Fresno State Wins National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Regional Championship on Saguaro Lake

TEMPE, Ariz., Nov. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fresno State team of Kong Moua and Christopher Delgado both of Fresno, Calif., won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Regional Championship Saturday with two bass weighing 3 pounds, 6 ounces. The team had a three day total of 10 bass weighing 23 pounds, 11 ounces to take home a prize package worth $50,000.

The team will split the prize between their university and the university's bass fishing club - $12,500 and a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower outboard wrapped in school colors for the bass club and $12,500 for their school. The duo also earned a berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship which will be held in April 2012. Moua and Delgado beat their closest competitor, California Polytechnic, by a solid 8 pounds.

"This is what dreams are made of, I've been so blessed," said the senior history major Delgado. "Kong and I make a great team and to be able to win like this is unbelievable.

"The change in weather really shut down the fishing today," Delgado went on to say. "We really struggled and had to grind it out. We caught our first two fish within the first hour this morning and then nothing. We went to the same spot we were in yesterday, we weren't about to leave the dog pound. Unfortunately we sat there so long we drained our battery. One of the high school teams had to "escort" us in.

"You really had to fish slow or go home this week," Delgado continued. "We were drop-shotting morning dawn and oxblood with red fleck in 35- to 60-feet of water. It was a tough week and I am so thankful for our 15-pound sack yesterday."

Exhausted and overwhelmed by their victory, the two are looking forward to their first trip to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship next April.

"This is unbelievable, I know how tough it is to come in third, my mind is blown right now," said Moua a junior recreational management major. "Today was a grind. We caught our two fish early and I lost two big ones that I thought would really hurt us. Thankfully our weight held up and we were able to pull out the win."

Rounding out the top five teams and also qualifying for the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship are:

2nd: California Polytechnic – Scott Hellesen and Damian Bean, both of San Luis Obispo, Calif., eight bass, 15-11, $10,000
3rd: Sacramento State – Robert Matsuura, Sacramento, Calif., and Thomas Kanemoto, Elk Grove, Calif., nine bass, 14-3, $5,000
4th: Chico State – Thomas White, Fountain Valley, Calif., and Frank Vogt, Chico, Calif., six bass, 13-15, $5,000
5th: Chico State – Bo Harkins, Chico, Calif., and Anthony Dayton, Walnut Creek, Calif., eight bass, 13-4, $5,000

For a complete list of final standings visit CollegeFishing.com.

Overall there were ten bass weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces with zero five bass limits caught by the five teams.

The top five teams from each of the five regional tournaments will advance to the national championship where the first-place team will win a top award of $100,000; $25,000 for their school and $50,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard wrapped in school colors for their fishing club. 

Coverage of the FLW College Western Regional Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. "FLW Outdoors," will air Dec. 25 from 1 – 2 p.m. ET. "FLW Outdoors," hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide.

College Fishing is free to enter and FLW provides boats and drivers for each competing team along with travel allowances. 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.

Jacob Wall, St. Mary's High School and Colby Pearson, Crater High School, Ore., won the High School Western Regional tournament held on Saguaro Lake Saturday. TBF along with FLW held the high school tournament in conjunction with the FLW College Fishing Western Regional.

The team caught a five bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 0 ounces to beat San Benito High School, by 6 pounds, 9 ounces.

The team was drop-shotting along a bank in 8 to 20 feet of water.

"We pulled up to this random bank not knowing if it had fish or not," Pearson said. "We just kept making passes along the same bank all day long and were able to milk it for 14 pounds."

Both young anglers are planning to go to the University of Oregon so they can compete on the bass team while in college.

"We worked hard all day," Wall said. "We had to fish really slow and thankfully it paid off."

Rounding out the teams were:

2nd: San Benito High School, Manuel Munoz and Chris Fenk, five bass, 7-7
3rd:  Victory Home School, Asa and Alex Schneidermann, two bass, 4-15
4th:  Alta High School, Corey Quintana and Roy High School, Seth Hausman, three bass, 3-13
5th:  Peoria High School, Michael and Cody Nugent, one bass, 1-10
6th:  Pueblo West High School, Cody Crump and Matthew Mason, zero bass, 0-00     

The winning team was determined by the heaviest weight for a maximum of five bass. Winning teams from each of five regional championships advances to the High School Fishing National Championship for a chance to win a $10,000 scholarship ($5,000 to each team member).

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWCollegeFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/CollegeFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.

ABOUT FLW

FLW is the best in fishing, on and off the water. Anglers worldwide can compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW has taken fishing mainstream with the world's richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player's Advantage to gain an edge. For more information about FLW and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com.

SOURCE FLW Outdoors