Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech team of Ryan Slate and Caleb Brown won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division event on 1000 Islands Saturday, July 18, with six bass weighing a total of 18 pounds, 15 ounces.

The team made the drive up to New York for the tournament, and made good use of the travel.

"The smartest decision we made was to make a stop at Wal-Mart and pick up a map of 1000 Islands, because we needed to study the water," Slate said. "We looked at where our starting point was, and we just went from there."

With the win, the university and the Tech bass fishing club will split a $10,000 prize.

Slate, a senior, and Brown, a sophomore, teamed up for their first career tournament win.

"I can't stress enough that it was a team," Slate said. "Caleb was an amazing teammate. He listened, suggested different tackle, and made me think out of the box."

FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008.

"I've heard of FLW Outdoors everywhere," Slate said.  "I know they are big with the National Guard, and they have big time tournaments."

The entire schedule, which is organized around the five Stren Series Divisions, can be found by visiting CollegeFishing.com along with rules, requirements and information on how to create a bass club.

Full-time students enrolled in four-year colleges or universities are eligible to participate in the events.

Schools can send two-person teams to each of the four qualifying events in their division, with each event limited to a maximum of 40 teams.

Slate brought plenty of experience to the team. "I have been fishing competitively since I joined the bass fishing team at Virginia Tech," he said. "Now I am ready to step it up a notch and continue what I am doing."

Each team has the opportunity to win $10,000 for first and $2,000 through fifth place.

Prize money is split evenly between the winning team's club and the school they represent.

The tournaments are free to enter, boats and drivers are provided and all collegiate teams receive a travel allowance.

"We had a very academic strategy. During the drive to New York, we got to know each other's fishing styles and how we fished certain baits," said Slate. "It was great to get on the same page."

That strategy paid dividends.

"We charted islands that we wanted to fish, where the water got shallow, and deep quickly for bass," Slate said. "The wind was too much, though, so we decided to move into a bay, where the wind was on our side, and our strengths were on our side, and everything clicked."

The top five teams in each qualifying event advance to one of five televised three-day National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships.

Each school represented in a televised Regional Championship will have team shirts and boats provided by Ranger. The purse for each Regional Championship includes a Ranger 177 TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $25,000 for the school they represent.

Awards of $6,000 also extend through fifth place for the club and school to split evenly.

The National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship is a three-day televised event hosting the top five teams from each regional, 25 total teams.

Teams will be provided shirts and wrapped Ranger boats towed by Chevy trucks for this competition.

The purse for the championship ranges from $25,000 cash and a Ranger 177 TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $50,000 for the school they represent to $15,000 for fifth, split between the club and school.

The winning team will be declared the National Guard FLW Collegiate National Champion and will qualify for the $2.5 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol in 2010. The winners will also receive use of a wrapped boat and Chevy truck for the Forrest Wood Cup.

"Before winning this tournament, fishing was just a hobby," said Slate. "I knew I was good, but now we can take it to the next level."

This team of Hokies plans on making their home school proud in those upcoming tournaments.

"The excitement we have is awesome," said Slate. "The regional championship is going to be hard, no doubt about it. We're going to be fishing against very good teams, and the stakes are higher."