chase McCrory, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Travis Brown, McMinnville, Tenn.
North Carolina State University – Jerry Norris, Raleigh, N.C., and Spence Hutcheson, Durham, N.C.
Tennessee Technological University – Colton Breeding, Nashville, Tenn., and Preston Gerrish, Knoxville, Tenn.
University of Georgia – Benjamin Hallowell, Athens, Ga., and Garrett Stone, Sandy Springs, Ga.
University of Georgia – Daulton Smith, Dacula, Ga., and Cody Billings, Loganville, Ga.
University of Georgia – Nathan Ragsdale, Fayetteville, Ga., and Wesley Griner, Leesburg, Ga.
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill – Grayson Whicker, Salisbury, N.C., and Alex Rhoney, Chapel Hill, N.C.
University of North Carolina-Charlotte – Ben Hager and Aaron Sollenberg, both of Iron Station, N.C.
University of North Georgia – Drew Coker, Murrayville, Ga., and Harrison Styles, Versailles, Ga.
University of North Georgia – Ben Adams, Buford, Ga., and Reid Daniel, Flowery Branch, Ga.
University of South Carolina – Austin Bradberry and Dalton Tumblin, both of Williamston, S.C.
University of South Carolina – Patrick Walters, Summerville, S.C., and Tyler All, Dorchester, S.C.
University of South Carolina – Hunter Buice, Pacolet, S.C., and William Bond, Moncks Corner, S.C.
University of South Carolina-Beaufort – Parker Wingard, Lexington, S.C., and Dustin Ingram, Mount Pleasant, S.C.
University of Tennessee – Grant Dilliha and Austin Conn, both of Knoxville, Tenn.
Wallace State Community College – A.J. Faught, Warrior, Ala., and Austin Scott, Fairview, Ala.
Western Carolina University – Jason Ashe, Cullowhee, N.C., and Alex Walsh, Robbinsville, N.C.
Western Carolina University – Michael Resor, Matthews, N.C., and William Ray, Rockingham, N.C.
Western Carolina University – Yang Xiong, Morganton, N.C., and Clint Bartlett, Charlotte, N.C.
Young Harris College – Andrew Himmelreich, Powder Springs, Ga., and Harrison Barton, Hartwell, Ga.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.
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 college fishing club that is recognized by their school.
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 FLWFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.