FLW Collegiate Series Western Regional Championship Preview
The FLW National Guard western series hits the CA Delta September 23rd-26th, but it won't be the only FLW event on the Delta that week. The FLW College Series western regional championship will take place the weekend before from September 19th-21st.
The FLW college series is in its inaugural season providing four regions of bass fishing competitions for college students around the country. The program is completely college angler friendly providing boats, travel money, and scholarships for both the school and club for winning teams. Each tournament was held on the final day of the Stren events which allowed FLW professional boaters to donate their time and shuttle teams around for the tournament.
After four events teams who finished in the top five of any of the tournaments are invited to fish in the upcoming regional championship. The top twenty teams for the west are vying for a place in the top five which will advance that school to the national championship against the other regions qualifying teams. The winner of the regional championship will also receive a boat wrapped in the school's colors for the club.
Here are the top 5 teams from each event:
Tournament 1 March 7 th Clear Lake:
The tournament was won by the U.C. Davis team of Steve Reed and Ken Gunderson with 23-9 for a 6 fish limit. U.C. Davis won the event drop shotting Roboworms on deeper rocks that received a lot of sun throughout the day.
2. Sacramento State: Steven Lesieur and Matthew Paul 19-04
3. University of Nevada Reno: Travis Olson and Justin Landerman 17-01
4. University of Oregon: Marcus Johnson and Christopher Stam 15-14
5. Arizona State University: Joseph Jarrell and Mark Walker 15-07
Tournament 2 April 18 th Lake Roosevelt:
The tournament was won by the Chico State team of Matt Dixon and Spencer Moran with 15lbs for 6 fish. They used spinnerbaits and senkos on deep structure.
2. University of Oregon: Carter Troughton and Ryan Troughton 10-14
3. San Jose State: Glenn Wyatt and Eric Andersen 9-08
4. Arizona State: Mitch Kistner and Craig Carroll 9-04
5. Arizona State: Brandon Service and Jon Prosch 7-14
Tournament 3 May 16 th Lake Oroville:
The tournament was won by the Washington State team of Ryan Bernsen and Kyle Wright with a weight of 10-09 for 6 fish. They drop shotted roboworms in deep water and caught about 25 fish throughout the day.
2. Chico State: Marshal Smith and Mike Reis: 9-15
3. Sonoma State University: Alex Christianson and Alan Kuramura 9-11
4. University of California Davis: Steve Reed and Ken Gunderson 9-06
5. San Jose State University: Alex Thiemann and Nick Burggraff 9-05
Tournament 4 May 30 th C.A. Delta:
The tournament was won by the Fresno State team of Sark Davidian and Kong Moua with a weight of 19-04. They weighed in four fish including a fish estimated at 12lbs. They caught their fish on spinnerbaits and brushhogs.
2. Sacramento State: Steven Lesiuer and Matthew Paul 16-03
3. Sacramento State: Alex Brassington and Christopher Wong 15-06
4. University of Oregon: Ross Richards and Reed Frazier 12-00
5. Humboldt State University: Hideaki Kubo and JD Jones 11-06
The regional tournament will have all teams fishing the first two days with a cut down to six for the third and final day. The conditions suggest a typical late summer early fall bite which usually means flipping heavy cover and topwater baits. Tournaments this time of year are often won with upwards of 25lbs so the bite could be very good, but will be greatly affected by the temperatures. Steady weather patterns will mean big bags, but inconsistent weather will provide a huge challenge.
Here is what Brent Ehrler had to offer as advice for the college anglers:
“Your two primary patterns will be topwater and flipping. Typically on the high tide, I lean toward flipping tules with a Berkley 4-inch PowerBait Chigger Craw or a Berkley PowerBait Mud Critter . I like to use green-pumpkin if the water is clear and June-bug if the water is stained. I also rig the baits with a color-matched 3/8-ounce Tru-Tungsten Flippin' Weight . On the low tide, I lean toward topwater offerings like the Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 in chartreuse shad, a swimming frog like the Zoom Horny Toad or Stanley Ribbit in black or white or a floating frog like the Reaction Innovations Swamp Donkey in black or white. I fish the Horny Toad and Ribbit like a buzzbait and prefer to fish them weightless. Under the midday sun, punching through thick hyacinth mats or mats of dead tules and grass with a 1- to 1 1/2-ounce Tru-Tungsten Flippin' Weight can produce nice fish. Stick with the Mud Critter for this technique, but switch to a 70-pound braid line. You should also come prepared to drop-shot a Berkley 6-inch PowerBait Hand Pour Worm or a 6-inch Roboworm in purple or oxblood colors. A weightless wacky- or Texas-rigged Yamamoto Senko in watermelon or green-pumpkin is another good option. The influence of the tide is very important. The fish are much more aggressive when the water is moving, and you usually only have an hour or two to take advantage of it. I typically have the most success at low tide when the top of the grass is just below the surface and holes in the hydrilla become visible. Bass will congregate in these holes or on the outside edges of the grass until the high tide, then they will move back into the tules where they are much harder to catch due to the thick cover. Specific areas you might want to check out include Franks Tract, Discovery Bay and Mildred Island.” (1)
The western regional has the following teams competing:
1 SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY ALEX CHRISTIANSON & ALAN KURAMURA
2 ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY BRENT PERKINS & JEREMY PENNELL
3 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ROSS RICHARDS & REED FRAZIER
4 CHICO STATE MATT DIXON & SPENCER MORAN
5 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO TRAVIS OLSON & JUSTIN LANDERMAN
6 HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY JD JONES & HIDEAKI KUBO
7 UC DAVIS STEVE REED & KEN GUNDERSON
8 FRESNO STATE SARK DAVIDIAN & KONG MOUA
9 SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY GLEN WYATT & ERIC ANDERSEN
10 SACRAMENTO STATE ALEC BRASSINGTON & CHRISTOPHER WONG
11 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON CHRISTOPHER STAM & MARCUS JOHNSON
12 SACRAMENTO STATE STEPHEN LESIEUR & MATTHEW PAUL
13 SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY COREY SHEEHAN & JOHN YANDELL
14 ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY MITCH KISTNER & CRAIG CARROLL
15 WASHINGTON STATE RYAN BERNSEN & KYLE WRIGHT
16 SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY JARED BIDDLE & NATE SHANKLES
17 ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY JOSEPH JARRELL & MARK WALKER
18 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON CARTER TROUGHTON & RYAN TROUGHTON
19 CHICO STATE MARSHAL SMITH & MIKE REIS
20 SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY ALEX THIEMANN & NICK BURGGRAFF
. . .
(1) Courtesy of FLWOutdoors.com