Without the NCAA’s involvement in college fishing, anglers can “compete alongside professionals, win prize money and return to the classroom without any consequences,” according to a front-page piece by Zach Schonbrun of the N.Y. TIMES. The college fishing circuit, which is “outside the NCAA umbrella and administered by various fishing-tournament organizations,” has “grown to include more than 600 registered clubs, from about 90 in 2009, and these clubs have gotten serious.” Many programs “have sponsors who outfit them with boats and gear or pay for lodging, and some teams are actively recruiting high school anglers.” Others “have full-time coaches,” and “at least two colleges now offer scholarships.” Some college fishing teams are “more akin to a Frisbee club, with only a few members.” But “many teams have dozens of anglers, including Penn State’s, which has 45.” Most “have club status and operate outside the purview of a college’s athletic department.” Each club’s bylaws “dictate what teams can do with the money they earn, and often it is redistributed back into a general pool of funds.” But members of Ohio State’s club team said that they “could keep a portion of whatever they earned.” College fishing has “caught hold in part because competitors are chasing the prize money, but also because sponsors, as well as the professional fishing circuits, are trying to entice younger participants to the sport.” FLW College Fishing, run by Fishing League Worldwide, which “organizes the college national championship, is one of three groups that primarily run college fishing; the others are Bassmaster College Series, run by BASS, and Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, run by the Association of Collegiate Anglers.” Each circuit “has its own rules and tournament structures, and most college teams can fish in any of the circuits whenever they can” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/18).
