Weather, rule change trip up fishing team in tourney

Severe weather and some logistical confusion became the biggest obstacles for the No. 6 Georgia College bass fishing team in their most recent tournament held last weekend.

The Bobcat anglers competed in the SCBS Championship on April 16 and 17, but were shorthanded for most of the tournament, which was held at Lake Guntersville in Alabama.

The tournament was originally scheduled for April 15 and 16, but severe weather postponed the action to April 16.

Two Bobcat anglers, senior marketing major Walker Smith and sophomore pre-engineering major Grant Kelly made the initial seven-hour drive to Lake Guntersville with one boat ready to compete. However, the guys were thrown for a loop when they arrived.

“We got to the ramps, and the tournament director had changed the boundaries of the tournament,” Kelly said. “We only had two guys and one boat with us, and they told us we had to have two to compete, or we would be disqualified.”

With the rule in effect, two more Bobcat anglers, senior marketing major Zach Olson and sophomore environmental science major Jared Hendrix, stepped in to help their teammates out. But with everything the team had practiced for thrown out the window, the first day was rough on them.

“(Smith) and I only brought home one fish, and the other two were empty-handed,” Kelly said. “It was a tough day for us that first day.”

Kelly said the team did bounce back on the final day, as both boats brought in some fish.

“We did a whole lot better,” he said. “But overall that first day really hurt us. It was just a bit of tough luck, and the tournament wasn’t very well organized.”

The Bobcat anglers will now turn their attention to Dallas, Texas, where they will be competing in the 2011 BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship at nearby Lake Lewisville, which will be held May 24 through 27. Once again, the event will be televised on national television on the Versus network. The team will be bringing at least two and possibly three boats depending on budget issues to the tournament according to Kelly. The Bobcats finished in eighth place last year, and they are looking to repeat that success in this year’s tournament.

“We want to be in the top eight and hopefully better,” Kelly said. “We did very well last year, and we want to do even better this time around. It’s the national championships, so this is the big event for us.”

2011 Boat U.S. Collegiate Championship

When: May 24-27

Where: Lake Lewisville, Texas

Television: Versus Network

 

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Apr 21 2011. 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.