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College anglers taking spring break to the (bass) limits

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (Friday, April 4, 2008) - True to the spring break spirit, there is one group of college students that has been spending its get-away time on the water, but doing so in bass boats instead of in the stereotype beach party setting.

The group is college anglers and they have been busy taking full advantage of recent spring tournaments being held especially for them. The latest event was the Arkansas Tech University College Bass Invitational held last weekend on nearby Lake Dardanelle. It was filmed by Careco Multimedia and will air this fall as part of the BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship (NCBFC) series on the Fox College Sports network.

With 89 anglers, representing 19 schools and involving a total of 46 teams, it turned out to be one of the largest college tournaments held to date in the young but rapidly growing sport of collegiate bass fishing. While many of the participants were from Arkansas and surrounding states, several teams also traveled farther including the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Purdue, Alabama, Nebraska, Eastern Kentucky and Murray State, also from Kentucky.

The success by nearly all of the teams over the two-day event, held on a Friday and Saturday, served as proof that these college students were here for the competition and not a big spring break party.

The Northwestern State University (La.) team of Jeff Rich and Nathan Fields finished top of the class with an impressive total weight of 37.24 pounds for 10 bass. The second place Murray State team of Dan Langhorn and Don Winters also weighed a five fish limit on both days for a total of 35.06 pounds.

"This was an awesome tournament," said Fields after the win. "Recent rains had the water high and muddy, but we found some really good fish. We caught 20 or so on red Rat-L-Traps the first day, including three in the 4-5 pound range. On the second day, a cold front hit with high winds and rain that kind of messed things up. We made a long run as our time was running out and ended up catching three big fish, including a 6.3 pounder, in 22 minutes on V&M tubes and jigs, before having to rush to weigh-in."

Rounding out the top five spots were, 3rd place - Purdue's (Ind.) Aaron McAlexander and Alex Lowe with 34.82 pounds, 4th place - Stephen F. Austin's (Texas) Kendall Wieczyk and Ben Newsom with 31.8 pounds, and 5th place - Arkansas Tech's Chris McKinney and Joey Potts with 31.19 pounds. Each of the top 26 teams had final weights of more than 10 pounds.

While the competition is more about the school rivalries and warming up for the national championship later in the year, there were some prizes earned by the top finishing clubs and anglers. First place was awarded a check for nearly $600 to take back to its club, and second and third place also won cash prizes. Merchandise awards were items from Abu Garcia rods and reels, Berkley line, Sperry Top-Sider sport shoes, Costa Del Mar sunglasses and others.

The final roster of participating schools and the number of teams from each included: Arkansas Tech with six, University of Arkansas with six, Ouachita Baptist University (Ark.) with three, Stepen F. Austin with four, Northwestern State University (La.) with two, University of Louisiana - Lafayette with one, Murray State (Ky.) with three, Eastern Kentucky with two, Purdue with three, Wabash College (Ind.) with one, Alabama with three, Kansas State with three, Pittsburgh State (Kan.) with one, Drury University (Mo.) with one, University of Illinois with one, Nebraska with one, Wisconsin-Whitewater with one and Oklahoma with one.

In this and most college bass fishing formats, a "team" consists of two persons fishing from the same boat. One angler can fish alone when circumstances affect a partner's participation, pending approval by the tournament director.

"This was our third annual event and each year they just get bigger and better," said Christy Austin, an adjunct instructor at Arkansas Tech and the faculty advisor to the school's fishing club. "We're fortunate to have so many people that believe in the program and work hard to make it a success, including this year's club president Joey Potts."

Robert Chandler, executive producer of the NCBFC for Fox College Sports, said, "The amazing response from Arkansas Tech has shown the nation the unbelievable level that college fishing has achieved with Fox College Sports' unwavering support to take college fishing to the next level."

Another spring collegiate tournament was also recently held on Lake Belton in Texas to coincide with that state's spring break schedule for many of its universities. It, too, was well attended. Winning at Belton was the Texas A&M team of Justin Rackley and Kenny Stuart.

"Both the Arkansas and Texas spring tournaments were wonderful events with lots of support from the respective communities and public," said Mike Hastings, representing Careco Multimedia. "Even the mayor of Russellville really got into all the excitement while attending registration, and came back for the take-offs and weigh-ins on both days. College bass fishing is fun stuff for everyone concerned."

Many of the same teams from the Arkansas and Texas events will also compete in the 2008 NCBFC scheduled for this fall on Texas' Lake Lewisville. The NCBFC is made possible by support from BoatU.S., BoatU.S. Angler, Cabela's, Ranger Boats, Yamaha, Garmin, Costa Del Mar, Pioneer Beef Jerky, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Fenwick, Anglers' Legacy, Stearns, EGO Nets, Sebile, American Rodsmiths, Aviva Fishin' Buddy, Biosonix, Bill Lewis Lures, Gene Larew Lures, Nemire Lures, Sperry Top-Sider, Power Pole, City of Lewisville, Sneaky Pete's Marina and Fox College Sports.

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