Top Headlines: Ole Miss Fishing Club Grows to 30 Since 2010

Ole Miss Fishing Club, photo courtesy

The Ole Miss Fishing Club may only be a few years old, but the Rebels have made a name for themselves in the world of fishing competition.

“We fished the national championship at Pickwick Lake about three weeks ago,” said vice president Andrew Hulbert. “We had one team get 19th out of 200 boats. We finished in the top 30 which is really good for us being only our second year competing.”

Jason Grant, who is a donor for the bass fishing team, said that the players supply all of their equipment for their tournament.

“The sport is very competitive and expensive to compete in. The team members supply everything from rods, reels, tackle, gas, personal boats, etc,” Grant said. “That’s why these guys need exposure.”

Grant noted that he gives about 50 percent of his donations to the business school, 25 percent to the golf team and 25 percent to the fishing team.

“The football and baseball team have enough money so I like to give to the smaller sports,” Grant said.

The tournaments run most of the day, and the team is in competition year-round.

Each tournament has different formats for how they score teams and award prize money. Some tournaments format themselves to where teams weigh in every hour for four hours for ten fish, allowing teams to garner up to 40 spots for prizes.

Each team can only have two members per boat, and some tournaments restrict the number of boats each team can have. The teams must also keep the fish they catch alive for the weigh in, which is part of being a good angler Hulbert said.

The fishing team has recruited almost 30 members to its team for the 2017 team. According to Hulbert, their most effective recruiting strategy is through social media because they’re able to see what type of people they are recruiting and how active they are in the sport.

“We’re able to see via social media how active they are not only in bass fishing but also academic wise and being involved in the community,” Hulbert said.

The Ole Miss Fishing Club also shares videos and pictures on its Facebook page.

The team is involved mightily with the community and the city of Oxford as the teammates did nine events in Oxford this year along with visiting the Blair E Batson children’s hospital in Jackson.

Hulbert is extremely excited about the rise and the future of the program and the path that the team is taking.

“We’ve got some really good recruits coming in for next year,” Hulbert said. “ I feel like really soon we’re going to be on top.”

Collin Brister is a staff writer for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at collin.brister@hottytoddy.com.

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