RESCHEDULED YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING SOUTHERN CONFERENCE FINALE SET FOR FORT GIBSON LAKE
WAGONER, Okla. (Oct. 3, 2017) – YETI FLW College Fishing is heading to Fort Gibson Lake on Oct. 14 for the third and final regular-season stop in the Southern Conference. The tournament was originally scheduled for early May, but was forced to be rescheduled due to flooding and dangerous water conditions. 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, which will be hosted on the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana, next May.
“Fort Gibson is a good fishery and I think the college anglers will do well,” said FLW Tour pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, a six-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier who finished in 4th place when the Costa FLW Series competed on Fort Gibson Lake in 2016. “There are a lot of 3 to 4 pound fish in it, and there are some good spotted bass as well.
“A good limit that I would feel very proud of is 15 pounds and up. However, I think the winning weight will likely be 18 to 22 pounds. It should be an exciting tournament for these college anglers.”
Anglers will take off from Taylors Ferry North Recreation Area in Wagoner, at 7:30 a.m. CDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the launch 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 FLWFishing.com.
Schools registered to compete in the Fort Gibson Lake tournament, which is hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce, include:
Arkansas Tech University – Philip Gottsponer, Morrilton, Ark., and Ethan Stokes, Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Colorado State University-Pueblo – Austin Miles, Durango, Colo., and Tyler Hassler, Fountain, Colo.
East Texas Baptist University – Colby Simmons and Brandon Barber, both of Legion Fields, Texas
East Texas Baptist University – Mason Beatty, Hallsville, Texas, and Dustin Pearcy, Marshall, Texas
East Texas Baptist University – Chad Poulsen, Bossier City, La., and Jared Penton, Grand Junction, Colo.
Harding University – Ethan Flowers, Dexter, Mo., and Cole Swede, Little Rock, Ark.
McMurry University – Chad Moore and Ryan Nevil, both of Mesquite, Texas
Rogers State University – Dillon Roberts, Claremore, Okla., and Kyle Clark, Oologah, Okla.
Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Chris Bradley, Thomas, Okla., and Andy Thurston, Noble, Okla.
Tarleton State University – Stetson Overton, Glen Rose, Texas, and Cason Kelly, Stephensville, Texas
West Texas A&M University – Hunter Hastings and Mason Moore, both of Canyon, Texas
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff – Cody Salzmann, Dickeyville, Wis., and Kenneth Prince, White Hall, Ark.
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 on the Red River, hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission & Red River Waterway Commission. 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.