The saying “patience is a virtue” can be applied to many sports, but none exemplifies it more than the sport of fishing.
Sitting, mostly motionless, in one place for an extended period of time can be a chore. However, the wait is worth it if you are able to catch that one perfect fish.
The love of the chase and realization they could not continue it in college is what drove juniors Peter Schmeling and Ryne Krall and sophomore Zach Cline to create Bradley’s bass fishing club in February of last year.
“All of us fished in high school competitively, and when we came to Bradley, we realized Bradley was one of the last schools in the Midwest [to have a team],” Schmeling said. “It began as an offshoot of the sportsman’s club that was started by Mike Keup. So once we started talking to him, it all started to fall together.”
“Fall” together indeed. The team’s first tournament of the school year, the Illinois State Classic hosted by Western Illinois, comes just after autumn begins.
Bass fishing tournaments may sound a bit strange to people who are not familiar with the sport, but the club’s vice president Tyler Flynn said the scoring is pretty straightforward.
“We send down as many boats as we want, [with] two people per boat,” Flynn said. “It’s a two-day tournament. You fish seven, eight hours, then everyone lines up and you bring your fish in. They tally them up and give you a ranking. It’s the combined weight of the five fish from your boat per day.”
Aside from having patience, Bradley’s bass fishers need to be mentally sharp as well. There are numerous outside forces that could impact their day on the water.
“The hardest part is not even physical…the biggest thing is mental because if it’s cloudy, it’s a different situation than if it’s sunny or raining,” Schmelling said. “You’ll be throwing different lures no matter what. The fish are biting one day, but the next day they’re biting on something completely different so you just have to adapt to it.”
Almost as challenging as fishing itself is starting a club from scratch. Since last February, the club has secured sponsors, found an advisor, earned a third-place ranking in the state of Illinois and began participating in the FLW college tour.
Despite all these accomplishments, the club is still relatively unknown on Bradley’s campus. Flynn said he hopes to see interested students at the club’s next meeting.
“It’s not formal at all,” Flynn said. “Just show up and say ‘Hey, I want to know a bit more about it’ and everyone will talk to you about it.”
