PLATTSBURGH — Hometown does have its advantages!

Fishing in their own backyard, the Plattsburgh State team of Evan O'Brien of Rochester and Scott Harrington of Cambridge won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division event on Lake Champlain Saturday. Their five bass weighed in at 19 pounds, 6 ounces. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split evenly between the university and the university's bass-fishing club.

Fishing in his first tournament ever and fighting heavy rain that started shortly before noon Evan O'Brien could not stop smiling. "I am so excited," said O'Brien. "Scott and I got a good strategy going by flippin' docks and the fish started biting. We used sweet beavers in shallow water (4' — 8' deep)."

Not being hampered by a slow start or the rain Scott Harrington believed that the rain actually helped pick-up the bite. "We caught all our fish in a two hour span, after the rain started," said Harrington.

Plattsburgh State's bass fishing club started last semester and with this win earned a trip to fish in the Northern Regional Championship at Lake Norman hosted by Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., Nov. 7-9. They will be competing against other top 20 northern regional college teams for a chance at $50,000.

Rounding out the top five teams were North Carolina State University — Will White, and Kolby Stockton, (six bass, 18-10, $5,000); Virginia Tech — Carson Rejzer and Andrew Blevins, (six bass, 15-9, $4,000); North Carolina State University — Mark Kozazcki and Andrew Livingston, (six bass, 15, $3,000); Chestnut Hill College — Troy Eikenberry and Adrian Avena, (six bass, 14-15, $2,000).

FLW Outdoors announced the College Fishing trail in May 2008. The entire schedule, which is organized around the five Stren Series Divisions, can be found by visiting CollegeFishing.com along with rules, requirements and information on how to create a bass club.

Full-time students enrolled in four year colleges or universities are eligible to participate in the events. Schools can send two-person teams to each of the four qualifying events in their division, with each event limited to a maximum of 40 teams. Each team has the opportunity to win $10,000 for first and $2,000 through fifth place. Prize money is split evenly between the winning team's club and the school they represent. The tournaments are free to enter, boats and drivers are provided and all collegiate teams receive a travel allowance. The top five teams in each qualifying event advance to one of five televised three-day National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships.

Each school represented in a televised Regional Championship will have team shirts and boats provided by Ranger. The purse for each Regional Championship includes a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $25,000 for the school they represent. Awards of $6,000 also extend through fifth place for the club and school to split evenly.

The National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship is a three-day televised event hosting the top five teams from each regional, 25 total teams. Teams will be provided shirts and wrapped Ranger boats towed by Chevy trucks for this competition. The purse for the championship ranges from $25,000 cash and a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard wrapped in school colors for the winning club and $50,000 for the school they represent to $15,000 for fifth, split between the club and school.

The winning team will be declared the National Guard FLW Collegiate National Champion and will qualify for the $2.5 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol in 2010. The winners will also receive use of a wrapped boat and Chevy truck for the Forrest Wood Cup.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player's Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.