STOCKTON, Calif. – The San Jose State University team of Glenn Wyatt of Vallejo, Calif., and Eric Anderson of San Jose, Calif., took the early lead at the National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Division Regional event on the California Delta Saturday with six bass weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces.
“We both had a good day,” said Wyatt, who is a kinesiology major. “We were just kind of junk fishing … just throwing all kinds of stuff.”
“When we weren’t getting bit we’d just change it up a bit,” said Anderson, who recently graduated with a business marketing degree. “We’re going to tweak our strategy a little bit tomorrow and take advantage of some opportunities we missed.”
Wyatt said the team lost two key fish during the first day of competition.
“If we were able to nail those fish today, we would have been a lot better off,” Wyatt said. “So we’re going to go back tomorrow and pick them up.”
“It’s still anyone’s game,” Anderson added. “One kicker fish could do it. And out here they get big.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Arizona State University – Joseph Jarrell of Phoenix, Ariz., and Mark Walker of Tempe, Ariz., (six bass, 13-11); Humboldt State University – J.D. Jones and Hideaki Kubo, both of Arcata, Calif., (six bass, 12-8); Sacramento State – Alec Brassington of Roseville, Calif., and Christopher Wong of Sacramento, Calif., (six bass, 12-6); Sacramento State – Stephen Lesieur of Rancho Murieta, Calif., and Matthew Paul of Loomis, Calif., (five bass, 12-3).
Each school represented in a televised Regional Championship will have team shirts and boats provided by Ranger. The purse for each Regional Championship includes a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $25,000 for the school they represent. Awards of $6,000 also extend through fifth place for the club and school to split evenly.
Anglers will take off from Buckley Cove Park located at 4311 Buckley Cove Way in Stockton, Calif., at 7 each morning. Weigh-ins will be held at the University of the Pacific’s Aquatics Center parking lot beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Qualified teams in the Western Regional Championship include Arizona State University, Chico State, Fresno State, Humboldt State University, Sacramento State, San Jose State University, Sonoma State University, UC – Davis, University of Nevada – Reno, University of Oregon and Washington State.
In conjunction with the Western Regional Championship, the Reel Life Festival, which features the National Guard Warrior Challenge, will be held all three days of competition beginning at noon at the University of the Pacific Aquatics Center.
FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008. The entire schedule, which is organized around the five Stren Series Divisions, can be found by visiting CollegeFishing.com along with rules, requirements and information on how to create a bass club.
Full-time students enrolled in four-year colleges or universities are eligible to participate in the events. Schools can send two-person teams to each of the four qualifying events in their division, with each event limited to a maximum of 40 teams. Each team has the opportunity to win $10,000 for first and $2,000 through fifth place. Prize money is split evenly between the winning team’s club and the school they represent. The tournaments are free to enter, boats and drivers are provided and all collegiate teams receive a travel allowance. The top five teams in each qualifying event advance to one of five televised three-day National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships.
The National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship is a three-day televised event hosting the top five teams from each regional, 25 total teams. Teams will be provided shirts and wrapped Ranger boats towed by Chevy trucks for this competition. The purse for the championship ranges from $25,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $50,000 for the school they represent to $15,000 for fifth, split between the club and school.
The winning team will be declared the National Guard FLW Collegiate National Champion and will qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol in 2010. The winners will also receive use of a wrapped boat and Chevy truck for the Forrest Wood Cup.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.