The bass fishing team placed 15th out of 50 teams at the FLW College Fishing southern conference competition on Sunday, Sept. 22 and qualified for the regional invitational tournament. Jordan Smith and Todd Williams make up the two-man team that traveled to Hot Springs, Arkansas on Sunday morning to represent Harding in the competition at Lake Hamilton.
Smith, a senior, said he was unaware of the bass fishing team until he got involved this year. Smith had never met Williams, a sophomore, prior to the tournament when they traveled to Hot Springs at 3 a.m. and spent six hours together on the lake.
The competition began at 7 a.m. and lasted until 1 p.m. Teams were provided a boat with a tournament official as the captain. The captain is allowed to drive the team wherever they want, but cannot give advice on where or how to fish in the lake. Team members must decide which waters are best to fish in and how long they wish to stay at each spot. At the end of the competition the live fish are weighed, with a limit of five fish per team. The top 15 teams with the heaviest fish advance to an invitational tournament, and the top five teams receive cash prizes from $500 to $2,000.
Smith said he is more experienced in saltwater fishing, so he let Williams take the lead out on the water.
“He has done more freshwater fishing than I have so he knew where to go and what places would be good on the lake,” Smith said.
The team caught a total of two fish weighing three pounds, seven ounces.
“I caught the first one around 7:30-7:45 a.m. in about 8 feet of water on a green spinner bait with gold and silver blades,” Williams said. “The second fish was caught on a chatter bait with a gold spoon and green and white skirt around 10 a.m.; then I hooked a five pounder with the same bait just after the second fish but it got off at the side of the boat.”
The first place team’s total weight was 7 pounds, 14 ounces, with a total catch of five fish.
“If we would have had that third fish we could have won that tournament,” Williams said.
This is the second year the Harding bass fishing team has qualified for an invitational tournament, but unfortunately Smith nor Williams will be able to compete due to scheduling conflicts with their other activities.
Smith said he recommends the bass fishing team to any Harding students who enjoy the pastime.
“It’s definitely a competitive sport, but at the same time, you can just go fishing,” Smith said.
Team sponsor David Collins said Harding has been competing in bass fishing tournaments since 2010. Harding has not advanced to an invitational tournament since the first year when Seth Presley and Todd Johnson placed fifth at Lake of the Ozarks, earning $1,000 each in scholarship and prize money and qualifying them for the regional championship.
“Students with experience in bass fishing, especially in competitive bass fishing, who are interested inrepresenting Harding Universitymay contact me for further information,” Collins said.
