I was asked the question on what circuits I’m fishing and why I’m fishing them. One of the tournament circuits I am currently fishing is the Ozark BFL as a co-angler. I decided to fish the Ozark BFL’s this year out of the back of the boat because I wanted to see what the BFL’s are like and get some experience on the lakes of the Ozarks. Up until this year I’d only fished twice on both Table Rock and Lake of the Ozarks; plus, I had never been to Grand Lake or Truman Lake. What I’m planning on doing is fishing as a co-angler a year or two and then making the jump to boater when my classes slow down. I’ve studied a couple of great anglers and a lot of them started out fishing as co-anglers and then moved up to boater in each division. What I plan on doing is fishing the BFL’s as a co-angler then moving up to boater and fishing the Strens as a co-angler and then moving up to a boater in the Strens. My goal is to keep moving up the ranks. When you fish as a co-angler it is a challenge to catch fish a lot of times behind guys but you usually can learn something from your boater. A lot of times you learn from their mistakes or you learn what not to do.

Another circuit I’m fishing is the Central division of the FLW National Guard College tour. These tournaments are run really well and give you the opportunity to represent your school while competing for scholarships and money for your schools club. It is amazing how well the tournaments are put together. After talking to a lot of other college anglers I can say that everyone is pretty happy with how the tournaments are going. The only complaint I’ve heard from other anglers is there shouldn’t be an off limits period before the tournament. The tournaments are set up so that you can’t pre-fish for them or get any information prior to the tournaments. I think it puts schools who have never fished a lake before at a disadvantage. The rules are probably in place to keep the tournament fair for anglers who don’t have their own boat or access to a boat to get out and pre-fish. A lot of the weights have been low and if we really want to grow the sport of college fishing I think they need to let us get time to practice so college anglers can go out and find fish so that our weigh-ins will impress people. Nobody wants to see 11 to 10 pounds winning tournaments.

When I’m not fishing these two circuits I’m fishing either open or charity tournaments in my area. Lately I’ve been fishing the Vandalia Sport fishing and Conservation weekend series which is almost every Saturday. The tournament usually has around 20 boats and there is plenty of competition. Most of the anglers have been fishing Vandalia for longer than I’ve been alive. Vandalia is a great lake too. Last month we had around 15 boats come out and there were over 100 pounds of bass weighed. I took 2nd place with 13.72lbs. The tournaments won’t break your bank either if you have a bad day which is an added bonus if you’re a college angler on a tight budget. Vandalia is about an hour and 15 minutes from where I live so it’s not too bad of a drive. It can get pretty expensive hauling a boat a couple hours away for one day events. When you get in the top three you also get into the Vandalia newspaper so the tournaments give you a little exposure. I am fishing them to keep my competitive edge and because the lake is one that forces you to constantly adapt. The bite really changes from day to day and you hardly ever catch your fish from the same spot.

Collegiate Angler Spencer Clark is a full time student at Truman State University