The Purdue University team of Nicholas Schuetz of Loogootee, Ind., and Elliott Myers of Anderson, Ind., won the
National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Conference Championship on Carlyle Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit that weighed 11 pounds, 6 ounces. Their three day total weight of 37-15 beat rivals Indiana University by a solid 3 pounds, 8 ounces. The team won a Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“I did a good job netting,” joked Schuetz, a recent graduate in electrical engineering. “I didn’t know what to do; Elliott was putting on a show today. I was netting and fighting the wind and the trolling motor all day. I could have put my rod down and it wouldn’t have mattered."
Indicating that they fished the same area throughout the tournament the team was targeting wood today unlike Thursday and Friday when they were targeting grass. According to Schuetz the cold front that ran through last night kept the bass near the heat of the wood. He also said that being able to make adjustments each day was key to their success.
“We used three key baits,” Myers, an undeclared sophomore added. “On Thursday we were using Secret Lures Stupid Tubes, Friday we whacked ‘em with Terminator Spinnerbaits and today we were using YoMama baits, it’s beaver type bait.”
Sharing the same water with Winona State all week the Purdue team said the separator today was their patience. According to Schuetz Winona left the area early while they (Purdue) toughed it out. They slowed down their fishing and just kept pitching wood all day long.
“We probably aren’t the best fisherman out there,” Schuetz went on to say. “But we were able to find the fish and any time you find the fish it’s a score. After we qualified for the Central Conference Championship both Elliott and I spent as much time as we could practicing here and we knew where they were not! Being able to do that really helped us eliminate water and focus on other more productive areas.”
Top-five teams are:
1st: Purdue University – Nicholas Schuetz, Loogootee, Ind., and Elliott Myers, Anderson, Ind., 15 bass, 37-15, Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury
2nd: Indiana University – Dustin Vaal, Bloomington, Ind., and Steven Bressler, Fremont, Ind., 15 bass, 34-7, $5,000
3rd: Eastern Kentucky – John Smith, London, Ky., and Kyle Raymer, Brandenburg, Ky., 15 bass, 33-14, $3,000
4th: Winona State University – Cade Laufenberg, Stoddard, Wis., and Sam Schollmeier, Rochester, Minn., 13 bass, 33-3, $3,000
5th: Georgetown College – Mike Huff, Corbin, Ky., and Nick Huff, Georgetown, Ky., 15 bass, 32-13, $3,000
