They’re from out east

Eastern Kentucky takes Central Regional lead on day two; Murray State hangs in top five

Tyler Moberly (right) and Richard Cobb V, fishing for Eastern Kentucky University, took the lead of the Central Regional on day two. Photo by Will Brantley. Anglers: Tyler Moberly, Richard Cobb (v).

November 1, 2009 • Will Brantley • Abu Garcia College Fishing

MURRAY, Ky. – For two days, talk of schooling fish has dominated much of the conversation about the National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake. Some of that seems to have changed a little bit at the end of day two. It may be that the top five teams, having made the cut to fish the final day, are simply a little more comfortable sharing some information on their patterns, or it may be that the post-cold-front conditions have bass willing to suck in a jig crawling in front of them, but maybe not so willing to chase a crankbait burning across a point.

Overall weights were down on day two of the event. Eastern Kentucky University’s Tyler Moberly and Richard Cobb V had the day’s second-heaviest catch at 10 pounds, 4 ounces, which, combined with their day-one weight, gave them a total of 23-11 – good enough to lead the event heading into the final day of competition.

“People said this post-cold-front weather would shut `em down, but the bite held up for us,” said Cobb, who weighed in two of his possible three-fish limit (collegiate teams are allowed to weigh six fish per day, but no more than three per competitor). I had five different chances to catch No. 3, but just didn’t get it done.”

The EKU team began the day fishing a riprap bank, where they’d caught the majority of their keepers on day one. After a couple hours with no keepers, they decided a change of venue was in order and ran south to a major creek arm, where they’d located some warm, stained, shallow water.

“We picked that specific spot for today because the sun was so bright,” Moberly said. “Once you got on them, catching them was almost easy.”

Ohio State second

Ohio State’s Kevin Moeller and Casey Hammann, who led day one, slipped to second place by 1 pound even on day two. The anglers couldn’t fish in their day-one area because it is a waterfowl sanctuary and became off limits effective Nov. 1, so they tried to replicate their pattern in other areas. They were able to scrap together 5 pounds, 13 ounces total – plenty enough to stay in the top five.

“Being in the top five is what we came here to do,” Hammann said. “Making the National Championship was our main goal.”

Indiana University in third

Indiana University’s Jesse Schultz and Dustin Vaal made a big push on day two into third place. Although they only caught 4 pounds, 1 ounce yesterday, they followed it up in grand fashion today with a 12-pound, 11-ounce bag.

“We changed things up completely when we saw it wasn’t working yesterday,” Schultz said. “Today was really exciting. We were chasing schools yesterday, but today we decided to change it up and fish some points. We caught a 3-pounder near a riprap bank shortly after we got there, and then caught a 4-pounder on a jig. The majority of our fish have been on the slow-moving stuff like tubes and jigs.”

Southern Illinois University fourth

Sitting in fourth place is Southern Illinois University’s Richard Dunham and Travis Gould. Dunham and Gould caught 6 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday and followed it up today with 10-3.

“It was actually kind of a tough day,” Gould said. “We were changing up throughout the day. We just kept switching strategies and presentations until we found something.”

Hometown favorite Murray State in fifth

Rounding out the top five teams and rallying the home crowd was Murray State University’s Steve Miller and Kalem Tippett. Though MSU caught a great 13-pound, 9-ounce bag on day one and were sitting in second place this morning, a difficult day on the water left them with a single keeper, a total weight of 15-4 and an agonizing weigh-in, as they were among the first competitors across the stage.

“We got on a flat today that had three limits of fish on it,” Tippett said. “We just couldn’t get them to hit.”

Fortunately for MSU, that one keeper was just enough for them to edge out Truman State University’s Spencer Clark and Mike McCarthy Jr. by a single pound and qualify for the final day.

The five teams – EKU, Ohio State, Indiana University, SIU and MSU – will launch from Kenlake Marina Monday at 7 a.m. for the final day of competition. The winning team will receive $25,000 plus a 177TR Ranger wrapped in school colors and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard engine. All five teams are now qualified to fish the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship, which will be held April 10-12, 2010, in Knoxville, Tenn.

The final weigh-in will begin at 4 p.m. tomorrow at MSU in front of Roy Stewart Stadium. MSU’s Reel Life Festival, which has been running in conjunction with the tournament weigh-in, will continue tomorrow from 4 to 7 p.m. Reel Life Festival visitors can register to win a MacBook Air, which will be given away tomorrow. Murray State students also receive a free meal as part of the festivities.