Lake Cumberland Readies For FLW Youth Bass Tournaments
Category: Tournament
Apr 2nd, 2019 by sworrall
Modified Apr 2nd, 2019 at 10:51 PM
YETI FLW College Fishing tournament set for Friday, Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Open tournament to follow Saturday
BURNSIDE, Ky. (April 2, 2019) – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) is set to visit Burnside next week, April 12-13, with the YETI FLW College Fishing event at Lake Cumberland presented by Costa and the Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Open at Lake Cumberland. The tournaments, hosted by the Burnside Tourism Commission, will showcase some of the top young anglers from across the region competing for cash and prizes and angling for their chance to advance to the FLW College Fishing National Championship and High School Fishing National Championship events.
“The key to these tournaments will be not getting overwhelmed,” said Rapala pro Terry Bolton of Benton, Kentucky, a 13-time FLW Cup qualifier. “Lake Cumberland is a big lake and it’s easy to feel a little bit lost. When I’ve had the most success there, it has usually been because I pick one area and stay with it. Those creeks are so big, and there is so much water to fish that if you try to fish too fast you’ll burn up a lot of fishing time just running around.”
Bolton said that if he were fishing the event that he’d be targeting flooded cover with ¾-ounce and ½-ounce spinnerbaits or throwing swimbaits on points for prespawn smallmouth.
“Judging by the time of year and water temps, I think both species (largemouth and smallmouth) will be in play,” Bolton said. “It won’t be a problem to catch 13 or 14 pounds. The key will be finding the 4-pound-type class of fish and catching 17 or 18 pounds to separate from the field.
“I think to win each of these events, a team is going to have to weigh in 17 to 17½ pounds,” Bolton went on to say.
The college anglers will kick off competition on Friday, April 12, at 7 a.m. EDT at General Burnside Island State Park, located at 8801 S. Highway 27 in Burnside. The weigh-in will be held at the State Park on Friday at 3 p.m. The high school anglers will then compete on Saturday, April 13, launching at 7 a.m. from the State Park and weighing in at 3 p.m. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free to attend and open to the public, and will be streamed live online at FLWFishing.com.
YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school. The top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats. The Potomac River and Marbury, Maryland, will play host to the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship, June 4-6, 2019.
The Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Open tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and open to any FLW and Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school clubs. The top 10 percent of teams at each Open event along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships will advance to the 2019 High School Fishing National Championship on Pickwick Lake in June. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing and the Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Opens at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.