FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference readies for second tournament of season on Lake Guntersville

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Guntersville on May 21 for the second of three regular-season bass-fishing tournaments in the Southeastern Conference. A full field of college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the FLW College Fishing National Championship.

“This is going to be a really fun tournament for the college anglers,” said Walmart pro Mark Rose, who has four career top-10 finishes on Lake Guntersville in FLW competition. “All over the Tennessee River the fish are starting to transition out deep, but there will still be plenty of fish shallow. There should be a lot of different styles of fishing in this event.

“My advice to the college anglers would be not to be intimidated by fishing out offshore,” Rose continued. “A lot of people grew up fishing where they had to be throwing at a shallow target, or on the bank, but there are targets offshore as well – river ledges, stumps, an end of a bar on the river. Picture that bank offshore being just like the bank that they can see with their eyes and let your electronics be your eyes under the water.”

Rose expects that the college anglers will be throwing the normal Tennessee River arsenal – swimbaits, crankbaits and football-head jigs out deep and jigs, swimbaits and flipping baits for anglers who fish shallow.

“The trick on the Tennessee River is not to have a secret bait – it’s to have a secret spot,” Rose said. “The fish are easy to catch offshore once you can find them. I’d recommend to spend a little more time idling, looking for the big schools. A lot of times these tournaments are won by someone who is not a local and finds a little niche spot all to themselves.

“I look for a team that weighs a limit in the mid-20-pound range to win,” Rose went on to say. “You can catch 25 pounds anywhere up and down the Tennessee River and Guntersville is certainly among the best fisheries in the country.”

Anglers will take off from Lake Guntersville State Park, located at 7699 Alabama Highway 227 in Guntersville, at 6:30 a.m. CDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.

Schools are allowed to register up until the morning of the tournament. Entries may be made either by phone or at CollegeFishing.com.

Schools currently registered to compete in the Lake Guntersville tournament, which is hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau, include:

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College – Taylor Thompson, Kennesaw, Ga., and Blake Yarbrough, Fitzgerald, Ga.

Auburn University – Armando Ortiz, Stinnett, Texas, and Zach Buchanan, Dothan, Ala.

Auburn University – Murphy Klumpp, Fairhope, Ala., and Brooks Phillips, Birmingham, Ala.

Auburn University – Ethan Hayes, Auburn, Ala., and Cole Burdeshaw, Newville, Ala.

Auburn University – Mitchell Jennings, Auburn, Ala., and Christopher Knight, Jr., Sylacauga, Ala.

Austin Peay State University – Jacob Hamilton, Medina, Tenn., and Wesley Barnes, Erin, Tenn.

Bryan College – Caleb Luzadar, Cleveland, Tenn., and Cole Sands, Dayton, Tenn.

Bryan College – Christopher Kanute, Warrior, Ala., and Conner Thompson, Fort Payne, Ala.

Bryan College – Dylan Pritchett and Jalen Smith, both of Dayton, Tenn.

Bryan College – Nathan Bell, Riceville, Tenn., and Dylan Kear, Clinton, Tenn.

Bryan College – A.J. Barnes, Harrison, Tenn., and Robert Gibson, Decatur, Tenn.

Bryan College – Johnathan Peck, Louisville, Ky., and Tyler Chumley, Lafollette, Tenn.

Clemson University – Tyler Brown, Lake Wylie, S.C., and Jay Addison, Clinton, S.C.

Coastal Carolina University – John Duarte and Jonathan Kelley, both of Middle River, Md.

Columbus State University – Brad Davis, Winder, Ga., and John Duckworth, Cataula, Ga.

Columbus State University – Michael Chambliss, Cataula, Ga., and Turner Carlisle, Fortson, Ga.

Darton State College – Dalton Dedge, Leesburg, Ga., and Kyle Sellers, Lumpkin, Ga.

Darton State College – Wesley Griner and Corey Brown, both of Leesburg, Ga.

Daytona State College – Thomas Oltorik and James Oltorik, both of Deland, Fla.

Florida Gulf Coast University – Hunter Bozeman, Ocala, Fla., and Zane Xanders, Mount Vernon, Ill.

