My name is Bodie Drake.  I’m from East End Arkansas; it’s a small town 25 miles south of Little Rock.  I’ve fished for fun all my life with parents, grandparents, and friends.  I became interested in competitive fishing while in college.  I’m a serious duck hunter and when duck season ended one year I was feeling blue and wondering what to do with my spare time.  I read a poster about someone starting a bass team at the University of Arkansas.  I went to the second meeting and soon became vice president and a concerned member.  My first competition was the 1st every University of Arkansas Bass Team Invitational on Beaver lake.  I finished in 4th on the first day and I’ve been hooked on competitive fishing ever since. People wonder how we balance school and fishing, it’s pretty easy.  If we want to go fishing we usually skip school.  Money and work is usually the more important issue.  I typically miss only 2-3 days of school a month at most due to fishing, although I have entire weeks for large events.  This makes for a hectic schedule trying to make up when you get back.   Our teachers have been very willing to let us reschedule test and due dates if they conflict with tournament dates.

College is very competitive; it is designed to be that way to get students ready for the work force.  College students are expected to study our subjects and pass tests.  This mind set transfers to tournament fishing very well.  Pre-fishing is like studying and the tournament is like a test.  We even use our research skills to learn about the lake we will be fishing.  When I have a tournament coming up I frequently look up old tournament results on that lake at similar times of the year.  I figure out what the top guys were doing and that gives me a hint on what I could try before I even hit the water.

College anglers have been expected to furnish all their equipment.  This includes boats, towing vehicles, rods, reels, lures, etc.  The FLW National Guard college series recently began a tournament series where they provide boats for college anglers but this is new this year.  In their tournaments the lake is off limits 2 weeks prior to tournament day.  The college tournaments are held in conjunction with Stren series tournaments.  On tournament day you show up at the boat ramp and a Stren series angler that didn’t make the cut drives you around in his boat.  I fish out of a 1651 Excel duck boat with a 25 hp Yamaha.  I beat a lot of guys in nice bass boats.

Our Bass team at the University of Arkansas has 6 qualifier events each year.  We keep a running points total from those events. As tournaments are announced we give our points leaders the option to fish them first.  This ensures we send our best teams to represent the University of Arkansas, and it makes our guys work to get to represent.  We have about 20 members and many tournaments limit our entries to 4 people.  I fished all of our qualifiers last year, the University of Oklahoma Invitational at Grand Lake OK where I won big bass, the Boat U.S. Collegiate National Bass Fishing National Championship on lake Lewisville, Texas, (now covered by Versus), where me and my partner finished 1st, CBAA SEC championship on lake Lewis Smith AL, The Iceman Beaver lake AR, The TBF National championship Bull Shoals Lake AR, and I also began fishing all the BFL Archie division this spring.  I’ve been pretty busy.

I’ve got some tips for other college anglers.  If you are going to skip class to go fishing you have two options to help cover up.  Wear sunscreen on your face or keep your “coon eyes” very defined.  Nothing says I’ve been fishing all day like a new set of coon eyes.  It’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission, unless you skip on a test day, NEVER skip on a test day!  GO TO EVERY EVENT YOU CAN!  Events at the college level are so fun and sponsors are very willing to help out because they are trying to get your loyalty to their product for the rest of your life.  Also if you represent a University you already have an established name, take advantage of it because it won’t be this easy to get sponsors when you’re on your own trying to go pro.  Get to know the guys your are fishing with and against.  They may be able to help you when you fish an event at their “Home lake”, that is as long as they are not in the same tournament.

You could consider a day of fishing as a lab because you must think of the geology of the lake bed, chemistry and physics of the water, and the biology of the fish and its prey.  You also must consider weather.  I use things I’ve learned in college science classes frequently when I’m fishing.  It makes me wonder why the University of Arkansas doesn’t have Bass Fishing as a major, or at least some classes on the subject.  The University of Alabama has at least one class on bass fishing!

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