Fishing Solo Means Eku Angler Will Have To Fish Smart In Flw College Central Conference Championship
In his college career, Ethan Snyder and his Eastern Kentucky teammates have won three FLW College Central Conference qualifiers, but he will be navigating uncharted waters in the Central Conference Championship this weekend on Carlyle Lake in Carlyle, Ill. He actually knows the lake itself, but he will be fishing it solo – an unfamiliar situation, for sure.
Shaw Owens, who teamed with Snyder to win the Central Conference tournament on Kentucky Lake last month, had some school issues that will keep him out of competition this weekend.
“We were fortunate to win at Kentucky Lake together,” said Snyder. “This will be my first college tournament where I had to go on it on my own. It will be different from the standpoint of not having someone in the boat with me to kind of help eliminate water, suggest different things. It is definitely going to be a whole lot different.”
The lake itself, he said, also presents a challenge.
“I went out to Carlyle to practice two weeks ago on Saturday and Sunday and it seemed pretty tough. The lake was a lot lower than it was when I was there three years ago. Conditions were also tough. The wind was blowing and that lake limits you when the wind blows.”
Although the lake encompasses 26,000 acres, Snyder said it only has a half dozen or so small creeks feeding it so there is not nearly as much shoreline to fish as most other lakes.
“When the wind blows it really fishes small,” he said.
Snyder plans to leave very early Thursday morning to get in two days of practice before the tournament starts on Saturday.
“I am going to try to figure something out different than what I know everybody else will be trying to do,” he said. “I’m not going to burn a lot of gas and I’m not going to fish any of the areas we were in two weeks ago. I’m going to try to keep an open mind and hopefully find something that will help in the tournament.”
Ironically, while Snyder – who teamed with Kyle Raymer to finish 3rd in the FLW College National Championship on South Carolina’s Lake Murray in April – is representing Eastern Kentucky University, he actually is now a grad student at the University of Kentucky, working on a Master’s Degree in plant and soil science.
“I graduated from EKU back in May with a degree in agronomy and natural resources,” he said. “This will be my 5th year of eligibility, but I probably won’t have time to fish with all the time needed for study and research that goes into a Master’s program.”
And, he said, when he gets that graduate degree he will be seeking a job in the agriculture industry as an agronomist or crop consultant, although the idea of fishing professionally is not completely off the table.
“Maybe, if the money is right, I’ll fish the Rayovacs or B.A.S.S. Opens. Then one of these days if the opportunity presents itself and I am still able, I would definitely consider it,” he said.
Meanwhile, there is the Central Conference Championship this weekend on Carlyle Lake with the opportunity to win the $4,000 first prize and earn a berth in the FLW College Fishing National Championship.
To get there Snyder will have to do it without any help.
“Fishing solo is going to be tough to do,” he said. “But, if I keep my head straight and make the right decisions, hopefully I can put every fish that bites into the boat.”
FLW College Fishing Central Conference Championship
Oct 3-4, 2015
Carlyle Lake
Dam West Boat Ramp
