Decateur Alabama, June 6, 20098 — The Freed-Hardeman University team of John Lawson and Nathan Pirtle competed in the FLW College Fishing event at Wheeler Lake on Saturday June 6, 2009. The two anglers took 3rd place out of a total of 40 teams, earning them $4,000 to split between the FHU Bass Club and the university's scholarship fund.

“I never thought it was possible to get paid while fishing in college,” said John Lawson from Hohenwald, TN. His partner, Nathan Pirtle is from Pickwick, TN.

The format for this tournament, sponsored by the National Guard and FLW, is unlike anything else out there. FLW College Fishing events take place in conjunction with the FLW Stren Series, a tournament trail that is hosted throughout the county. The unique thing about these tournaments is that the college anglers don’t have to supply their own boat. On the final day of the Stren Series, the 150 boat field is cut down to only the top 10. FLW then engages some of the FLW pros who didn’t make the cut to drive a college team around and serve as their tournament director.

“When I first heard about this format I thought it was too good to be true. This is the 3rd FLW College tournament Nathan and I have fished. The first one was on Okeechobee in Clewiston, FL. The second event took place on Santee Cooper in Manning, SC. There was no way we could afford to pull a boat to either one of those tournaments, but FLW has made it possible to compete in these events,” said Lawson.

FLW has also made this a true team sport. Each angler has to catch a maximum of 3 keepers a piece. Each team is allowed to weigh in a total of six fish. “It doesn’t matter if I catch 100 fish; my partner still has to catch three of his own,” stated Pirtle.

With this top five finish, Lawson and Pirtle also qualified for the Southeast Regional Championship scheduled to take place in November on Lake Monroe near Orlando, FL. There, the team will compete for a top prize of $50,000 along with a berth in the FLW College Fishing Nation Championship.

“The best thing about college fishing is the fish don’t care what school you go to. We get to compete with division one schools like Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama and the playing field is level,” said Lawson.