FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference Heads For Lake Guntersville

GUNTERSVILLE – FLW College Fishing is headed to Lake Guntersville May 17 for the third and final regular-season stop in the Southeastern Conference. Fifty college teams will be competing for a top award of $2,000 and a berth in the Southeastern Conference Invitational tournament.

     “Guntersville is fishing great right now, and by the time this tournament starts it should be even better,” said Straight Talk Wireless pro Scott Canterbury of Springville, Ala., who has three top-ten finishes on Lake Guntersville in FLW competition. “Anglers are going to be able to fish to their strengths and catch them any way they want to.”

     Canterbury suggested that most of the large schools of bass will have moved to the ledges, but tournament anglers would still be able to put together a solid limit of bass if they prefer to fish shallow.

“There will definitely be some fish still shallow,” Canterbury said. “Find the greenest grass you can. The bass are biting topwater baits pretty good right now. A Heddon Zara Spook, swimbait or a swimjig will all catch fish.

     “But, if they’re comfortable fishing deep, that’s where I think the tournament will be won,” Canterbury continued. “Be looking at your electronics and graphs and a team will definitely find some big schools out deep on the ledges. These anglers will be throwing crankbaits, football jigs and big swimbaits.

     “The potential for a huge stringer is always there on Lake Guntersville,” Canterbury went on to say. “You can catch in the lower- to mid-20 pounds fishing shallow, but I think a team that is fishing deep will bring 25 to 28 pounds in to win the event.”

     Anglers will take off from Civitan Park located at 1130 Sunset Drive in Guntersville, Ala., at 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 2:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.

     Schools competing in the Lake Guntersville tournament, which is hosted by the Marshall County Convention & Visitors Bureau, include:

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College – Hunter Coppolino, Fayetteville, Ga., and Taylor Thompson, Kennesaw, Ga.

Bethel University – Cody Ross and Dewey Swims, both of Jackson, Tenn.

Clemson University – Ross Burns, Columbia, S.C., and Isaac Nesbitt, Aiken, S.C.

Coastal Carolina University – Kristin Forquer, Hedgesville, W. Va., and John Duarte, Middle River, Md.

Columbus State University – Brad Davis, Winder, Ga., and Michael Chambliss, Cataula, Ga.

Darton State College – Kyle Parks, Albany, Ga., and Grant Kimbrel, Shellman, Ga.

Daytona State College – Thomas Oltorik, Deland, Fla., and Zach Ford, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

East Carolina University – Zachary Blalock, Winterville, N.C., and Kyle Albers, Washingtonville, N.Y.

Florida Gulf Coast University – Christian Smith, Coral Springs, Fla., and Hunter Bozeman, Ocala, Fla.

Florida State University – Nicholas Harris, Marianna, Fla., and Cody Spears, Tallahassee, Fla.

Georgia College – Clayton Faircloth, Swainsboro, Ga., and Ramsey Wynne, Gray, Ga.

Georgia Regents University – Daniel Hughes, Thomson, Ga., and Mason Tippins, Dearing, Ga.

Georgia Southern University – Trent Palmer, Peachtree City, Ga., and Jonathan Rotureau, Guyton, Ga.

Georgia State University – Adam Acker, Douglasville, Ga., and Austin King, McDonough, Ga.

Jacksonville State University – Jakarvis Houston, Weaver, Ala., and Colby Smith, Jacksonville, Ala.

Kennesaw State University – Nicholas Friedrich, Atlanta, Ga., and Justin Isbrecht, Kennesaw, Ga.

Lander University – Roland Addy, Saluda, S.C., and Matthew Smith, Honea Path, S.C.

Middle Georgia State College – Kristofer Kemp, Snellville, Ga., and Ethan Wallace, Macon, Ga.

Mississippi College – Quentin Bremenkamp, Gulfport, Miss., and Will Hedgepeth, Clinton, Miss.

Mississippi State University – Taylor Odom, Meridian, Miss., and Josh Cameron, Starkville, Miss.

Newberry College – Michael Sexton, Summerville, S.C., and Joe Tompkins, Charleston, S.C.

North Carolina State University – Bryce Owen, Carthage, N.C., and Dustin Millwood, Cherryville, N.C.

North Florida University – Brock Lee, Jacksonville, Tenn., and Rich Rittichai, Orlando, Fla.

Polk State College – Austin Bell and Cody Gill, both of Winter Haven, Fla.

Samford University – Andrew Brown and Will Worthington, both of Cullman, Ala.

Seminole State College – Michael Skat, Sanford, Fla., and Neal Combs, Osteen, Fla.

Southern Polytechnic State University – Grant Kelly, McDonough, Ga., and David Sherry, Marietta, Ga.

Tennessee Tech University – Matt Allen, Cookeville, Tenn., and Zach Youngblood, Silver Point, Tenn.

University of Florida – Shelby Concon, Fruitland Park, Fla., and Kyle Smith, Macclenny, Fla.

University of Georgia – Byron Kenney, Griffin, Ga., and Will Treadwell, Buford, Ga.

University of Mississippi – Christian Braswell, Gulfport, Miss., and Costa Kell, Dallas, Texas

University of Montevallo – Joseph Fuller, Brierfield, Ala., and Travis King, Huntsville, Alaska

University of North Carolina-Charlotte – Jacob Whitaker, Fairview, N.C., and Cole Blythe, Charlotte, N.C.

University of North Carolina-Greensboro – Kenneth Vansparrentak, Ledyard, Conn., and Austin Frazier, Randleman, N.C.

University of North Georgia – Jonathan Sosebee, Clarksville, Ga., and Clint Coker, Demorest, Ga.

University of South Alabama – Logan Marston and Ethan Wages, both of Mobile, Ala.

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

University of South Florida – Matthew Reeves, Hilliard, Fla., and Nick Ahearn, Sebring, Fla.

University of Southern Mississippi – Jeremy McGee, Wiggins, Miss., and Kevin Wabel, Perkinston, Miss.

University of Tennessee-Chattanooga – Lance Geren, Cleveland, Tenn., and Parker Bacon, Nashville, Tenn.

University of West Georgia – Matt McKenzie and Brandon Black, both of Douglasville, Ga.

Valdosta State University – Michael Harbach and Taylor Minick, both of Valdosta, Ga.

Western Carolina University – Ethan Pace, Canton, N.C., and Chandler Todd, Wake Forest, N.C.

Young Harris College – Joe Thompson, Clayton, Ga., and Grayson Payne, Blairsville, Ga.

     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 ten teams from each conference invitational tournament will advance to the 2015 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.