Central Conference Championship heads to Carlyle Lake

National Guard College Fishing event to be held Sept. 6-8

CARLYLE, Ill. – National Guard FLW College Fishing is headed to Carlyle Lake Sept. 6-8 for the Central Conference Championship. Twenty college teams will be competing for a Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.

“The lake is about a foot below normal,” said FLW Tour pro Travis Loyd of Kinmundy, Ill. “Typically anglers would be fishing shoreline brush, but the lake is fishing differently right now and the bass are behaving differently. I believe that this tournament will be won fishing offshore structure. The fish are holding tight in wooded areas, and if teams can find the right brush pile, they should be able to pull in a nice limit from that one spot. Teams will need to find three or four productive areas; I don’t think one spot will hold out for three days.

“We had a great spawn this spring,” Loyd went on to say. “There are a lot of 3- to 4-pound bass in the lake. Teams might even get lucky and find a 6- or 7-pounder. Spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps will work shallow, and jigs and Zoom 10-inch worms will work when fishing deep. I am thinking it is going to take a 10- to 12-pound average per day to win the tournament; 36 or 37 pounds total.

Anglers will take off from Dam West Boat Ramp located at 801 Lake Road in Carlyle, Ill., at 7 a.m. each morning. Weigh-ins will be at Walmart located at 2591 12th St., in Carlyle, Ill., beginning at 4 p.m. each day. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Schools competing in the Central Conference Championship, which is being hosted by the City of Carlyle, include:

Eastern Illinois University – Lee Buehnerkem, Teutopolis, Ill., and Chase Sanford, Catlin, Ill.

Eastern Illinois University – Dan Martin, Elmhurst, Ill., and Michael March, Chicago, Ill.

Eastern Kentucky – John Smith, London, Ky., and Kyle Raymer, Brandenburg, Ky.

Eastern Kentucky – Ethan Snyder, Vine Grove, Ky., and Matt Salmons, Bronston, Ky.

Georgetown College – Clay Elliott, Georgetown, Ky., and Vincent Timperio, Corbin, Ky.

Georgetown College – Mike Huff, Corbin, Ky., and Nick Huff, Georgetown, Ky.

Indiana University – Sean Gillenwater, Bloomington, Ind., and Derrick Hoffman, South Elgin, Ill.

Indiana University – Dustin Vaal, Bloomington, Ind., and Steven Bressler, Fremont, Ind.

Kansas State University – Nathan Kozlowski, Junction City, Kan., and Ethan Dhuyvetter, Manhattan, Kan.

Marian University – Justin McDonald, Noblesville, Ind., and Joel Bone, Decatur, Ind.

Murray State University – Chad Branham, Murray, Ky., and Vincent Campisano, Louisville, Ky.

Purdue University – Nicholas Schuetz, Loogootee, Ind., and Elliott Myers, Anderson, Ind.

Southern Illinois University – Jacob Koester, Teutopolis, Ill., and Andrew Schuessler, Carbondale, Ill.

Southern Illinois University – Zach Hartnagel, Edwardsville, Ill., and Brian Gass, Ofallon, Ill.,

Southern Illinois University – Ryan Dunn, Harrisburg, Ill., and Brandon Ringer, Carbondale, Ill.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville – Brad Lemasters, Springfield, Ill., and Justin Skinner, Edwardsville, Ill.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville – Josesph Tischer, Edwardsville, Ill., and Jacob Hicks, Morris, Ill.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Evan Chambers, St. Charles, Ill., and Stephen Conroy, Platteville, Wis.

Winona State University – Cade Laufenberg, Stoddard, Wis., and Sam Schollmeier, Rochester, Minn.

Western Kentucky University – Cody Napier, Lewisburg, Ky., and Andy Southard, Hanson, Ky.

Fans will be treated to the FLW Expo at Walmart on Thursday and Friday from 2-4 p.m. and Saturday from noon-4 p.m. prior to weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors. Fans can also learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.

Four regular-season qualifying events were held in each conference – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southern and Western – and the top five teams from each regular-season event qualified for one of the five conference championships. The top five teams from each conference championship advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship, where the first-place team wins $25,000 for their school and $50,000 plus a Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard as well as a berth in the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.

College Fishing is free to enter and FLW 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 Central Conference Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs Nov. 11 from 1-2 p.m. EST. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.

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.

About FLW

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing unparalleled fishing resources and entertainment to our sponsors, fans and host communities. FLW is offering anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2012 over the course of 191 tournaments across five tournament circuits, each providing an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water,” through a variety of platforms including tournaments, outdoor expos and the world’s richest fantasy sports game – FLW Fantasy Fishing. For more information about FLW and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter and Facebook.