Since 2005, NC State’s club bass fishing team, also known as the Basspack, has caught countless fish and has reeled in three national championships in the process.
The Basspack has historically been one of the top college bass fishing clubs in the nation, and that is a big reason that Bryce Owen, a senior studying marketing and current club president, decided to come to NC State.
“I’ve been fishing my whole life and didn’t really know where I wanted to go to college, and the opportunity to come and fish at a collegiate level was unique at the time,” Owen said.
However, in the past few years the sport has grown considerably. Now many of the major colleges in North Carolina have bass fishing clubs, and schools all over the country participate in the sport. Despite all the new competition, NC State remains among the top collegiate programs.
There’s much more to this club and this sport than just winning tournaments, though. The Basspack also performs community service and teaches its members how to be better and more responsible fishermen.
The club is open to all NC State students who are interested in bass fishing; no fishing experience is required to join. Owen said that roughly half of the members on any given year are there for the competitive aspect, while the other half are there just to get involved and learn more about fishing.
Bass fishing is a unique sport for a number of reasons. First of all, it is both a team and individual sport. When someone wins a tournament, it’s win for themselves and a win for the team.
“The club didn’t catch the fish, you did, but at the same time the club is the reason you’re there,” Owen said.
This unique duality of the sport means that a majority of the money earned from winning tournaments goes back to the individual fisherman. This is another way that bass fishing is unique — the NCAA does not regulate it whatsoever, so fishermen can win money and receive sponsorships like professionals do, despite the fact that they are still in college.
Unfortunately for the fishermen though, the money has been taken out of the sport a good deal in recent years. Owen explained that after all the expenses are accounted for, and considering the fact that winning a tournament is never a guarantee, most people are lucky if they break even during the course of a season.
“I’d be interested to see the amount of money I won versus the amount of money I spent last year,” Owen said with a laugh. “It would be heartbreaking probably.”
Even though the financial aspect of the sport can make it stressful at times, Owen tries not to let that get in the way of what he enjoys. He said that his favorite part of being in the club is the camaraderie and getting to travel. He enjoys his time off the lake almost as much as his time on it when they travel, because he often gets to experience the culture of the local campuses and communities that they visit.
In regards to what he enjoys most about fishing itself, Owen said that it is also what makes the sport so frustrating at times: its unpredictability. What is perhaps the most unique thing about bass fishing is that there is so much that is beyond the control of the fisherman. It can be anything from boat troubles to water current patterns that can cause someone to have a bad day on the water. But at the same time, Owen added, one’s luck can change in a matter of a few casts, and this exhilarating aspect is what he loves most about fishing.
“It’s a very humbling sport, one weekend you can go out and beat 200 people, and the next weekend you can’t catch a fish at all,” Owen said.
So, what separates the good fishermen from the average ones? Owen said that spending time on the water and gaining more experience is important for those who want to become better fishermen.
He also said that spending time with other fishermen who have different techniques could be beneficial as well. Though the most important thing in his opinion is to trust your instincts and have confidence in what you’re doing.
“It’s like anything else; if you’re not confident in what you’re doing, you’re not going to be any good at it,” Owen said.
You have to be able to adapt sometimes too though. It’s important to be confident in your techniques while also not being too stubborn to try new things from time to time. This falls back on the unpredictability of the sport — it’s important to be flexible.
In this aspect, fishing is similar to life itself, and so perhaps there is a lot more that people can learn from fishing than just how to catch a fish.
Senior Bryce Owen poses with a fish he caught. Owen has been president of the NC State club bass fishing team since 2014.
