(Editor’s note: Leading up to the 2011 National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship, slated to be held April 7-9 on Kentucky Lake at Murray State University, CollegeFishing.com will be publishing semiweekly feature stories highlighting the 25 national championship qualifiers. At stake in the tournament is a first-place prize package worth $100,000 as well as a chance for the winning team to compete in the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.)
Class: Senior
Major: Finance with personal financial planning emphasis
Hometown: Kiel, Wisc.
Other interests: I have competed on the NCAA cross country and track teams for the past three and four years respectively.
Class: Senior
Major: Finance and Human Resources
Hometown: Lake Mills, Wisc.
Other interests: I do a little bit of beer brewing and fly tying. I also enjoy riding motorcycles. I put on about 4,000 miles on my motorcycle this summer. I also love to watch football and am a big Wisconsin Badger and Green Bay Packers fan. I enjoy spending time outdoors. I also enjoy working with diesel trucks/cars. I own a diesel VW Jetta and work at Diesel Injection service in Windsor, Wisc. I would love to own a Chevy Silverado with a Duramax diesel engine. My dad has a 2005 model and I love it.
Club Web site:We use Facebook and our club group name is Official UW-Whitewater Fishing Team
Q&A
CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?
Truttschel: My grandpa is the big fisherman in our family, and when I was about 6 he bought me my first rod/reel combo. He loves fishing for walleyes and crappies and that’s what I grew up doing. When I was about 10, he and I started targeting largemouth in the lakes near my hometown. We usually did that when we were taking a `break’ from catching pan fish or walleyes.
Netzer: My father and grandfather have had a big impact on my love of fishing. I have been fishing for as long as I can remember. My grandpa lives on Lake Holcomb in northern Wisconsin and we visit him about three or four times a year to do some fishing. Most of the time we fish for northern pike but we also fish for bass and musky.
CollegeFishing.com: What style/method of fishing are you most comfortable with?
Truttschel: I think finesse fishing and buzzbaits are my strong points. I am a pretty patient fisherman, which can work for and against me. I think that Tyler is the opposite and likes to fish more `power’ baits and fish faster lures. This really gives us versatility in the tournaments.
Netzer: I like to fish with almost everything that we used in Indiana – crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc. I like to fish fast but I also enjoy using Senkos. I am not too confident with tubes, Texas rigs and jigs, but I am gaining more confidence in them.
CollegeFishing.com: What did it feel like to qualify for the 2011 FLW College Fishing National Championship? How do you plan to prepare for the big event?
Truttschel: It was really quite an unbelievable feeling especially since neither of us caught a fish in pre-fishing. Let me reiterate, not one fish! We knew where they were but just couldn’t get the bite until the first day of competition. Our plan was to pick an area and hit it hard for a day and come in with some nice fish and we did just that. I was just in shock that we were leading after the first day, but it was a great feeling. We definitely played off the pressure, but we were feeling it at about 1 p.m. the next day when we only had two fish in the box.
I plan to practice on Kentucky Lake the entire month of March to try and learn as much about the lake as I can.
Netzer: Qualifying for the 2011 FLW College Fishing National Championship is so amazing because you have to earn your way into this event. The most amazing part is thinking that Jordan and I are a top 25 team in the nation (hopefully No. 1), but we will see how it goes this spring. Also, college fishing is great because no matter how big or small your school is you have the chance to compete with everyone. Our school is a Division 3 and we are competing with many Division 1 schools. I think fishing is one of the few sports in college that this can happen.
The planning for this event has already started. I need to first start to learn about the lake. I plan to start searching forums and studying lake maps so when I get there I will have a good idea what to expect and what to look for. Jordan and I plan on pre-fishing to find a good location and a few good baits that we will focus on using during the event.
CollegeFishing.com: Tell us something interesting about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.
Truttschel: I have run a 4:37 mile, a 9:58 in a 3,000 meter steeplechase, a 15:38 in a 5,000 meter contest and 26:20 for an 8,000 meter race.
Netzer: I like to brew my own beer and ride motorcycles – but obviously not at the same time of course! I am also the vice president of the UW-Whitewater Fishing Club.