Murray State Hosts 5th Annual Murray State Invitational on Kentucky Lake
By Cody Levy
The Murray State Bass Anglers are no strangers to competition. They won the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Presented by Cabela’s in 2009, and have been a leading force in the Cabela’s School of the Year race with three consecutive top five finishes in the past three years. It is no secret that this team means business on the water and they plan to continue their competitive streak next weekend as they host their 5thAnnual Murray State Invitational on Kentucky Lake.
President of the Murray State Bass Team, Ryan Kirkpatrick stated that “this is the fifth year that this tournament has gone on. It started as, and remains a memorial tournament for Kyle Dieling who was a club member that passed away before the original event.”
Kirkpatrick expects this event to be one for the record books as he has seen exactly what Kentucky Lake is capable of.
“Right now the weather is shaping up just right for the tournament. They’re pulling a lot of current right now and it makes the bass super predictable and they are biting really good,” said Kirkpatrick. “It’s definitely a complete opposite of what happened last year, which was just an absolute fluke!”
Two fish were caught in last year’s two day event on Kentucky Lake. Whether a weird act of science or an unbelievably rough coincidence, the lake was not producing for any of the three local tournaments that were happening that very same weekend as well, however, Kirkpatrick and anyone big into the bass fishing world knows that Kentucky Lake is home to giant bass and a lot of them.
“I think this year is going to be an absolute slugfest with big weights,” added Kirkpatrick. “I hope no one is keeping last year’s event as a first impression of the lake, because it definitely won’t be that way this year!”
Registration opens at 5:30p.m. on Friday, February 26 and dinner will start at approximately 6:30 PM followed by Keynote speaker FLW Tour Pro Troy Hollowell. Anglers will compete on Saturday and Sunday for over $700 in prizes donated by the Association of Collegiate Anglers along with a cash payout from the event.
Kirkpatrick and the rest of the Murray State Bass Anglers encourage you to register for the event HERE.
About the ACA
The Association of Collegiate Anglers, a division of Careco TV, is a sanctioning body developed to facilitate growth, development, and structure within competitive collegiate bass fishing. The ACA provides support to dozens of school operated regional events nationwide and owns the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, the largest participatory collegiate tournament circuit in the country. With dedicated collegiate fishing programming on several television networks, three nationally televised collegiate bass fishing events, and thousands of members, the ACA is the leader in competitive collegiate bass fishing. For more information on the ACA, or the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, visit www.CollegiateBassChampionship.com. For more information on Cabela’s visit Cabelas.com, for more information on CarecoTV, visit www.carecotv.com.
