FLW College Fishing is headed to Sam Rayburn Reservoir Oct. 25-26 for the Southern Conference Invitational tournament.
Forty-five college teams have qualified for this event and will be competing for a top award of $4,000 and a berth in the 2015 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“They’re catching them on Rayburn right now,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Rich Dalbey, who finished in second place at the Rayovac FLW Series tournament held on Sam Rayburn earlier this month. “There is a little cool front happening right now and that’s going to trigger a lot of fish and put them in the grass. The first cool front of the season always gets Rayburn going.
“The college anglers are going to be able to fish their strengths and catch fish both deep and shallow,” Dalbey continued. “I think the deeper bite will be better quality fish, though, and I expect this tournament to be won by a team who is fishing out deep.”
Dalbey said that he would be targeting depths of 14 to 25 feet deep, and he would be looking for stumps or brushpiles on a channel turn or near an extended point.
“My main focus would be working a big worm and a football jig around those drops and brush piles,” Dalbey said. “At the Rayovac I noticed that a lot of the fish were really chasing the bait, so I’d have a flutter spoon tied on as well as some big crankbaits — a Strike King 6XD or 10XD.
“I predict that a team will have to average around 16 pounds a day to make the top 10 and go to the National Championship,” Dalbey went on to say. “I think the winning team is going to have right around 40 pounds.”
Dalbey said that due to hidden stumps and wood, the college anglers should take their time and use caution when moving about the lake.
“Rayburn can be very dangerous if you’re not familiar with the waters. Don’t try to run through the middle of the lake. Pay attention to where the locals run, and make sure to give yourself an extra five or 10 minutes to get where you need to go, just to be on the safe side.”
Anglers will take off from the Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 Recreation Road 255 W. in Jasper, at 7:30 a.m. each day. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Umphrey Family Pavilion, beginning at 3 p.m. The top-15 teams will weigh in on Sunday at Walmart, located at 800 W. Gibson St. in Jasper, starting at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Schools registered to compete in the Sam Rayburn Invitational, which is hosted by the Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Chamber of Commerce, include:
Angelo State University – Matthew Freeman and Logan Clark, both of San Angelo, Texas
Arkansas Tech University – Brandon Rieve, Sheridan, Ark., and Sawyer Grace, Russellville, Ark.
Colorado Mesa University – Kennedy Kinkade and Josh Worth, both of Grand Junction, Colo.
East Central University – Tanner Masters and Wyatt Ryan, both of Ada, Okla.
Lamar University – Brandon Simoneaux, Bridge City, Texas, and Josh Bowie, Port Neches, Texas
Lamar University – Cameron Lafleur, Orange, Texas, and Justin Royal, Vidor, Texas
Lamar University – Quinton Evans, Orange, Texas, and Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas
Louisiana State University – Brennan Vosburg and Dane Lecoq, both of Morganza, La.
Louisiana State University-Shreveport – James Avant, Shreveport, La., and Jared Rascoe, Stonewall, La.
Louisiana Tech University – Matthew Loetscher, Many, La., and Caleb Boudreaux, Doyline, La.
Nicholls State University – Trevor Leblanc and Jess Robertson, both from Houma, La.
Nicholls State University – Cameron Naquin, Gray, La., and Tyler Rivet, Raceland, La.
Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Conner Schwab, Broken Arrow, Okla., and Lane Kindle, Westville, Okla.
Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Dylan Duncan and Kyrston Dozier, both of Kansas, Okla.
Oklahoma State University – Austin Wright, Tulsa, Okla., and Spencer Randolph, Stillwater, Okla.
Oklahoma State University – Michael Hall, Inola, Okla., and Dustyn Pendergraft, Claremore, Okla.
Oklahoma State University – Jacob Fish and Cameron Deborde, both of Stillwater, Okla.
Sam Houston State University – Robert Laskoskie, Kemah, Texas, and Jared Pruitt, Crowley, Texas
Southeastern Oklahoma University – Jonathan Furlong, Bixby, Okla., and Dwight Camp, Talihina, Okla.
Southern Arkansas University – Brette Pitard, El Dorado, Ark., and Matthew Underwood, Magnolia, Ark.
Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Mitchell Decker, Broken Arrow, Okla., and Shane McGlothlin, Anadarko, Okla.
Stephen F. Austin State University – Garret Whitley, Quinlan, Texas, and Alec Castonguay, Rockwall, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University – Tyler Woods, Mansfield, Texas, and Andrew Lange, Silsbee, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University – Clayton Godfrey, Texarkana, Texas, and Garret Lindsey, Lumberton, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University – Shelby Hutchens, Spring, Texas, and Owen Best, Buna, Texas
Tarleton State University-Stephenville – Hunter Edwards, Breckenridge, Texas, and Marshall Hughes, Port Neches, Texas
Tarleton State University-Stephenville – Austyn Fowler and Zach Hurst, both of Grand Saline, Texas
Texas A&M University – Josh Bensema, Willis, Texas, and Vann Millican, College Station, Texas
Texas A&M University – Luke Domas, Orange, Texas, and Brennan Fertig, Sunrise Beach, Texas
Texas A&M University – Zachary Wymer, Southlake, Texas, and Cole Temple, College Station, Texas
Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Kevin Rock and Aaron Canul, both of Kingsville, Texas
Texas State University – Sam Stone, Austin, Texas, and Jedidiah Holt, San Marcos, Texas
Texas Tech University – Layne Bynum and Travis McGuire, both of Lubbock, Texas
University of Arkansas – Ben Dubois, Fayetteville, Ark., and Keeton Villines, Huntsville, Ark.
University of Arkansas – Drew Porto and Kenneth Anderson, both of Fayetteville, Ark.
University of Arkansas – Jonny Schultz, Maumelle, Ark., and Sam Horn, Fort Smith, Ark.
University of Arkansas-Little Rock – Tyler Hamby, Little Rock, Ark., and Zachary Rollings, Mabelvale, Ark.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Joshua Clark, Merryville, La., and Eric Fusilier, Ville Platte, La.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Ry Savory, Saint Martinsville, La., and Dustin Robichaux, Lafayette, La.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Zachary Dubois, Kaplan, La., and Colby Drago, Livonia, La.
University of Louisiana-Monroe – Blake Alford and Tyler Stewart, both of West Monroe, La.
University of Louisiana-Monroe – Jackson Blackett, Monroe, La., and Tyler Craig, Frierson, La.
University of Louisiana-Monroe – Nick Ladart and Brian Eaton, both of Monroe, La.
University of Oklahoma – Caleb Masters, Bixby, Okla., and Landon Dixon, Hinton, Okla.
University of Texas-Arlington – Jordan Jarrett, Mansfield, Texas, and Jacob Britt, Forney, Texas
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 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.
