Bobcat fishermen win first major tournament

With many last minute choices, the GCSU Bass Fishing team finished first place on Nov. 19 and Nov. 20 at the 2010 Auburn University Fall Classic at Lake Logan-Martin in Pell City, Ala.

The duo which scored the first major tournament win for GCSU was senior business management major and President of the GCSU Bass Fishing team Walker Smith and sophomore pre-engineering major Grant Kelly. In the end, they trumped competitors with a total of 26.74 pounds.“It is an awesome feeling to know that we beat such tough competition,” Kelly said. “But I give all the credit to the Lord for giving us patience and good decision making.”

The first good decision was made by Smith and Kelly when they packed up and hit the road for Alabama at 2 a.m. Thursday morning. They rolled in for a few hours of practice before the two-day competition.

“We both wanted to deer hunt the weekend of the tournament,” Smith said. “We got to talking and decided that we should just go and give it a try. Last year, my partner Matt Henry and I earned a top ten finish in the same event, so Grant and I felt confident that we could do well at the tournament.”

During practice, Smith and Kelly found an area with cooler water temperatures and chose to post themselves there during the competition. The spot proved to be successful as Kelly caught a 4.8 pound large-mouth bass almost immediately after they began fishing. After maintaining their position throughout the first day, the pair led with a total of 14.55 pounds.

The second day began with disappointment as the weight they held was about four pounds. By 12:30 p.m. the anglers sat down and began discussing what their next move would be.

“We were forced to make the huge decision to leave our area and move to the river to catch some big spotted bass flipping,” Smith said. “We both have grown up doing that, so we were still confident.”

“I remained calm and knew that if the Lord wanted us to win, then we would find a way,” Kelly said. “We made multiple changes within the last hour of fishing until we stumbled on the right pattern to catch fish, and from there, they seemingly jumped in the boat as we put 12.19 pounds of fish in the boat within the last 45 minutes.”

At 2 p.m. the competition ended and the team joined four other GCSU teams along with 65 other teams representing 18 schools for the final weigh in. Smith and Kelly were among the first to weigh their fish and found they had caught 12.19 pounds.

They nervously sat through the rest of the results knowing they had a great chance of clutching first but had tough competition breathing down their necks. After the final weigh-in was made, Smith and Kelly stood in first with 26.74 pounds and notably senior marketing major Zach Olson and senior criminal justice-political science major and vice president of the team Josh Futch claimed sixth place with 21.90 pounds.

Although the tournament does not put a dent in the team’s overall points, it does gain more recognition and respect for the Bobcat anglers.

“This is important for the GCSU Bass Fishing team because we were fishing against some of the most talented anglers in the country,” Smith said. “I know that several of our competitors are either already professional or are planning on turning professional in the next year.”

Competitors included Auburn University, the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia and Bethel University.

“I can’t say enough about all the support all the other members having given,” Kelly said. “Without them, our team would not be nearly as successful. We really have an awesome group of people this year. We all get along great and help one another when in need both on and off the water.”

The next competition for the team is Dec. 27 through Dec. 29 at Lay Lake in Birmingham, Ala.

Posted by Emily McCurley on Dec 2 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.