The winner of the FLW College Fishing Central Conference event on Mississippi River goes to Illinois Central College team of Tyler Rocke of Peoria, Illinois, and Justin Schick of Morton, Illinois. They won Saturday with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 12 ounces. The victory earned the club $2,000 and advanced the team to the FLW College Fishing Central Conference Championship tournament.
“I couldn’t be happier with the results,” said Rocke, a junior majoring in marketing. “This is the first year our club has been up and running so to bring home a win is a big step for our sustainability.”
“Like my teammate said, it’s quite an accomplishment,” added Schick, a sophomore majoring in finance. “Its days like these when you’re really proud to represent your school.”
The duo said they started their day casting frogs to lily pads but weren’t able to find the bite. Around 8:30 a.m. they began flipping jigs into wood at a slough near Goose Island and caught a small limit within 30 minutes.
“We knew there were bigger fish in the Goose Island area,” said Rocke. “So around 10 we switched strategies and targeted three key cut banks where we were able to catch fish in 3- to 5-foot depths. We caught our kicker – a 4-pounder – around 11 a.m. and another big 3-pound fish around noon.
“I used a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin Reactions Innovations Sweet Beaver while Justin threw a custom jig with a green-pumpkin Strike King Rage Tail Craw,” Rocke continued. “The more current we could find, the better it was.”
“Making the decision to leave the wood and focus on the cut banks was what sealed the deal for us,” concluded Schick. “We made the most of the 10 keepers we ended up catching.”
The top 15 teams that advanced to the Central Conference Championship tournament on Carlyle Lake are:
1st: Illinois Central College – Justin Schick, Morton, Ill., and Tyler Rocke, Peoria, Ill., five bass, 16-12, $2,000 Club Scholarship
2nd: Winona State University – Wyatt Stout, Winona, Minn., and Cade Laufenberg, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 16-1, $1,000 Club Scholarship
3rd: University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Grant Ehlenfeldt, New Richmond, Wis., and Brett Stanek, Elroy, Wis., five bass, 15-15, $500 Club Scholarship
4th: University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Ryan Pinkalla, Egan, Minn., and Kason Morley, Arkdale, Wis., five bass, 15-14, $500 Club Scholarship
5th: University of Minnesota-Duluth – Justin Sande, Orono, Minn., and Erik Gaffron, Maple Grove, Minn., five bass, 15-8, $500 Club Scholarship
6th: University of Dubuque – Austin Brimeyer, Dubuque, Iowa, and Eric Nie, Jesup, Iowa, five bass, 14-15
7th: University of Kentucky – Hunter Fulcher, White Plains, Ky., and Ryan Collins, Springfield, Mo., five bass, 14-15
8th: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Daniel Blasy, Eden Prarie, Minn., and Steven Sellnow, Watertown, Wis., five bass, 14-6
9th: Greenville College – Joseph Seabaugh, Walshville, Ill., and Ray Hingson, Montrose, Ill., five bass, 14- 0
10th: Iowa State University – Justin Heim, Luxemburg, Iowa, and Andrew Paulsen, Ames, Iowa, five bass, 13-12
11th: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – Pat Bowers, Hudson, Wis., and Sig Finley, Wonder Lake, Ill., five bass, 13-5
12th: Bemidji State University – Thor Swanson and Mitchell Swanson, both of Blaine, Minn., five bass, 13-2
13th: University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Jordan Saladis, McFarland, Wis., and Brett Daggett, Cottage Grove, Wis., five bass, 12-11
14th: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Collin Cropp, Janesville, Wis., and Mitch Van Ert, Watertown, Wis., five bass, 12-10
15th: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Nicholas Andersen, Racine, Wis., and Andrew Mlotek, Naperville, Ill., five bass, 12-4
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
This FLW College Fishing Central Conference event was the third and final regular-season qualifying tournament. The next event for Central Conference anglers is the Central Conference Championship, scheduled for Oct. 3-4 on Carlyle Lake in Carlyle, Illinois.
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.
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