The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Bass Fishing Club is preparing for its fifth season and looking for new members for the spring semester.
“Unlike a varsity sport, club sports are run solely by the students and players. The fishing team provides a relaxed yet competitive atmosphere,” said UTC Bass Fishing Club President James Childers. “Our purpose is to promote the sport of bass fishing and to provide an opportunity for all students to participate in competitive bass fishing at a collegiate level. Whether you’re new to fishing or have been fishing tournaments all of your life, you can be a member of the team.”
The Bass Fishing Club was formed in the fall of 2008 with five members, and it now includes approximately 20 student members.
The UTC Bass Fishing Club had an outstanding 2011 season, winning five tournaments and consistently placing in the top 10. In January, the UTC Bass Fishing Club placed first and third out of 40 teams from the Southeast in an FLW College Fishing Qualifier on Lake Okeechobee, located in southern Florida.This netted a total of $12,500 in tournament winnings for UTC. In July, UTC placed fourth out of 38 teams at the ACA’s Boat U.S. Open on Kentucky Lake.
They’ve been featured on television networks like ESPN and Versus Outdoors.
The team is sponsored by MoonPie, Coca Cola, Lowrance, Joe Burns Custom Rods, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Choo Choo Lures and UTC’s campus recreation department.
They compete in fishing tournaments around the nation against other college teams. From January through July, the team will compete in more than a dozen college tournaments with events in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida.
Each year the team organizes and operates the Tennessee Collegiate Bass Fishing Trail (TCBFT), which is the first and only college fishing tournament trail in Tennessee. The TCBFT will consist of four qualifying events this spring, as well as a championship and a tournament of champions for those who qualify in the summer.
Along with the TCBFT, the Bass Fishing Club competes in events hosted by the Association of Collegiate Anglers, College BASS and FLW College Fishing. A few of the fisheries that the team will be traveling to this year include Chickamauga Lake, Nickajack Lake, Lake Guntersville, Pickwick Lake, Lake Okeechobee, Tim’s Ford Lake and Kentucky Lake.
The first meeting of the year will be held at 9 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Bluegrass Grill, which is located in downtown Chattanooga at 55 E. Main Street.
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