Bass Hookin’ Hokies
by Liz Strine, Contributing Writer
March 18, 2007

Growing up in Midlothian, Va. fishing on the Swift Creek reservoir, high school friends Scott Wiley, Brett Thompson, Charlie Machek and Chase Grinnell never imagined they would one day be starting up a competitive fishing team of their own.

Scott Wiley, a junior landscape architect major, heard about collegiate fishing from a friend and in just two months, after filling out all the necessary paperwork, Wiley and his three friends were on their way to North Carolina to their first competitive fishing tournament.  

On March 10-11 they participated in the 2007 Falls Lake Collegiate Classic. Wiley and Grinnell placed first in the tournament catching five fish totaling 22 lbs, while Thompson and Machek came in fourth place with two fish totaling 11 lbs. 13 oz.

Thompson and Machek also received the “Lunker Award” for catching the largest fish of the two day tournament, weighing 8 lb. 15 oz.

“I really enjoy the competition and intensity at the tournaments, knowing that every cast and everything you do counts,” Machek said.

The team hopes that their success in their first tournament will get others interested in the sport and generate more participation in the future. 

“I think there are many students at Virginia Tech who would love to join a fishing team, but they didn’t know such a thing existed. I didn’t even know until a few weeks ago that there was such a thing as college bass fishing. I think it’s just all about getting the word out,” Grinnell said.  

“We just want to promote the sport of bass fishing,” Thompson said.   

The team has already been contacted by many possible sponsors and organizations who are interested in helping support their vision for the team.

“We hope to be well sponsored and maybe even have enough funding to get a boat and other equipment that we can use for the tournaments. We want to be able to fish at as many tournaments and with as many teams as we can,” Thompson said. 

Although they are not yet an official club sport at Virginia Tech, Wiley says he hopes that they will become an official club sport by next year.

The team plans to continue to compete in tournaments across the United States. They will travel to a tournament in Alabama this summer, and then to Lake Lewisville in Texas for the national tournament on September 24.  

Highlights from the 2007 Falls Lake Collegiate Classic will air on Fox College Sports sometime early next January.