The Anglers Wrap Up Nationals
This past week, ESF sent two teams to the MLF College Bass Fishing National Championship to compete for a brand-new boat and motor package worth 35,000 dollars and up to 10,000 for the team. The teams of Patrick Durand (senior) and Thomas Harvey (senior) and Nate Wojslaw (senior) and Nick Sanderson (sophomore) drove a total of 19 and a half hours to Wagoner Oklahoma to compete on Fort Gibson Lake.
The teams had a tough practice, only catching a few keepers a day. Tournament day brought about a drastic shift in weather, with sustained winds at 20-40mph and gusts up to 60mph. The whole field struggled, with 43 teams not weighing a fish. Durand and Harvey were able to catch one fish for 2lbs 8oz and Wojslaw and Sanderson weighed in one for 3lbs 8oz.
Day 2 brought more challenging conditions, as the wind once again blew 20mph, an inch of rain overnight, and a cold rain during the day. Durand and Harvey caught one more fish for 2lbs 2oz. Wojslaw and Sanderson had a better day, filling a limit for the first time in the week for 13lbs 5oz. Neither team made the top 10 championship day cut, with Durand and Harvey finishing in 121st and Wojslaw and Sanderson finishing 27th out of 176 teams.
"The first day we really struggled. Fish never showed up to our offshore rockpiles like they should have, so we ended up just fishing shallow and trying to cover water. Eventually we found some warmer water and started getting bites. What really stings is we both hooked a 6-7 pounder - she rolled to the surface and just popped off. With our day two weight, we could've made the top 10," Sanderson said.
"The second day we tried to fish for the big one we lost, and then checked another offshore rockpile to see if they had moved up with the warm rain. We pretty much gave up by 10:45 and just started to run the bank trying to pick up one or two random fish. We caught a keeper on a spinnerbait off a willow tree stump and put together a little pattern. It was the most technical fishing I've ever seen - we had to make 10+ casts at each stump to get the angle right, and on the 10th cast they'd eat it. It's just a shame we couldn't catch that big one on day one or we would be right there. I think this was the winning pattern," says Wojslaw.
Durand and Harvey started on a bluff wall they figured would have fish due to the fluctuating water levels. After not getting bites there, they ran to an isolated section of docks. Durand says, "We had a small set of productive docks that we found. They were the shallowest docks on the lake and sat right next to a boat ramp. We were skipping them with a jig and had to pull them out of some gnarly cables, posts, and supports. We got plenty of bites, they were just impossible to land for the most part."
Day 2 was wrought with more difficulties for the team. "We got in the water, and the boat wouldn't start because our cranking battery hadn't charged properly overnight. It's unfortunate because the dock bite had been an early morning thing for us. Once we got on the water, we were able to catch one off of them, but then the wind and rain came and blew out our area," Harvey says.
Regardless of the outcome, this was a fantastic experience for the team, holding their own fishing a tournament at the highest level in collegiate fishing. Sophomore Nick Sanderson says "Hopefully we'll be back and fishing a Southern reservoir like this was unlike anything we've ever seen. We learned a lot and had a ton of fun!"
Wojslaw says, "We'd like to thank the school for helping with our lodging and gas money, as well as everyone who donated to our gofundme and fished in our fundraiser tournament on Oneida Lake this Winter. Without everyone's support, we would not have been able to make this trip. It was a great experience and has made us better anglers!"
