Stetson Blaylock won the 2009 FLW National Guard Open on Lake Norman 2 weeks ago. This weekend, an FLW college fishing tournament will bring festivities to the Davidson Village Green. (Visit Lake Norman photo)

College tourney brings weigh-ins and a ‘Reel Festival’ to the Green Sat. to Mon.

Bass fishing teams from colleges and universities around the East Coast will be in Davidson and on Lake Norman this weekend for a fishing tournament offering $100,000 in prizes. The FLW College Fishing Northern Regional Tournament runs Saturday, Nov. 7, to Monday, Nov. 8, and will include a daily Reel Festival on the Davidson Village Green, with music and fun and a daily fish weigh-in by competitors. Organizers say the event also will attract news media, including TV crews from cable networks Versus HD and World Fishing Network.

A dozen two-person college fishing teams will be in town for the event, launching their boats at 7 a.m. daily from Blythe Landing,  15901 N.C. 73 in Huntersville. The tourney is a catch-and-release competition, and all fish must be live.

Weigh-ins will be daily at 4 p.m. on the Davidson Village Green, Main Street and Concord Road. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

REEL LIFE FESTIVAL

Davidson College is co-hosting the Reel Life Festival on the Village Green, featuring a music by the local band Tumblin’ Dice, the National Guard Warrior Challenge ropes course, rock-climbing wall, paintball range, geocaching and a variety of other activities. Hours are Saturday, Nov. 7, from noon to 7 p.m., with weigh-ins at 4 p.m.

(Tumblin’ Dice includes lead guitarist Karl Stolz and three Davidson College stage technicians:  drummer Brandon Kincaid, bassist/vocalist Alex Miller, and harmonica James Nash.)

On Sunday and Monday, Nov. 8-9, the Reel Life Festival will run in conjunction with the tournament weigh-in from 4 to 7 p.m.

Reel Life Festival visitors can register to win iPod Nanos, which will be given away on Nov. 7-8, and a MacBook Air, which will be given away Nov. 9.

FISHING FOR PRIZES

College teams will fish for a top award of $25,000 for their university plus a 177TR Ranger wrapped in school colors and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard for their bass fishing club.

The top five teams from each of five National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships will advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship April 10-12, 2010, on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tenn. The winning team at the national championship will qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.

Among the teams slated to compete in the Northern Regional Championship are: Chestnut Hill College, Fairmont State University, Hampden-Sydney College, Longwood University, North Carolina State University, Penn State, Shepherd University, State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Vermont Technical College, Virginia Tech, West Point.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the founder of Ranger Boats, says it is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. Details: FLWOutdoors.com, or 270-252-1000.