Bethel University has a quite a storied program. First, the college is the only secondary education institution in the United States that has a full-time bass fishing coach and that coach, Garry Mason, is included as part of the school’s athletic program. Second, Bethel University awards scholarships for members of the bass team. Any other schools doing that?
And third, Coach Mason has led the Bethel University bass team to a continuing list of titles, wins and top ten place finishes. Granted, Mason is not in the boat with his teams during a tournament.
Insight to Mason’s approach to leading his Bethel University bass teams into competition was gained by his answer to a question prior to launch on day one at the B.A.S.S. Carhartt College Wild Card Tournament on Pickwick Lake June 14 and 15, 2013. We were talking with Coach Mason at the ramp and asked if he checked-in with his teams during the tournament. Mason replied, “I don’t interfere with them. They know what to do so I just let them go do it. If they need me or something comes up they’ll let me know.” He also noted that answering a cellphone and talking was casts that were not being made.
Obviously, the boys from Bethel did know what to do. Jacob Hardy and Jake Lawrence brought in 40.14 lbs. over two days on Pickwick Lake to win first place. The Bethel University team of Myles Palmer and Dalton Wilson finished in fifth place. Zach Parker and Matt Roberts finished sixth in the field of 76 teams. Jacob Hardy and Jake Lawrence also took home the Livingston Lures Leader award. Not a bad finish for four Bethel University teams.
With such success, Southern Fishing News was interested in asking the winning team of Hardy and Lawrence a few questions facilitated by Coach Mason. The interview is presented as a question and answer, “Q&A”, format. For clarity, “SFN” in the below is Southern Fishing News and “BU” is
Bethel University’s Hardy and Lawrence’s answers.
SFN: First, congratulations for the win on Pickwick. There were a lot of quality competitors on the water fishing hard for first place or at least one of the top thirteen positions that would qualify them for the Carhartt National Championship. That being said, was this your first fishing Pickwick? How did your team (the two of you) prepare for the Pickwick tournament?
BU:
Jake: Thank you! No we have fished Pickwick several times over our college career.
Jacob: Thank you as well and we really spent a lot of time preparing by fishing Kentucky lake. I know that sounds crazy to be practicing (per say) on a body of water that is 80 plus miles from where we would be fishing. But these impoundments are both on the Tennessee river chain and fish very similar to one another. This helped us understand exactly what stage the fish were in along with how far out to the river they were positioned.
SFN: What was your flight and boat number on each day? Did these takeoff positions play any role in choice of where to fish first?
BU:
Jacob: On day one we were boat 65 which led to us being only the 12 boat out on the final day of the event.
Jake: Most certainly, boat number made all of your decisions for you. Knowing we were boat 65 the first day really had us wondering just how far we were going to have to run to find a school of bass without a boat on it.
SFN: What was your most productive strategy/pattern on day one? On day on did you stick with one primary spot or hit several spots? What was/were the most productive lure/technique you used on day one?
BU:
Jacob: On day one we went out with the game plan to hit as many schools of bass as possible within the given time restraints of a two hour round trip boat ride. We were able to Cardch a lot of fish this day with our biggest five bass weighing over four pounds each. One interesting note about day one is that we never caught more than one big one out of each school. It’s absolutely amazing how many big ones are watching your bait pass until that exact right cast is made. As far as baits we predominately stuck with a strike king “sexy spoon” and a 6’’ Shadalicious swimbait in green gizzard shad.
SFN: On Saturday, day two, the camera boats were concentrating on the day one leaders. Would a cameraman in the boat with you have broken your concentration or “put you off your game?” Would the presence of a camera put pressure on you to rush to catch a fish?
BU:
Jake: A few years ago I would have said most definitely, but that is what’s so great about college fishing. It has given us several opportunities over our career to become comfortable around the camera and almost forget that it’s there. So to answer your question, no, it would haven’t bothered us and we both wished it had been there because it would have made for some fantastic footage!
