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Hometown favorites, Aaron Sistrunk and Jeffrey Rich of Northwestern State said they're looking for a big comeback on day two. Photo by David A. Brown. Anglers: Aaron Sistrunk, Jeffrey Rich.
February 25, 2010 • Patrick Baker • Archives

(Editor’s note: Leading up to the inaugural National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship, which will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., April 10-12, CollegeFishing.com will post semiweekly feature stories highlighting the 25 teams that qualified. At stake in the tournament is a prize package of $100,000 and a chance to compete in the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.)

Name: Jeff Rich (pictured at right)

Class: senior

Major: Business Administration

Hometown: Alexandria, La.

Other interests: duck and deer hunting, redfish and speckled trout fishing
Name: Aaron Sistrunk (pictured at left)

Class: alumnus

Major: Industrial Engineering

Hometown: Converse, La.

Other interests: hunting, working

University Web site: nsula.edu

Q&A

CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?

Northwestern State Rich: My dad brought me saltwater fishing when I was very young at Matagorda Bay. Ever since then I have had a big passion for fishing.

Sistrunk: I was born on Toledo Bend. Fishing has been in my blood for generations. Our family has fished since it was a necessity to survive. My father introduced me to it before I can remember.

CollegeFishing.com: What style of fishing are you most comfortable with?

Rich: I like to fish fast, throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits. I also love to sight-fish.

Sistrunk: I am most definitely a power-fisherman. Flipping with heavy line is my thing.

CollegeFishing.com: What did it feel like to qualify for the inaugural National Championship? How do you plan to prepare for the big event?

Rich: It’s a great honor to qualify for the first National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship. It was a great feeling to make it. It never sank in during the regional because I was more focused on winning on our home lake.

Aaron Sistrunk shows off two of the fish that put Northwestern State in the top five at the 2009 Texas Regional. Sistrunk: It felt great to qualify for the national championship. The tournaments leading up to the championship were on my home waters, so it would have been embarrassing not to qualify.

CollegeFishing.com: Tell us something interesting about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.

Rich: I like going out to a camp with a fire, singing old Hank Williams Jr. and Justin Moore songs with adult beverages.

Sistrunk: That I have a smoking-hot, red-headed girlfriend.