Texas A&M junior Sid Wallace placed first in the second club tournament of the Aggie Anglers season with a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass.
A&M’s student fishing club held the tournament on Lake Somerville on Nov. 14. Aggie Anglers kicked off at 7 a.m., finishing by 2:30 p.m. Much to the surprise of club members, the long day of fishing did not go as planned. Out of the six two-person teams that entered, only four eligible fish weighed in during the event. The tournament winning team of Sid Wallace and Reilley Jenkins turned in the single largemouth to win the entire contest on one fish.
In collegiate bass fishing, most club tournaments operate on Catch, Picture, Release where contestants take a picture of the fish on a fish-ruler and send it in to the tournament officials. The only highlight of the day was Wallace’s bass that took first place.
None of the teams had productive days otherwise, with only three teams bringing in CPR fish eligible to weigh in. Not a single team had the necessary catch to fill out a “full” five-fish maximum stringer for the tournament.
Sophomore Hunter Towler said his and his teammate’s day was extremely lackluster, catching only a handful of bass, and none of them the required 14-inch minimum to submit to the tournament.
“Saw a lot of bait; just not a lot of bass,” Towler said. “Caught a couple flipping, but they were too small. We also caught a hybrid bass; watched some people catch crappie from kayaks and ate some pringles.”
Of the three teams that weighed in fish, the third place team of sophomores Chris Hardman and Aaron Hawkins weighed in one bass at 3.4 pounds. The team of freshman Nevada Runk and junior Caleb Diamond submitted two bass, one weighing 2.7 pounds and one at 2.5 pounds.
“I think the weather had a lot to do with the lack of fish caught today,” Wallace said. “Anytime you fish within a few days after a cold front blows through, you’re gonna have a tough time. I was just lucky enough to catch the great fish that I did.”
The Aggie Anglers club works to grow the sport of bass fishing by introducing students to the sport and by participating in national collegiate bass tournaments. The club can be found on Facebook at Aggie Anglers.