Written and Media by Christopher Brooks.
Greenville University is home to many different sports. One that many fail to realize as a GU certified sport is bass fishing. Greenville first incorporated bass fishing at the school in the year of 2014. The person who started this bass fishing team is the current head coach, Anthony Macon. Coach Anthony started this team because he fished tournaments in the FLW series and thought we needed this at Greenville University. Fast forward a few years and the team is now ranked in the national top 50 at #42. They compete at multiple levels, including Division I schools and junior college schools in the format of Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing.
The week of January 22nd through January 27th, Greenville University’s Bass Fishing team went down to Many, Louisiana to fish in the number one lake in the country—Toledo Bend Lake, which covers the borders of Louisiana and Texas. The team left for the tournament held by B.A.S.S. College Series on Tuesday, January 23rd and made it down to the lake in the early morning of Wednesday, January 24th. The team did so, just in time to get some practice for the event that started the next day. That night they attended the Pre-Tournament meeting and got some free items, including a few new lures. During the meeting, they explained the rules of B.A.S.S., the lake rules, and the dangers of the lake.
The first day of the tournament started with the take off at 7:00 AM for the first flight of boats. The first boat out for Greenville was Chris Brooks and Chance Scott on boat number 61. The next boat out was the boat of Cordell Beckmann and Quinten Brown at boat number 67. Lastly for Greenville was the boat of Ricky Huge and Ben Fouts at number 102. Those boat numbers did not help them during the first day, as after the initial start of the event, Greenville’s top boat was Cordell Beckmann and Quinten Brown. The boat held two fish weighed in at five lbs four ounces. Greenville’s second highest weight was by Ricky Huge and Ben Fouts, with one fish weighing in at one lb eleven ounces. Chris Brooks and Chance Scott did not weigh in a fish on day one of the event.
Photo taken by Chris Brooks.
The second day of the tournament started out with a near three-hour fog delay. After the delay, the first boat out for Greenville on the second day was Ricky Huge and Ben Fouts at number 147. The other two boats for Greenville were in the 200’s to launch. It seemed like the later start helped a little bit as each boat weighed in fish that day. First to weigh in was Ricky Huge and Ben Fouts who weighed in one fish for three lbs five ounces for a two day total of five-zero lbs. Second for Greenville to weigh in was Cordell Beckmann and Quinten Brown who weighed in again with two fish for five lbs seven ounces for a two day total of 10 lbs 11 ounces. The final boat to weigh in for Greenville was Chris Brooks and Chance Scott. For the second day, they weighed in three fish for six lbs eight ounces for a two day total of six lbs eight ounces. The finishes for Greenville were Cordell Beckmann and Quinten Brown finishing at 123rd place, Chris Brooks and Chance Scott at 150th place, and Ricky Huge and Ben Fouts at 167th place. Be sure to check out the attached interview with Ricky Huge.
“Overall the tournament at Toledo Bend was a success,” said Head Coach, Anthony Macon. The trip was one that they all will remember for a long time. Not because they caught many fish but because they got to fish one of the best lakes in the country.
