Hey everyone-
I haven’t been around to post a whole lot of reports lately, as I have been busy with working and fishing late as much as possible. I’m not really sure how to make this proposition, but let me preface my message with a little peak into what has transpired for the Winona State fishing team in 2012 so far:
In March, myself and Sam Schollmeier were fortunate to notch a 2nd place finish on Table Rock Lake in a National Guard College Fishing Central Conference Qualifying tournament (40 teams). That finished earned our club a spot at the prestigious Central Regional Championship in September on Carlyle Lake, Illinois. From there we have a 1/4 chance at going to the National Championship and competing for a birth to the Forrest Wood Cup. These tournaments present Television opportunities and a lot of buzz on the internet for our team and our sponsors.
here is a video to the weigh in at Table Rock, Fast forward to about 43 minutes to watch us weigh in..
http://collegefishing.com/tournament.cfm?tid=6905&t=videos
The second big accomplishment for us this year was finishing 3rd and 10th respectively at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Midwest Super Regional in La Crosse May 18-19th. Sam and Myself took 3rd place with 30 lbs 2 oz for two days and qualified for the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship to be held July 25-27th in Little Rock, Arkansas! There we will compete for prizes and a spot at the 2013 Bassmaster Classic! The awesome part about this regional finish was that we had the pleasure of having a camera boat following us for 2 days, and we absolutely put a SLAMMIN’ on the fish! It will be some exciting footage to watch, and you can catch the show on ESPNU August 5th at 8pm CT.
With the qualification of these tournaments, there has been some prize income along the way, but other tournaments this season also took a good portion of that money from the budget, and we are very thin on funds for the upcoming national championship. We will be leaving on the 19th of July and will be there for a full week, so We will need probably in the ball park of 1500-1700 dollars to cover our trip, a number I think we will probably fall a few hundred dollars short of. If there is anyone out there who would be interested (or knows someone who would be )in sponsoring a college team that is about to get a lot of exposure on a national level, please send me a private message. Donations of any kind would also be very greatly appreciated!
Some videos of us at the regional championship last year..
Thanks,
Cade Laufenberg
Vice President WSU Fishing Club
