In early February, I sent an e-mail to all of the qualifiers for the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship. I asked them to keep me abreast of their practice plans for the championship, which will be held April 7-9 on Kentucky Lake, and let me know if they were going to be in town in the weeks leading up to the tournament.
Kentucky Lake is just a few minutes from the FLW Outdoors office. So I figured this was a good opportunity to meet some of our college competitors, shoot some photos and maybe even sneak out on the water to observe for a few hours.
Well, it’s March 9, and with spring breaks here or approaching, it appears the college anglers will be on the lake in force in the next few weeks. I got responses from LSU Shreveport, Auburn, Florida, Kennesaw State, Cal Poly, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Chico State, UNC Charlotte, N.C. State, Central Florida, University of Texas at Tyler and Christopher Newport. I’m sure there are others coming as well, but I just haven’t heard from them yet.
As they arrive and begin practice, I will keep you updated on their overall impressions of the lake, their practice strategies and their experiences preparing for the biggest event in college bass fishing. I won’t be giving away any of their patterns or revealing what lures are producing. Sorry. I owe them my silence on those details. But I will hopefully help you get to know some of the competitors better and show you the incredibly talented level of competition that has developed already within the college ranks. These young guys and girls really are the pros of tomorrow.
With that, here are the updates I’ve received thus far:
UNC Charlotte: Joe Kinchen of UNC Charlotte dropped me the first e-mail update. He is already on the water and says things are going well. I asked him to give me his overall impression of the lake, and when I hear back, I’ll update my blog.
University of Texas at Tyler: Matthew McClellan of UT-Tyler e-mailed me over the weekend to let me know he is in town this week and will be on the water starting today. He’s supposed to drop by the office Wednesday when the area is forecast to be getting storms. I’ll make sure and update you on the UT-Tyler team’s progress.
Eastern Kentucky University: The fellas at EKU didn’t send me any notice of when they’d be in town, but I did hear through the grapevine that, the week before last, Kyle Ramer of EKU won a Kentucky Lake tournament hosted by Murray State University. I assume he fished with his partner Jonas Ertel, but I’m not positive. Our editorial intern, Steve Miller, is a Murray State college angler, so I’ll get the details from him and report back. I believe Steve is also preparing a story about that tournament, so you’ll get to see how much was caught and where the various teams placed.
Other News:
I’ve heard some interesting stories second-hand about tournament prep for this event already. One of our college anglers, a recent graduate, is supposedly renting a trailer or a cabin on Kentucky Lake for a month or two to prepare. I’m trying to verify that information, and if I do, I’ll let you know who it is.
Miles Burghoff of Central Florida told me that he is going to be fishing the championship alone. His partner, Leonard Gordon, will not be able to attend due to a scheduling conflict. Apparently, he must take an engineering exam this semester in order to graduate. The test is only offered once a semester, so he opted for graduating rather than competing. I offered to write a letter to someone at the university, asking for a re-test, but we assumed I didn’t have enough clout to make a difference. Miles will only be able to bring half a limit to the scales, but he’s hoping to make a full impact despite the handicap.
If you noticed from my list above, there are two teams from California that are coming to Kentucky to practice. I’ll check in with them once they’re here and find out how they got here and what it’s like to travel across the country to prepare for a bass tournament.
On Saturday, I stopped by a cold, windy, rainy Walmart Bass Fishing League LBL Division weigh in at Kenlake Marina on Kentucky Lake. On the way there, I drove over a bridge in the back of Jonathan Creek, a major tributary at the northern end of Kentucky Lake, and it looked like chocolate milk ripping through the creek. Water was flooded out into a slough on the other side of the road. The main lake and the water around the marina didn’t look near as dirty, but I know it was a tough day for most of the field. Limits were hard to come by. Despite the challenges, Willie Rentmeister of Mount Pulaski, Ill., won the event with 20 pounds, 13 ounces. The next LBL Division event will be at Kentucky Lake out of Kentucky Dam Marina on March 26, just a few days before the championship. The EverStart Series Central Division will also host an event March 31-April 2 out of Moors Resort on Kentucky Lake. Both of these events are being held at the north end of the lake, where the college championship will be held. They should give us a good idea of what the bite will be like for the college competitors. Don’t expect there to be too many secrets.