University of Georgia wins College Fishing Regional on Lake Harding

Randy Tolbert and Chase Simmemon load their winning fish for the University of Georgia. Photo by David A. Brown. Anglers: Randy Tolbert Jr, Chase Simmemon.

September 10, 2011 • MLF • Abu Garcia College Fishing

AUBURN, Ala. (Sept. 10, 2011) – The University of Georgia team of Randy Tolbert, Jr. of Rome, Ga., and Chase Simmemon of Alto, Ga., went wire-to-wire to win the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division Regional Championship presented by Evinrude and hosted by Auburn University on Lake Harding Saturday with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces for a three-day total of 24-4.

The team beat their closest competitor, Clemson University, by 7 pounds, 8 ounces and won $50,000 to be split between the university and the university’s bass fishing club – $12,500 and a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower outboard wrapped in school colors for the bass club and $12,500 for their school.

“This is unbelievable,” said Tolbert, a senior fisheries and aquaculture major. “The guys in this region are tough and they’re good. We’re friends with a lot of them and we compete against them all the time, and we love to beat them. When we do it’s awesome.

“We’ve never led every day of a tournament and won,” Tolbert added. “That makes this awesome.”

Tolbert and Simmemon said Friday they would change their strategy on the final day of competition to try to catch a bigger stringer.

“We hit a completely new area first thing this morning and it paid off,” said Simmemon, a junior wildlife biology and fisheries and aquaculture major. “We caught a 2-pounder real quick. That’s the only fish we caught in that area, so we went back to our game plan that was our game plan for the past two days and that’s where we would go try to get a limit real quick.”

Simmemon said the team caught a number of fish during the course of the day but managed to boat only five keepers. The team used a drop-shot rig tipped with a Roboworm and flipped shallow water with creature baits such as a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver and a Big Bite Bait Fighting Frog to try to bag bigger largemouth.

Tolbert said the team now has their eyes on the national championship.

“We’re going to put the time and work in that it takes,” Tolbert said. “If everything falls into place we’ll catch them. We’re going to fish for the win. That’s all you can do.”

Rounding out the top five teams and also qualifying for the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship are:

2nd: Clemson University – Andy Wicker, Pomaria, S.C., and Harold Turner, Sumter, S.C. (11 bass, 16-12, $10,000)

3rd: Kennesaw State University – Thomas Frink, Woodstock, Ga., and Justin Marlow, Kennesaw, Ga. (12 bass, 16-6, $5,000)

4th: Georgia Southern – Wesley Maples, Rocky Face, Ga., and Jed Thigpen, Statesboro, Ga. (11 bass, 13-2, $5,000)

5th: Auburn University – Jordan Lee, Vinemont, Ala., and Matt Lee, Auburn, Ala. (11 bass, 12-10, $5,000)

For a complete list of final standings visit CollegeFishing.com.

The top five teams from each regional advance to the national championship where the first-place team will win $100,000 with $25,000 of that for their school and $50,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR bass boat wrapped in school colors and a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard for their fishing club.

College Fishing is free to enter and FLW Outdoors provides boats and drivers for each competing team along with travel allowances. All participants must be registered, full-time undergraduate students at a four-year college or university and members of a fishing club recognized by their college or university.

Coverage of the Southeast Regional Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors,” will air Oct. 23 from 1 – 2 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWCollegeFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/CollegeFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.

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