SFN: Is it correct your boat did not rely on the swimbait at all during the competition? If so, what put you on the spoon for both days when so many of the other competitors were fishing and boating bass with the swimbait? Did you consider putting the spoon down after seeing the big weights that came in on day 1 and trying something else on day 2?
BU:
Jacob: That is correct, although it still played a critical role in our win. The fish were really keyed in on the swimbait bite during practice which is why so many people threw it in the tournament. When you throw that big Shadalicious in the school it really enables you to catch the biggest bass that lives there if you can trick them into biting. All week during practice we utilized the swimbait to tell us which schools had the big females in it.
Jake: When we pull up to a school of bass located anywhere on the Tennessee river chain there are about a dozen baits we will present to the fish before leaving for bigger and better things. A strike king “sexy spoon” is always one of those at the top of the list. Trust me when I say, they eat it when conditions get right.
SFN: Did the increase in local boat traffic/bass fishermen impact you any on Saturday, day 2?
BU:
Jacob: We knew early on in the week that Saturday would be the most difficult due to the excessive boat pressure on the small areas that held fish. Knowing this allowed us to spend more time in practice looking in areas that were less obvious to the local fisherman.
Jake: This one small conscious decision that we made very early on during practice is what led us to the victory hands down! We were able to find a school of bass hanging on the bottom of a ledge where most people weren’t looking. On the second day just before 11 o’clock we hadn’t been able to set up on a school properly yet so we decided it was time to head up river to this particularly sneaky spot much deeper than most were fishing. This is where the magic happened!
SFN: Did you have to “share” any or all of your fishing areas you caught fish from on day 2? If so, were the anglers locals, other Carhartt college competition boats, or both.
BU:
Jake: Unfortunately we did have to share the vast majority of what we had to local anglers except one.
SFN: On Saturday, day 2, after your 20 minute blast, was your day done? How was the spoon being worked? How deep was the “winning” school?
BU:
Jacob: The bite was every cast when we pulled up for about 20 minutes, but even after that we were still catching one nearly every other cast. The problem was that they had all turned to 2 pounders that wouldn’t help our overall weight so we made the decision to leave the school biting in search of one more big bite to push us over the edge.
Jake: The “sexy spoon” was fished on a 7’3 MH GrimReaper rod with a Lew’s Tournament Speed Spool in a 7.1.1 gear ratio. In my opinion, the most crucial piece of equipment while spoon fishing is your reel. The high gear ratio allows me to pick up slack line (which is a must!) when the fish bites while the spoon is fluttering back to the bottom. The winning school stretched for 40 or 50 yards down the bottom of this creek ledge in anywhere from 28 to 32. It was important to throw your spoon as far as possible and let it sink all the way to the bottom. Once it’s reached bottom, I would begin stroking the spoon while leaving COMPLETE slack in my line. Without the proper amount of slack the spoon won’t flutter properly thus reducing your chances of getting bit.
SFN: What do you attribute your success and the high finishes of two other fellow teams to (please be specific) and Bethel University’s continued overall bass fishing competition success?
BU:
Jacob: I would have to attribute the success of the Bethel bass team to the caliber of anglers we have along with the amount of time and effort everyone puts in on the water.
Jake: We all have the drive and passion to succeed in fishing just as much as in life. We are all blessed to be associated with a college who supports us the way Bethel does. Jacob and I have been fortunate enough to come in on the forefront of this team and it has been quite an honor to watch it grow and see what it has become. We both see strong fisherman in the coming future for Bethel and can’t wait to see where it will take them. Who knows, maybe even the Bassmaster Classic!!!!
There you have our interview with Jacob Hardy and Jake Lawrence with some of their thoughts and experiences during the Carhartt Wild Card College Tournament. We appreciate these guys taking the time to respond to our questions and Coach Garry Mason’s assistance with the digital logistics. To learn more about Bethel University visit: http://www.bethelu.edu/
