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MU Bass Fishing Club reels in big prizes

MU Students Scott Dooley and Shelby Lovelace won the North Super Regional. Photo courtesy of CollegeBass.

The news that Mizzou students have the opportunity to be part of a bass fishing group might be a surprise for some, but students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources are no strangers to enjoying a day on the water.

The Bass Fishing Club was formed nearly 10 years ago by a group of students and faculty with a shared hobby, and has a primary goal of introducing anglers to the challenges of fishing for bass.

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Members represent many of the CAFNR majors, but most participants are students in the School of Natural Resources. The recreational and educational aspects of bass fishing are a priority for members, but the majority are no longer casual anglers. The group reorganized in 2009, creating the University of Missouri Bass Fishing Team to focus on individuals who take their leisure a bit more seriously.

Solid performances during the spring and early summer season cemented the team's place in the national championship tournament for the second straight year. School of Natural Resources seniors Scott Dooley and Shelby Lovelace brought home the team's first tournament win at the North Super Regional in early June, where they fished the Mississippi River near Ft. Madison, Iowa.

Their win solidified Missouri's position in the hunt for the winner's national championship rings, following a 12th place finish at the 2009 national tournament during their inaugural season.

Team members have continued to be supportive of each other despite the relatively new emphasis on competition.

Dooley shares his eight-plus years of tournament experience with members like Lovelace and Knight during their first intercollegiate experiences, and the group hosts small tournaments within the club, introducing new members to the rules of competition.

The seasoned bass fishers also introduce new anglers to the importance of finding cover, staying out of the mud and a well-stocked tackle box for finding big bass.

Dooley, a parks, recreation and tourism major, and Taylor Knight, a sophomore in fisheries and wildlife, will represent MU at the national competition on the Arkansas River near Little Rock July 8-10. While Knight did not fish in the Super Regional, he joins Dooley in the top two angler positions within the team as determined by eight intra-club qualifiers held on mid-Missouri lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

The MU Bass Fishing Team is a part of the club sports program at Mizzou, meaning that while it is affiliated with CAFNR, the team and their intra-club tournaments are open to all MU students. Expenses for equipment, tournaments and travel are the members' responsibility, but have been minimized by sponsorships from MU Alumni and mid-Missouri businesses, including: Bridgford Food Corp. (Chicago, Ill.), Tombstone Tackle (Columbia, Mo.), StarFlash Skirts (Ursa, Ill.) and Hobby Hut (Perry, Mo.).

Posted June 2010
Story Source: Christine Tew
Feature image courtesy of US Fish and Game
Tournament photos courtesy of CollegeBass.