The Fairmont State University team of Wil Dieffenbach of Hundred and Brent Dodrill of Fairmont won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division opener on the Potomac River on June 27 with six bass weighing 15 pounds and five ounces. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split evenly between the University and the University’s bass-fishing club.

The team caught all their fish throwing topwater frogs targeting grass in about three to five foot of water.

The next National Guard Fishing event, hosted by French Creek Marina, will be held July 18 on 1,000 Island in Clayton, N.Y. Boats will launch from French Creek Marina, in Clayton, and the final weigh-in will be held at French Creek Marina at 250 Wahl Street.

FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008, and the entire schedule, which is organized around the five Stren Series Divisions, can be found by visiting: CollegeFishing.com along with the 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.

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 an allowance. The top five teams in each qualifying event advance to one of five televised three-day Nation 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 177TR 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 Championship is a three-day televised event hosting the top five teams from each region for a total of 25 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 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude; or a Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the wining club. The winning club’s school also is awarded $50,000. Awards of $15,000 extend through fifth, split between the club and the 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 Forest Wood Cup.

FLW Outdoors – named after Forest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats – is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes.