KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The best college fishing teams from across the nation will visit Kissimmee, Florida and Lake Toho this week for the 2024 College Fishing National Championship. Originally scheduled as a three-day event getting under way today, it's been shortened to two days due to weather and will start Wednesday.
The event will feature 138 teams of the nation’s best collegiate anglers competing for a $43,500 prize package, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard, an additional $10,000 and the chance to advance to the 2024 Toyota Series Championship and REDCREST 2025 to fish for top prizes of $235,000 and $300,000, respectively.
Both members of the winning team and the runners-up will advance to the 2024 Toyota Series Championship, where they will compete as pros for a top prize of up to $235,000. The winning team’s highest finishing member at the Toyota Series Championship will advance to REDCREST 2025 to compete against some of the world’s best pros for the sport’s top prize of $300,000.
Both members of the third-place team at the College Fishing National Championship will advance to the 2024 Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers for a shot at winning a $33,500 Phoenix 518 pro with a 115-horsepower outboard.
The Auburn University duo of Blake Milligan of Auburn, Alabama, and Matthew Parrish of Decatur, Alabama, will return to fish this week. Auburn is the only college to have fished in the national championship every year since its inception, and the 2024 event will be Milligan’s fourth consecutive year to qualify for the event.
“We work hard toward qualifying for this all year long,” said Milligan. “The advancement opportunities to the Toyota Series Championship and to REDCREST allow us to get a foot in the door, and gives college anglers the opportunity to move on to the next level of professional fishing.”
After finishing atop the MLF College Fishing Southeastern Conference in 2021 and 2022, the Auburn team adjusted to the new National Conference with ease in 2023 and earned the School of the Year title.
“I’m fishing with the same partner as last year,” continued Milligan. “We took 12th place in 2023, so I’m excited to get back to Kissimmee and hopefully build off what we learned and have an even better finish this year.”
Milligan, a senior double-majoring in business marketing and business management at Auburn, said his goal in this event is to finish better than he has in any past championship events.
“It’s hard to predict what the weights will be for this event,” said Milligan. “When we fished there last year, a nearly 30-pound-bag was weighed in on the final day, so I figure it will be up there. We had mid-teens on Day 1 and nearly 20 pounds on Day 2 and took 12th place, so I’d be super happy with high teens on the first two days. On the final day, it’s go big or go home, so we’ll just have to see."
Anglers will take off from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive, in Kissimmee at 7:30 a.m. ET each day of competition. Weigh-ins will be held at the marina starting at 3:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed daily at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
