Old-School Shallow Event on Tap for College Fishing National Championship at Fort Gibson
WAGONER, Okla. – The best college fishing teams in the country will head to Wagoner, Oklahoma, March 29-31, for the Abu Garcia College Fishing Presented by YETI National Championship Presented by Lowrance at Fort Gibson. The 13th annual College Fishing National Championship – hosted by the Wagoner Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wagoner – will feature 178 of the nation’s best collegiate teams that qualified via regular-season events and last year’s College Open.
What’s at Stake
This year, the college kids are competing for a $33,500 prize package, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard, and the chance to advance to the 2022 Toyota Series Championship to compete as a pro for a top prize of up to $235,000.
Both members of the winning team and the runners-up at the 2022 Abu Garcia College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2022 Toyota Series Championship where they will compete as pros. Both members of the third-place team will advance to the 2022 Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers for a shot at winning a $33,500 Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
By the Numbers
This year’s field is a fun one, with some local favorites, star power and tons of other precocious anglers. The field has some first-timers, and some old hands, and it’s of course got some Auburn teams in the mix – the only college to qualify every year, this year Auburn will have seven chances to win the event.
Auburn Teams in the Tournament
- Chase Clarke
- Chase Mundhenke and Blake Milligan
- Connor Jaob
- Hayden Marbut and Garrett Warren
- Noah Coleman and Dalton Johnson
- Robert Cruvellier and Sam Harvey
- Ty Mundhenke
The school with the most teams qualified is Northern Conference stalwart Adrian College. With nine teams representing, Adrian has the edge over the University of Montevallo (eight), Auburn (seven) and Bethel University, Bryan College, Emmanuel College and McKendree University which all have six teams heading to Oklahoma.
Adrian Teams in the Tournament
- Aaron Jagdfeld and Jacob Emery
- Austin Tapley and Carter Ball
- Elliot Wielgopolski and Caleb Dachenhaus
- Hayden Scott and Griffin Fernandes
- Matt Mosby and Derek Rodriguez
- Russel Buffa and Kobe Thompson
- Sam Shoemaker and Jenson Kay
- Shane Nelson and Brayden Sederer
- Zach Salters and Ben Statly
This year, there are 16 colleges represented at the natty for the first time. From Arkansas to Florida, it’s a measure of how easy it can be to get a college fishing team going.
2022 Newcomers
- Augustana College
- Central Alabama Community College
- Columbia State Community College
- Florida Gateway College
- Illinois Central College
- Kentucky Christian University
- Michigan State University
- Missouri Western State University
- National Park College
- Roanoke College
- Schreiner University
- Tarleton State – Waco
- Texas A&M – Commerce
- Texas A&M at Galveston
- University of North Florida
- Wabash Valley College
This year will also feature the biggest field the National Championship has ever seen. Running from 2010 to 2013, the field was set at 50 teams, but since then the field size has fluctuated depending on field sizes in the qualifying events. The previous peak came in 2018, with 101 unique schools represented and 172 teams. This year is the new record, with 81 colleges, 178 teams and 356 anglers.
Elam’s Take on the Lake
Bass Pro Tour pro James Elam has plenty of experience on Fort Gibson and gave us the lowdown on what to expect for the event.
“It’s like the flatter areas on Grand Lake,” said Elam of Fort Gibson. “It’s kind of a lowland reservoir, but with a lot of good rock on it. It doesn’t have abundant gravel, it’s got bigger, flatter rock, a little bit of sand, and some mud. It’s real similar to the upper end of Grand Lake, or Horse Creek on Grand Lake.”
Built on the Neosho River, downstream of Grand Lake and Hudson Lake, Fort Gibson can fluctuate a lot. Generally, the US Army Corps of Engineers raises the water level much more on Fort Gibson than the other two lakes, preferring to flush water out of them and keep the levels relatively stable.
As of March 23, the lake was 5 feet over normal and rising, which Elam thinks could cause some issues.
“It’s got real flat banks, so once it gets up 6 feet, it floods back a way,” said Elam. “If it’s over like 5 foot high, it gets really tough there. But, it’s a good shallow fishery, so those fish are used to it. Hopefully, it stabilizes or starts dropping, falling slow, then it puts them on more predictable places.”
High water or low, Elam says you can expect power-fishing staples like a crankbait, vibrating jig, spinnerbait and a jig to do damage. Especially with the right water conditions, he expects a good tournament with straight-ahead fishing.
“I love fishing the lake, I love it in the spring,” said Elam. “I like the fact that it’s a shallow-water fishery, and I can just key in on fishing shallow and not worry about fishing deep. It’s got a lot of really good quality 3- and 4-pounders in it, they’re fat and healthy. In the spring it’s really good when you hit it right, usually, that’s sometime in April. Then, 21 to 22 a day, if everything is good, is what you’re looking at.”
Though the college anglers might be a tick early, there should still be some good fishing to be had. And, with a boat and qualification for the Toyota Series Championship on the line, you can be sure the cream of the college crop will all bring the heat.