Qualifying 11 two-man teams to compete in the College B.A.S.S. National Championship is no small feat, but that’s exactly what the Auburn University Bass Fishing team accomplished this season. It was the latest in a long line of achievements for the team in the past year.
The 22 Tigers competing this week on the St. Lawrence River in New York constitute the biggest group Auburn has qualified in a season for the national championship. The team won all five Southern Collegiate Bass Trail tournaments and swept the top three places at the Alabama Bass Nation College State Championship this season.
The sport of tournament bass fishing has been on a steady rise the past few years and is opening opportunities for young anglers around the country. Auburn’s club is providing these anglers chances to develop skills and showcase their talents on a national level. In doing so, the team is making quite a name for itself across the U.S.
Reeling them in
Not only is the team’s continued success attracting talented anglers to Auburn’s campus, but it is bringing them from far and wide, including such places as California, Canada and even Zimbabwe.
For many of these fishermen, the team is what drew them to the university.
“Although there were other factors that drew me toward Auburn, the fishing team was definitely one of the biggest deciders for me,” said Sam Harvey, a Zimbabwe native studying business administration. “It just had something that I felt no other teams I was looking at did, and that was a drive from the team members themselves to help and grow the team to where it is today.”
Rob Cruvellier, a senior studying business administration, came to Auburn from Montreal, Canada.
“I narrowed down my universities by which university had the best team, while also being close to lakes that can help me improve my fishing abilities by going out for a few hours after class,” Cruvellier said. “And Auburn was really the best fit.”
Coming from such distances can be daunting, but it was a challenge that many members of the team were ready to face.
“Auburn was initially very different for me,” Harvey said. “My eyes were wide open, to say the least. I come from a smaller community back home in Africa, and although we have some of the best largemouth bass fishing there, it just doesn’t compare to the industry of tournament bass fishing in the U.S. I had to adapt, for sure.”
Being part of Auburn’s fishing team helped Harvey adjust to a new country.
“To understand a new culture I had never experienced and all new people, it was a very fun yet challenging first semester,” Harvey said. “The fishing team has definitely been the best thing that’s happened to me and helped me transition a lot easier. In general, Zimbabwe is much smaller than the U.S.; thus, the fishing community doesn’t stretch as wide. We have some bucket-list bass fishing destinations; however, the U.S. has all the dreams of becoming a professional fisherman.”
Popular pastime
The culture surrounding bass fishing in Alabama and the U.S. is much deeper and ingrained compared to other countries, including Canada. That it has gained popularity and support at the collegiate level helps create more opportunities for young anglers.
“It’s a lot more common,” Cruvellier said. “Everybody in Alabama fishes, but in Montreal, you tell somebody that you fish bass tournaments, and they pretty much have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s just a huge deal in Alabama, and anybody who wants to really make it professionally and really have it be a huge part of their lives has to fully immerse themselves in it.”
Former team president Logan Parks attributes much of the success to being able to recruit new members with diverse backgrounds.
“We have kind of created a super team,” said Parks, who recently won the Carhartt College B.A.S.S. Tour Stop No. 4 with his partner, Tucker Smith. “We’ve got people from all across the country and outside of the country who all have different skill sets and mindsets. They approach fishing competitively in different ways, and they’re all very successful in their own ways.”
With the rise in popularity of competitive bass fishing the past few years, it is becoming more common for young anglers to base their college decision on their school of choice’s fishing team.
“We have some of the most notable alumni in the competitive professional fishing world,” Parks said. “We’ve got Steve Kennedy, an Auburn graduate who’s been around the professional scene for a long time. Then we’ve got Jordan and Matt Lee, who are both brothers and fished for Auburn, and Jordan went on to win Bassmaster Classic, which is basically the Super Bowl of bass fishing, two years in a row. So, that definitely puts Auburn on the map big-time for high school kids who want to come here and fish.”
Recruiting new anglers
Auburn’s team has grown considerably in recent years, now sitting at almost 100 members. Club membership chair Sam Hanggi explained the recruiting process for any young anglers looking to join the team.
“We rely on our social media presence to recruit new members, whether it be our Instagram, YouTube series, etc.,” said Hanggi. “We also reach out to other successful high school competitors directly with the hopes of getting them interested in joining the team.”
Hanggi is responsible for talking with potential members, answering any questions they might have and making them feel like a welcomed member of the team. He takes prospective members out for some fishing as well.
A series of five tournaments at the beginning of the year determines rankings within the Auburn team. Any angler, regardless of rank, receives payment for hotels at every event, as well as gas reimbursements based on tournament results. The team has social outings throughout the year with the purpose of team bonding. Any anglers interested in joining the team may contact Hanggi by email.
“With our lack of ability to provide scholarships, it makes our recruitment process much more difficult,” Hanggi said. “However, due to our success as a team and the hard work of our members, we have continued to recruit some of the highest-placing individuals in college fishing.”
This story originally appeared on Auburn University’s website.
(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)
