The University of Louisiana-Monroe team of Tyler Craig of Frierson, La., and Brian Eaton of Monroe, La., won the FLW College Fishing Southern Conference event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Saturday with five bass weighing 29 pounds, 5 ounces – the heaviest one-day five-bass limit ever weighed in FLW College Fishing history. The victory earned the club $2,000 and advanced the team to the FLW College Fishing Southern Conference Championship tournament. With 89 collegiate teams participating, this weekend’s tournament also broke the record for the largest field in FLW College Fishing history.
“It was amazing,” said Craig, a sophomore majoring in pre-Pharmacy. “It was a dream come true to win this tournament.”
“It feels pretty awesome,” said Eaton, a senior majoring in Nursing. “I’ve never won a college tournament before.”
To seal the deal, the University of Louisiana-Monroe duo threw Umbrella Rigs, Stanley Jigs and Zoom Swimmin’ Fluke Jr.’s up into a 10-foot ledge on the north end of the lake. Throwing to this spot, along with another 14-foot ledge nearby in deeper water, was the key to victory for the two anglers.
“We had about 20 pounds by 8:30 a.m. We felt we were in pretty good shape,” said Eaton. “By 12:30 p.m., we had the majority of our weight and figured it would be enough to win.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the Southern Conference Championship tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:
1st University of Louisiana-Monroe - Brian Eaton, Monroe, La., and Tyler Craig, Frierson, La. (five bass, 29-5, $2,000)
2nd Lamar University - Garrett Hilton & Quinton Evans, both of Orange, Texas (five bass, 26-11, $1,000)
3rd Lamar University - Colby Ogden, Kountze, Texas, and Brandon Simoneaux, Bridge City, Texas (five bass, 15-12, $500)
4th Louisiana Tech University - Zachary Sparish, Robeline, La. and Austin Sepulvado, Calhoun, La., (five bass, 15-3, $500)
5th Tarleton State University-Stephenville - Tanner Crim, Stephenville, Texas, and Marshall Hughes, Port Neches, Texas (five bass, 14-12, $500)
6th Texas A & M University-Kingsville - Cody Garrett and Clint Marek, both of Kingsville, Texas (five bass, 14-6)
7th Texas A & M University – Texarkana - Josh Cole and Logan Byrd, both of Texarkana, Texas, (five bass, 14-1)
8th Dallas Baptist University - Zackery Hines, Tuscola, Texas and Reed Foster, Combine, Texas (five bass, 13-6)
9th Louisiana State University - Jarod Hughes, St. Amant, La., and Darrell Henson Jr., Greenwell Springs, La., (three bass, 13-5)
10th University of Louisiana-Lafayette - Ry Savory, St. Martinsville, La., and Dustin Robichaux, Lafeyette, La., (five bass, 12-9)
Complete results can be found at CollegeFishing.com.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in qualifying tournaments 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 Championship tournaments. The top ten teams from each of the five Conference Championship tournaments 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.