BSM’s fishing club celebrates successful first season

Quinn Ehlen, Staff Writer|October 9, 2017

Photo Courtesy of Cole Zeman and Jack Klassen

Juniors Cole Zeman and Jack Klassen show off their catches.

This year heralds the inaugural season of BSM’s fishing club. After participating in two summer tournaments, one of the bass fishing teams – juniors Cole Zeman and Jack Klassen – found success, advancing to the state tournament. This tournament took place on Lake Washington, September 16 and 17, and capped off an excellent first year for the club.  

In order to make it to the state tournament, the duo had to participate in two grueling tournaments during the summer. They finished with the most points in the Central Division of high school bass fishing. To “get points” while fishing, the team can weigh in a total of five fish, and the goal is to have the highest sum of weight possible.

These rookies had to fish like veterans in order to succeed, and while competing in the fishing tournaments Cole Zeman felt the pressure of being a new team to the league. “There’s a sense of having to prove yourself as a contending school. It was very fun to be a part of the inaugural season,” Zeman said. 

As for strategy, the fishermen explained that they did something called pre-fishing. For this practice, they headed out to the lake to find some spots that the fish were biting. It is critical to only catch one or two fish per spot in order to ensure that the fish will still bite the next day.  They also used this method to test out their go-to lures and rods. Klassen prefers a Saint Croix rod, Shimano reels, and Crankbait lures, while Zeman prefers a Fenwick Elite Tech rod, a Daiwa Tatula reel, and Jerkbait lures. The mathematical equation of location, lure, and skill gives way to fishing success, and by the time of the tournaments, this team had solved that equation.  

The duo was on fire during the summer tournaments, but it seems the fire might have ran out of fuel this fall. For the state tournament, they only weighed in two bass for a total of 4.26 pounds.  They did not place in the tournament, and a couple of Prior Lake fishermen took home the gold.  

Despite this tragic ending to the season, hopes are still high for next year. “I am looking forward to next season and trying to get sponsors to add on to the sweet jerseys that we got this year,” said Klassen.  They are not content with just the state tournament appearance. Next year, they hope to reel in some big fish, the championship, and more members to keep growing this new program.