FLW College Fishing heads to Sam Rayburn

Southern Conference Invitaional set for Oct. 5-6

JASPER, Texas – FLW College Fishing is headed to Sam Rayburn Reservoir Oct. 5-6 for the Southern Conference Invitational tournament. Forty-five college teams have qualified for this tournament and will be competing for a top award of $4,000 and a berth in the 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

“Sam Rayburn is one of those lakes where you basically can fish to your strengths,” said Keystone Light pro Chad Grigsby, who earned a fifth-place finish when the FLW Tour visited Sam Rayburn in October of 2012. “When we were here last fall, the top 10 was a mixed bag of some guys fishing deep and some fishing shallow. I fished shallow, but Phil Marks went on to win it by fishing deep.

“I only spent an hour of my time fishing deep,” Grigsby said. “I found a couple of spots where I could catch a fish on every cast for an hour. However, they were only 13- or 14-inch spotted bass, and not the fish that I needed to compete for the win. I was just never able to get on those big fish schools. The fish are still deep, though, and there will still be a lot of summertime patterns in play.”

Grigsby said that teams choosing to fish shallow would be targeting the matted hydrilla and grass lines with flipping and punching baits. A good reaction bait pattern is expected to produce as well. Teams choosing to fish the deep water will be concentrating on the river channels and drops throwing deep-diving crankbaits and Texas-rigged soft plastics.

“There is a lot of standing timber in that lake, and on certain parts of the lake you can’t do a whole lot of running around,” Grigsby continued. “If a team was coming here for the first time, the advice that I would give them would be to keep an open mind. I’d fish shallow in the mornings, then go out and graph around out deep and look for the big-fish schools. If you execute right you can find the right quality of fish to win this event deep or shallow.”

Grigsby hesitated to give a winning weight prediction, but said that 17 pounds a day is usually a pretty good stringer at Sam Rayburn.

“I really don’t know how it’s been lately,” he went on to say. “Seventeen pounds is a pretty good weight there. I averaged around 13 to 14 pounds a day last year and finished fifth. But, you may see a team get into those big-fish schools. A 25- to 30-pound limit is not out of the question.”

Anglers will take off from the Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 Recreation Road 255 W. in Jasper at 7 a.m. each day. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. while Sunday’s final weigh-in will take place at the Walmart located at 800 W. Gibson St. at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Schools competing in the Sam Rayburn Reservoir tournament, which is hosted by the Jasper/Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce, include:

Angelo State University – Ryan Easterly and Ethan George, both of San Angelo, Texas

Arkansas Tech University – Ryan Dorsett, Woodlawn, Ark., and Evan Barnes, Russellville, Ark.

Baylor University – Joseph Garland, West, Texas, and Alton Jones, Waco, Texas

Baylor University – Tyler Torwick, San Diego, Calif., and Connor Case, Plano, Texas

Dallas Baptist University – Trent Newman, Midlothian, Texas, and Jacob Sepeda, Roby, Texas

Hardin-Simmons University – Randy Sullivan, Woodson, Texas, and Hubbell Allen, Graham, Texas

Harding University – Todd Tyler Williams, Southwest Ranches, Fla., and Jordan Smith, Searcy, Ark.

Henderson State University – William Stone, Arkadelphia, Ark., and Theron Asbery, Grove, Okla.

Henderson State University – Shane Stoddard, Hot Springs, Ark., and Cobey Wingfield, Malvern, Ark.

Lamar University – Justin Royal, Evadale, Texas, and Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas

Louisiana Tech University – Matthew Loetscher, Many, La., and Caleb Boudreaux, Doyline, La.

Louisiana Tech University – Tyler Moses, Deville, La., and Brandon Greco, Shreveport, La.

Louisiana State University – Brett Matherne, Westwego, La., and Logan Mount, Leesville, La.

Louisiana State University – Richard Murdock, Lawrenceville, Ga., and Beau Hadskey, Baton Rouge, La.

McMurry University – William Cooper, Fredericksburg, Texas, and Colt Carlton, Abilene, Texas

McNeese State University – Keith Suite Jr., Singer, La., and Brian Murphy, Deridder, La.

McNeese State University – Quinton Trammel and Colt Reeves, both of Grant, La.

McNeese State University – Ty Griffen, Lake Charles, La., and Andrew Gary, Iowa, La.

New Mexico State University – Nicholas DiCamillo, Las Cruces, N.M., and Jesse Wilkinson, Albuquerque, N.M.

Northeastern State University-Tahlequah – Dylan Duncan and Kyrston Dozier, both of Kansas, Okla.

Oklahoma State University – Jacob Fish, Hillsboro, Okla., and Cameron DeBorde, Sapulpa, Okla.

Oral Roberts University – Zach Vankeulen, Overland Park, Kan., and Jonathan Williamson, Rocky Point, N.C.

Southern Arkansas University – John Wofford, Delight, Ark., and James McFadin, Heath, Texas

Southern Arkansas University – Jose Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., and Lindsey Witham, Benton, Ark.

Stephen F. Austin University – Blaze Platt, Kennedale, Texas, and Kyle Turner, Tyler, Texas

Stephen F. Austin University – Jordan Grimm, West, Texas, and Jordan Lane, North Richland Hills, Texas

Stephen F. Austin University – Shelby Hutchens, Spring, Texas, and Owen Best, Buna, Texas

Tarleton State University – Hunter Edwards and Kehl Robbins, both of Stephenville, Texas

Tarleton State University – James McCaleb, Stephenville, Texas, and Marshall Hughes, Port Neches, Texas

Texas A&M University – Cole Temple, Bryan, Texas, and Zachary Wymer, Southlake, Texas

Texas A&M University – Tyler Bradfield, Boerne, Texas, and Reid O’Connor, Cypress, Texas

Texas A&M University – Brennan Fertig, Medina, Texas, and Adam Weesner, Sugar Land, Texas

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi – Jacob Heath and Kennedy Schwartzburg, both of The Woodlands, Texas

Texas A&M University-Galveston – Noah Blackmon, Gladewater, Texas, and Roy Buxton, Decatur, Ga.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Cody Garrett and Colton Cavazos, both of Tomball, Texas

Texas Christian University – Joseph Sanderson, Fort Worth, Texas, and Guillermo Gonzalez, Miami, Fla.

Texas State University – Justin Chambers, Pilot Point, Texas, and Kevin Hoes, Austin, Texas

University of Arkansas – Kenneth Anderson and Drew Porto, both of Fayetteville, Ark.

University of Arkansas-Little Rock – Zachary Rollings and Tyler Hamby, both of Bryant, Ark.

University of Arkansas-Monticello – Richard Harris and Ryan Crowley, both of Monticello, Ark.

University of Louisiana-Monroe – Blake Alford, West Monroe, La., and Paul Clark, Monroe, La.

University of Louisiana-Monroe – Nick Ladart and Brian Eaton, both of Monroe, La.

University of North Texas – Michael Worley, Bedford, Texas, and Branden Barnett, Denton, Texas

University of Oklahoma – Landon Dixon, Hinton, Okla., and Paul Muzijakovich, Wagoner, Okla.

University of Oklahoma – Caleb Masters, Bixby, Okla., and Johnathan Haines, Tulsa, Okla.

FLW College Fishing teams compete in three qualifying events in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top fifteen teams from each regular-season tournament will qualify for one of five conference invitational tournaments. The top 10 teams from each conference invitational tournament will advance to the 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

College Fishing is free to enter. 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.

About FLW

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.