National Guard FLW College Fishing Southern Conference headed to Lake Eufaula
EUFAULA, Okla. – National Guard FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Eufaula April 1 for the third of four stops in the Southern Conference. Forty college teams will be competing for a top award of $5,000 and a berth in the Southern Regional Championship tournament.
“I’d say 18 to 20 pounds should win this tournament,” said Rayovac pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla. “The fish are starting to spawn, and we’ve gotten quite a bit of rain lately, so the lake level will be up. It’ll probably be up in the bushes, the grass and the willows, and I could see a lot of fish coming out of that kind of stuff.
“The fish are going to be real shallow,” Christie continued. “Eufaula fishes more like a river than it does a lake because it’s dirtier and more shallow than most of the lakes around here. I’d be using spinnerbaits, jigs, maybe a squarebill crankbait – the shallow stuff. Ninety percent of the fish in this tournament will be caught in 3 feet of water or less.
“One of the wild cards at this tournament will be the smallmouth bass,” Christie went on to say. “Eufaula has some giant smallmouth, and if somebody figures them out or gets on a big school of them, the tournament could be won with all smallmouth bass. The wind could play a big factor, as well. If you get a real bad 25-mph wind, it can get pretty brutal out there.”
Christie recommends targeting an area on the lake known as The Chute.
“I would try to find the semi-clear water, and fish near what’s called The Chute,” he said. “From The Chute, you can go five or six miles each way, up to the dam or Eufaula Cove, or down to Oak Ridge. That area right there is where the tournament will be won.”
Anglers will take off from the Southport Marina located at Highway 9 East in Eufaula, Okla., at 7:00 a.m. Sunday. Weigh-in will be held at the take off site beginning at 1:00 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools competing in the Lake Eufaula tournament include:
Angelo State University – Josh Seale, Breckenridge, Texas, and Ryan Ward, Big Spring, Texas
Arkansas Tech University – Reagan Moore, Dierks, Ark., and Evan Barnes, Casa, Ark.
Dallas Baptist University – Jacob Sepeda, Roby, Texas, and Trent Newman, Midlothian, Texas
Harding University – Trent Johnson, Harrison, Ark., and Ryan Miller, Searcy, Ark.
Henderson State University – Shane Stoddard, Hot Springs, Ark., and Drew Rabb, Camden, Ark.
Lamar University – Danny Iles, Hemphill, Texas, and Justin Royal, Vidor, Texas
Louisiana Tech University – Wade Tracy, Pineville, La., and Caleb Collins, Alexander, La.
Louisiana State University – Drew Comeaux and Bryan Coleman, both of Denham Springs, La.
Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Joseph Landry, West Monroe, La., and Gavin Havard, Haughton, La.
McNeese State University – Jeff Conley, Lake Charles, La., and Brian Murphy, Sulphur, La.
Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow – Rod Green, Tahlequah, Okla., and Jimmy Phillips, Wagoner, Okla.
Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Cale Fulps, Broken Arrow, Okla., and Dylan Duncan, Kansas, Okla.
Northwestern State University – Russell Sistrunk and Joshua Collins, both of Converse, La.
Oklahoma State University – Trevor Parks, Stillwater, Okla., and Chase Edmiston, Tulsa, Okla.
Oral Roberts University – Zach Vankeulen, Overland Park, Kan., and Jonathan Williamson, Rocky Point, N.C.
Rogers State University – Derek Thurman, Collinsville, Okla., and Corey Hill, Claremore, Okla.
Sam Houston State University – Wilson Sartain, Kennard, Texas, and Jason Gunter, Conroe, Texas
Southeastern Louisiana University – Zachary Venable and Patrick Whisnant, both of Baton Rouge, La.
Southeastern Oklahoma University – Wes Davis, Ardmore, Okla., and Spencer Barnett, Broken Arrow, Okla.
Southern Arkansas University – Troy Elliot, Waldo, Ark., and Casey Key, Prescott, Ark.
Southwestern Oklahoma State University – Nathan Colwell, Adair, Okla., and Shane McGlothlin, Anadarko, Okla.
Stephen F. Austin State University – Eric Warner, Boyd, Texas, and Colby McClary, Sugar Land, Texas
Tarleton State University-Stephenville – Austin Brown, Pearland, Texas, and Colt Farris, Crowley, Texas
Texas A&M University – Josh Haddox, Nacogdoches, Texas, and Timothy Temple, Bryan, Texas
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi – Derek Mangold, Castroville, Texas, and Jonathan Voitle, Tomball, Texas
Texas A&M University-Galveston – Roy Buxton, Houston, Texas, and John Wallace, Galveston, Texas
Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Cody Garrett, Tomball, Texas, and Payne Neessen, Kingsville, Texas
Texas Christian University – Guillermo Gonzalez, Miami, Fla., and Austin Tucker, San Angelo, Utah
Texas State University – Joey Reich, Austin, Texas, and Justin Chambers, Pilot Point, Texas
Texas Tech University – Tyler Holmes, Richardson, Texas, and Travis McGuire, Lubbock, Texas
University of Arkansas – Zach Zajicek, Rogers, Ark., and Shaughn Reyenga, Fayetteville, Ark.
University of Arkansas-Little Rock – Jeremy Hall, Benton, Ark., and Trent Gephardt, Bryant, Ark.
University of Central Arkansas – Robert Bartoszek, Conway, Ark., and Justin Harrell, Mayflower, Ark.
University of Louisiana-Lafayette – Brandon Stutes, Mire, La., and Bradley Reiners, Branch, La.
University of Louisiana-Monroe – Brian Eaton and Nick Ladart, both of Monroe, La.
University of North Texas – Jesse Chambers and Sean Watson, both of Denton, Texas
University of Oklahoma – Paul Muzijakovich, Wagoner, Okla., and Tyler Nipper, Tahlequah, Okla.
University of Texas – David Wilson, Jasper, Texas, and Kyle Jenkins, Houston, Texas
University of Texas-Arlington – Cody James, West, Texas, and Payton Gilcrease, Allen, Texas
University of Texas-Dallas – Adam Hemphill, Baytown, Texas, and Dan Nguyen, Plano, Texas
FLW College Fishing teams compete in four qualifying events in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top five teams from each regular-season tournament will qualify for one of five regional championships. The top five teams from each regional championship will advance to the national championship.
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.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
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