Not sure how to feel about this...

[WTL]

Having graduated in May, I am not eligible for the Crimson Tide Bassmasters. Even emailed the club president about it to get a clarification. Considering how they've taken off, I almost want to go back to school just to compete.....ahhhggg

http://www.cw.ua.edu/vnews/display.v.../45544227dacff

UA bass fishing team reels in No. 1 ranking

Team looking to grow next year
By Wayne Grayson
Contributing Writer
November 10, 2006


It's safe to say that the best fishermen are the most patient.

Catching a fish takes time. But for the Crimson Tide Bass Anglers, the University's bass-fishing club, patience has not been a necessity.

Less than a year into the team's existence, it is the No. 1 collegiate bass-fishing team in the nation, bypassing other schools that have had teams since the early 1990s.

"Going from nonexistent to No. 1 in the nation in that short of time is just unheard of in any sport," said club co-founder Jeff Aul, a graduate student in geology.

The team's strong performances at two national championship tournaments in August and October were enough in the eyes of the Collegiate Bass Anglers Association to put them at the top of the national rankings.

Club co-founder Hank Weldon, a senior majoring in management, partially attributes the team's success to building teamwork by pairing team members for the competitions according to fishing habits and strengths.

"You should fish together well," Weldon said. "And we all do fish together well."

According to Aul, the team's quick success is just one more birthright gained by being a Southerner.

"It's just our upbringing," Aul said. "It's heritage. It's tradition down here to go bass fishing with your dad. That's how it started for me."

While in between events, the team practices by learning about new techniques and trying them out on the local waters.

However, in the days leading up to a tournament, practice becomes an incredibly complex process of elimination in which team members investigate the thousand-acre lakes the competitions are held on for clues to where the most fish are hiding.

Once these spots are found, team members remember their location and return to fish them in the tournament.

Though the knowledge gained through practice is valuable, weather is unpredictable and can change everything in an instant.

"Based on practice, you still know an area that's holding fish and that a little subtle weather change might make those fish relate to a different type of structure," Weldon said.

"When you're in the tournament, you have to change with the conditions and weather plays a big role and every day is different," Aul said. "People think 'Hey, let's go grab a fishing pole and we'll go fishing' and that's all there is to it. It's not like that at all."

Aul and Weldon co-founded the club in April after Aul decided to form a bass-fishing club at the University. He passed out flyers encouraging students to join, and one of the flyers caught Weldon's attention.

Weldon said he contacted Aul and the group has grown ever since.

The club is planning to have five tournaments in the spring and early summer of next year to determine who they will send to represent them in the larger televised tournaments, Weldon said.

In addition to these in-club tournaments, the team plans to participate in a number of tournaments outside the club.

They are currently preparing for double the amount of outside-club tournaments than they participated in last year because collegiate bass fishing is growing rapidly, Aul said.

Recently, the CBAA broke its member schools into conferences for competition. The Crimson Tide Bass Anglers are in the Bayou Conference, which is the home to many of the current top-10 teams in the nation.

With the added number of tournaments and the stiff competition within the Bayou Conference, the team is looking to add more members to the 16 it currently has.

Anyone who has access to a boat with an operational livewell system, which keeps fish alive during competition, is invited to join.

The Crimson Tide Bass Anglers are holding a meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Center.

[flbassman]

That's pretty cool. Maybe in two years, it'll be a regular event, with scholarships and all....