Two 20-pound stringers defeat Tennessee Tech at Jimmy Houston’s 125-acre private lake in Oklahoma
Two college anglers representing the University of Louisiana-Monroe won the Ranger Cup University Fish-Off over a team from Tennessee Tech Sunday on a private lake in Oklahoma.
Paul Clark and Brett Preuett, who qualified for the event by being the highest-finishing Ranger Cup University-qualified team in the FLW College Fishing Championship, won $2,000 and other prizes by taking both sessions with almost-identical five-fish limits that weighed just more than 20 pounds.
They defeated Tennessee Tech anglers Joe Slagle and Cliff Dye, who had qualified for the event with their showing at the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship earlier this year.
“That was hands down the best fishery I’ve ever been to. We caught 125 to 150 fish during the six hours we competed and I would guess that 40 percent of them were over three pounds,” Clark said. “And the boats were perfect, we couldn’t have asked for a better set-up. I’ve fished in aluminum boats all my life and I’ve never been in anything that stable and quiet.”
The event, which was held at Ranger Pro and professional bass fisherman Jimmy Houston’s private 125-acre lake and lodge, was capped off by a private lunch with nine-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Roland Martin.
“We got to sit around with Jimmy and Roland and talk about fishing, hunting, football, all kinds of things,” Clark said. “Ranger has always been good to us, always been there for us when we needed them. We didn’t get involved with the Ranger Cup University because of winning money or getting to have experiences like this, we always fished Ranger boats because they are top-of-the-line bass boats.
“But that you can win extra money and do cool things like fish Jimmy Houston’s lake just for winning a tournament you were going to fish anyway, I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t sign up for it.”
Ranger Cup University is open to collegiate anglers fishing in either FLW- or Boat US-affiliated competitions. Signup for collegiate anglers is free, regardless of which brand of boat they own.
For more information on Ranger Cup University, including program guidelines, go online to RangerBoats.com.
