College fishing competition on the horizon

by Paul Stackhouse, Outdoors, The Decatur Daily

It may not be there just yet, but it’s definitely coming.

The sport of college bass fishing is on its way to becoming a major hit. For serious bass anglers, the FLW circuit and the Bassmasters are household names. But, they have been around for a while, and they are at the professional level.

It may not be that way now, but in the near future, expect to see hundreds of people gathering at college bass tournament events. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if people are yelling “Roll Tide” and “War Eagle” or maybe even singing a verse of “Rocky Top” when the Southern Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship invades Ingalls Harbor and Wheeler Lake on April 2-3.
Big universities and small colleges are getting into the swing of things when it comes to bass fishing. Teams and tournaments are popping up all across the United States, and that even includes many at the high school level.

According to the Decatur/Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau, who played a major role in getting the tournament to Ingalls Harbor, the event is expected to have more than 150 anglers representing schools from all across the Southeast.

The boats are expected to launch from Ingalls Harbor each morning at 6 with the weigh-ins beginning at 3 in the afternoon, also at Ingalls.

Auburn University Bass Sports Club Adviser Jann Swaim said Wheeler Lake was chosen for the championship for several reasons. The launching facilities at Ingalls are among the best in the country and Decatur and surrounding areas have the accommodations to handle the large crowd. And of course, the DMCCVB has the experience to coordinate such an event.

One other reason was noted on a release that definitely caught my attention. Swaim said a big reason for holding the tournament here was so the collegiate anglers could fish the famous Decatur Flats during the spring.

The Southern Collegiate Bass Fishing Series is open to all collegiate bass fishing teams. To qualify to compete in the 2010 Southern Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, each school must compete in two of the three earlier series tournaments. Top finishers in the series also will advance to compete in national championship events including the 2010 Boat/U.S. Collegiate
Bass Fishing Championship.

“The Southern Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship is an opportunity for us to showcase the great fishery of Wheeler Lake to up-and-coming anglers who one day might compete on the professional circuit,” said Tami Reist, president of DMCCVB. “This will be our first time to host and we look forward to rolling out the red carpet and providing a first class event while enjoying the competitiveness of a collegiate event.”

Hosted by Auburn,the 2010 SCBFS has gained national recognition and contributed greatly to the explosive growth of competition bass fishing at the college level. The Wheeler Lake tournament will be featured on the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship television series airing on the Versus network in August.

We’ve had some great turnouts for the professional tournaments here and I believe a huge crowd will be there each day at the weigh-ins of this championship tournament.

Without a doubt, this is going to be something new for Ingalls Harbor and Decatur and I already feel a bit of excitement about watching this upcoming event. It’s going to be different and many of the young anglers will probably move on to compete at the professional level.

There’s probably going to be a lot of autographs and photographs as the fans and families explore something fresh.

And, as always, the people of Decatur and North Alabama will make everyone involved feel welcome here.

I have a feeling that when the tournament is over, a lot of people are going to be talking about wanting to come back to our city and do everything all over again.