Fishing team continues run of success

Rods are set and bait hooked as the GCSU Bass Fishing Team gears up for another year of fierce competition and hopeful underdog victories.

The team, established in 2007, is currently ranked sixth nationally by FLW Outdoors magazine and claimed eighth place at the Boat U.S. Fox College Sports Nationals last spring when seniors Matt Henry and Walker Smith competed in Lewisville, Texas.

“We make noise at every tournament we’re at,” said Smith, a business management major and president of GCSU Bass Fishing team. “Other schools know who we are. They know we’re going to be dangerous when we show up.”

Bobcat anglers participate in qualifiers which allow advancement to bigger tournaments if placed in a top-five spot. To place, each team is allotted five 12-inch, or shorter, bass, which are weighed at the end of tournaments. The team with the most poundage receives a monetary reward and gains boats at following competitions.

Although the team of 20 does not have comparable resources as contenders, they still find themselves beating the odds at nearly every competition they participate in.

“We’re not only competing with, but hanging with and keeping up with schools that are up to four or five times bigger than us,” said senior criminal justice-political science major and vice president of the team Josh Futch. “For people that have never heard of Georgia College before, to see that this little school in Georgia can compete with these big names school feels good (individually), but also to represent the school in a good way.”

On Sept. 18, Futch and senior Jared Kutil earned second, winning $5,000 at a FLW Southeast Division event at Lake Chickamauga and qualified GCSU for the FLW College Fishing Regional Championship at the University of Central Florida Oct. 21-23 on Lake Monroe.

Last weekend Smith and pre-engineering sophomore Grant Kelly traveled to Lake Pickwick in Florence, Ala., to compete in a regional qualifying National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division tournament. They placed 21 among 40 competitors, ending ahead of schools like the University of Georgia and one of Auburn University’s teams.

If the anglers place in the top five at regionals then they will advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship and possibly the Forrest Wood Cup if victory precedes.

Competing against larger schools requires steadfast commitment and discipline from fishing teammates. The team works to prove their legitimacy to opposition, but also in the GCSU community.

“People think that fishing is a ‘redneck sport,’” Smith said. “It’s a lot of time, a lot of effort and tremendous amounts of money. You have to understand fish patterns, migrations patterns, spawning periods, spawning patterns, where fish are going to be each time of the year, what water temperature does. How different times of the year (changes) fish metabolism, you have to change what (bait) you’re going to throw, you have to imitate the right kind of bait at the right time of year…it’s nuts.”

Love for the sport overrides stresses and sacrifices each member experiences and motivates perseverance.

“I’ve been fishing ever since I could walk,” said junior Matthew Dockery, pre-engineering major and third year team member. “I just love it. My brother’s doing it too, so we’re one of the only (set of) brothers to be on a team in the nation. I get to bond with my brother and do something I love.”

The next regional qualifier is Oct. 11-12 at Lake Sinclair. The team will compete against each other and the public is welcome to attend. Weigh-in is 3 p.m. at Little River Marina next to Choby’s Restaurant.

“We work hard to (positively) represent the university,” Walker said. “(Our team is) smart guys going out there just trying to spend time in the outdoors, doing what we love and at the same time represent the individual integrity the university expects of us.”

Posted by Emily McCurley on Oct 8 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.