Georgia College and State University – Alex Schieman, Lawrenceville, Ga., and Garrett Reynolds, Lilburn, Ga.

Georgia Highlands College – Eric Fisher, Dallas, Ga., and Destin Herron, Cartersville, Ga.

Georgia State University – Adam Acker, Douglasville, Ga., and Christian Cook, Roswell, Ga.

Haywood Community College – Kolby Kindley, Trinity, N.C., and Adam Powell, Nebo, N.C.

Lander University – Ben Stone, Donalds, S.C., and Collin Smith, Honea Path, S.C.

Lander University – Trevor Stewart, Boiling Springs, S.C., and Greyson Williams, Greenwood, S.C.

Mississippi State University – Joseph Marty, Starkville, Miss., and Kyle Alford, Brandon, Miss.

Polk State College – Trever Stephens, Auburndale, Fla., and Austin Bell, Winter Haven, Fla.

Polk State College – Kyle Stafford, Lakeland, Fla., and Willard Wooten, Bartow, Fla.

Roane State Community College – Tavin Napier and Kyler Hagler, both of Rockwood, Tenn.

Southwest Mississippi Community College – Tucker Adams and Justin Reynolds, both of Smithdale, Miss.

Tennessee Technological University – Dylan Fehr, Crossville, Tenn., and Cody Blackburn, Lewisburg, Tenn.

Tennessee Technological University – Daniel Holt, Maryville, Tenn., and Derick Robinson, Greenback, Tenn.

Tennessee Technological University – Jesse Garren, Lenoir City, Tenn., and Travis Howard, Sparta, Tenn.

Tusculum College – Nick Hatfield, Chuckey, Tenn., and Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn.

University of Alabama-Birmingham – Jacob Burns, Morris, Ala., and Chris Hiott, Trussville, Ala.

University of Central Florida – Caleb Bundy, Lake City, Fla., and Jake Carter, Clermont, Fla.

University of Montevallo – Tyler Howard and Jeffrey Mills, Pelham, Ala.

University of Montevallo – Ryan Baker and Chase Baker, both of Clanton, Ala.

University of North Alabama – Andrew Cannon and Daniel Leiner, both of Huntsville, Ala.

University of North Alabama – Evan Bernas, El Paso, Texas, and Matthew Uptain, Harvest, Ala.

University of North Alabama – Hunter Haney, Town Creek, Ala., and Andrew Tate, Florence, Ala.

University of North Carolina-Greensboro – Bradley Lovings, Kernersville, N.C., and Austin Moore, Troy, N.C.

University of North Georgia – Reid Daniel, Flowery Branch, Ga., and Ben Adams, Buford, Ga.

University of South Carolina – Dylan Allison, Inman, S.C., and Zack Catoe, Lancaster, S.C.

University of South Carolina – Patrick Walters, Summerville, S.C., and Gettys Brannon, Gaffney, S.C.

University of South Carolina – Trevor Gann, Huntersville, N.C., and Cody Clark, Concord, N.C.

University of South Carolina – Ethan Ingle, West Columbia, S.C., and Will Miller, High Point, N.C.

University of South Carolina-Upstate – Joshua Rowland, Greer, S.C., and Brett Bryant, Simpsonville, S.C.

University of South Florida-Sarasota-Manatee – T.J. Sroufe, Adrian, Mich., and Tom Patten, Bradenton, Fla.

University of Tennessee – Timothy Painter and Reid McCullough, both of Hendersonville, Tenn.

University of West Alabama – Trent Humber, Caledonia, Miss., and Austin Tubbs, Selma, Ala.

Wake Forest University – Ryan Edwards, Stuart, Fla., and Lance Berry, Charlotte, N.C.

Wallace State Community College – Greg Dean, Bremen, Ala., and Forrest Sears, Baileyton, Ala.

Wallace State Community College – Houston Calvert, Hayden, Ala., and Ryan Shields, New Market, Ala.

FLW College Fishing teams compete in regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top 10 teams from each regular-season tournament will advance to the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

College Fishing is free to enter. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college 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 world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Periscope: @FLWFishing.

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