westeRn conFeRence
cleaR lake – sept. 30
UnIveRsIty oF oReGon
t
he University of Oregon’s Ryan Habenicht and
Daniel marshall, both of Eugene, Ore., won the YETI
FlW College Fishing Western Conference tourna-
ment at Clear lake Sept. 30 with a five-bass limit weigh-
ing 18 pounds, 15 ounces.
“The key for us was figuring out that we needed to
slow way down,” says Habenicht, a senior business
major. “Traditionally, we like to fish extremely fast. But
the lake was fishing tough, and we had to make multiple
casts sometimes. At one point, it took 11 casts to catch
a fish off of a dock.”
The pair began by swimming jigs along a stretch of
shallow, rocky water on the south end of the lake, but
after not getting a bite for the first three hours of the
tournament, Habenicht and marshall switched up and
began catching fish on a variety of lures.
“We tried our backup docks in the Redbud arm,
where we nailed them with a shaky head and a 1/10-
ounce green pumpkin Ned rig,” says Habenicht. “Every
fish that we caught in the tournament came from a spot
where we had not practiced, and on a different lure. We
ended up catching about 15 to 20 fish between 11 and
1:30.”
“We managed to catch more keepers throughout the
day fishing docks and rock piles,” says marshall, also a
senior business major. “The best lure for us was a Frenzy
Baits Wack-A-Sack jig with a 3-inch shad-colored
Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver.”
november-december 2017 I flWfIshIng.com
centRal conFeRence
mIssIssIppI RIveR – oct. 7
UnIveRsIty oF wIsconsIn
s
wim jigs fished in 1 to 5 feet of water in backwater
areas with current was the winning pattern for
the University of Wisconsin team of Turner
Truttschel of madison, Wis., and Colin Steck of
Waunakee, Wis., at the YETI FlW College Fishing Central
Conference tournament on the mississippi River in
Prairie Du Chien, Wis., Oct. 7. They weighed in a five-bass
limit worth 16 pounds, 10 ounces.
“We had five key areas in Pool 9 that each held at
least one big fish,” says Truttschel, a freshman in the pre-
business program. The tournament launched in Pool 10.
“The spots ranged from the bottom to the top of the
pool, and they all had current and grass, rocks or weeds.
We caught the majority of our fish swimming the jig
across and around backwater points that had current
and grass.”
Although one keeper came on a topwater, most of
the team’s fish were caught on a 1/2-ounce lethal
Weapon II Swim Jig (black and blue), with a grub or min-
now trailer.
“Our spots varied in depth and structure, but I think
the biggest key was using our time wisely to be able to
fish all of our spots effectively, especially making that
long run that cut about an hour and a half out of our
fishing time,” adds Steck, a freshman pre-med major.
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