At the break of dawn, a lure plunges into the Roosevelt Lake Reservoir in Gila County, Arizona. Dawn to dusk, dusk to dawn, ASU’s Bass Fishing Team is consumed by fishing. With an early-to-rise mentality from a sleep that was everything short of beauty sleep, the crew grabs their tackle and casts their day away. Their day however, is not wasted.
“You’re thinking of where to cast next while you’re casting,” says tournament director Doug Coplan. Coplan is a freshman who is majoring in Conservation Biology. “It’s rarely sitting around. It’s constantly go, go, go. Bass are an aggressive fish but they adapt easily. They don’t have a memory per se but if you hook the same one over and over, it’ll shy away.”
Coplan recollects when he “casted near this log with a crank bait, then a top water. My dad casted in the same spot with a jig and in five- minutes gets a fish. It could be a difference of an inch or two.” Fishing is a hit or miss sport with strategy being a major contributing factor.
With the fish and their surroundings constantly changing, even the color of the lure is a game- changer. Usually, natural colors are used for clear water and brighter colors for murky. Even structure matters—logs in the water, weed beds, anything that affects the depth of the water. Water temperature adds but another twist as well. Fish try and find the thermocline—the part of the water that is warmest in the winter but coolest in the summer. Really, are winters that cold in Arizona?
“Generally, the fishing is really good in Arizona because the fish never go into a state where they slow down. As far as the weather change, fishing is very physically demanding. In Arizona, you’re in the heat all day,” says president Mark Walker, a sophomore majoring in Business Communications. “I usually cast anywhere from five-hundred to a thousand casts a day. I keep my trolling motor on high. It’s not just casting and drinking beer. You have to be up by 4 a.m., fish until the sun goes down then do homework. We’re up before the sun comes up and go to bed after the sun goes down.”
According to Walker, he takes the sport “very seriously and usually sets expectations for himself that he almost never reaches.” Walker, with a disciplined mentality, aspires to pursue bass fishing on the professional level. As for Coplan, he is but another aspired fisherman who wants to land himself into the pros.
This is where ASU bass fishing prepares and exposes them. With tournaments ranging from local to Alabama and even the Arkansas River, these fishermen get to test the different climate. ASU is even hosting a local event, the FLW National Guard Western Regional Fishing Championship; the three-day event will be held in November and televised before the Arizona State vs. Arizona game.
Newcomers seeking just development in the sport and its strategies also are in position to gain. Usually, except for individual, the inexperienced ride along with the experienced. By fishing with those who are at a greater level, growth is on the horizon. No matter the level though, the team as a whole looks to land “the big one.”
“That feeling first thing in the morning, waiting for your boat to be called, is the best feeling other than weigh-ins. Once your boat is called, you haul and just go, go, go. Fishing is my life,” Coplan says.
Got a sports story? You can reach me at bcapria@asu.edu.
