We reported this last month when we got official word, but the event is next week, so we’re beginning to really promote it here locally. We’ll be sending this Press Release to the media outlets tomorrow–but you get to read it here first! You can find similar information at FLW Outdoors. We hope you get to witness this exciting event that will bring lots of great publicity to the lake!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Utah Lake will be the center of activity and attention when 20 college teams compete in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Conference Championship on August 30, 31 and September 1, 2012. Among the participants are members of the Utah Valley University Bass Club.
The Utah Lake Commission, the Utah Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Utah Sports Commission are co-hosting the nationally televised tournament. Working together with FLW Outdoors and various state agencies, they have been able to bring this fun and unique event to our area. “This is a great way to promote and showcase Utah Lake and its many natural resources and recreational opportunities. Many people do not even know we have such an outstanding resource,” said Reed Price, Executive Director of the Utah Lake Commission.
Utah Lake is the third largest lake west of the Mississippi, measuring 24 miles long and up to 12 miles wide, an area of almost 100,000 acres. The average depth is 9 feet with maximum depth of 14 feet. Besides fishing, Utah Lake is the hub of many activities including sailing, water skiing, kayaking, migrating birds, winter sports, and many other activities.
All tournament participants were invited to the championship after winning qualifying events held at other venues in the western United States earlier this year. They are full-time undergraduate students at a four-year college or university and members of a fishing club recognized by their college or university. Teams competing include students from Arizona State, California Polytechnic, California State-Long Beach, California State-Monterrey, Chico State, Colorado State, Eastern Washington, Humboldt State, Northern Arizona, Oregon State, Sacramento State, University of California-Davis, University of California-Santa Cruz, and our very own Utah Valley University.
The Utah Valley University Bass Club was established in November 2011 and competed in all four 2012 Western Conference qualifying tournaments, winning two of them at Lake Havasu Arizona and Clearlake California. The immediate success of the Club’s team of Russell Behlings from Custer, South Dakota, and Aaron Warner from Orem, Utah at these qualifying events brought the attention of world-class bass fishing on Utah Lake to FLW Outdoors officials. Their accomplishments have earned them the privilege of competing for the Western Conference Championship right in their own backyard at Utah Lake, and potentially a trip to the National and even World Championships.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in four qualifying events in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top five teams from each conference championship tournament advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship where the first-place team wins $25,000 for their school and $50,000 and a Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard, as well as a berth in the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.
Tournament participants from the Western Conference will converge on Utah Lake on August 30, 31, and Sept. 1. Take off for the bass anglers will be 7 a.m. each morning and weigh-ins will be at 4 p.m. at the Orem Walmart parking lot located at 1355 Sandhill Road in Orem, Utah. Take offs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Prior to the weigh-ins, fans will be treated to the FLW Expo at the Orem Walmart on Thursday and Friday from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday from noon-4 p.m., which will be recorded for television production. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, interactive games, activities, and giveaways provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
The Western Conference Championship will be televised on NBC Sports Network on November 4, from 1-2 pm (ET) in High Definition. FLW College Fishing is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to over 559 million households worldwide; making it, the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
Photo: The UVU Bass Club