After more than 16 hours of fishing over the two days of the Strike King Bassmaster College Series event on Lake Okeechobee in south Florida, Quinn Williams with the Georgia Southern University Anglers team knew he hooked a big one.
In fact, there were only about 20 minutes left of fishing in the tournament when Williams and his boat partner Brayden Batchelor reeled in a 7.5-pound largemouth bass. And, after the fish was officially weighed in upon returning to dock, it clinched first place for the duo and marked the first-ever win for a Georgia Southern fishing team in a College Series tournament.
“It means a lot,” Williams said in an interview right after winning. “Thanks to my family, my teammates and my partner. My partner has helped me a lot keep my head in the game. I struggled yesterday, but today I caught a big fish and (put us over the top).”
While Georgia Southern does not have a fishing team akin to its football or basketball teams, the Anglers are a recognized club team of the university that competes against scholarship-supported sports teams from colleges and universities around the country.
For the Lake Okeechobee tournament on Jan. 29 and 30, 12 members of the Georgia Southern Anglers – six teams – traveled to Clewiston, Fla., to compete, said Hunter Starling, who is vice president of the club. Starling has been a member of the team since he began attending Georgia Southern after graduating from Bulloch Academy a few years ago.
Lake Okeechobee was the second stop on the Bassmaster College Series schedule, which has six tournaments set for the 2025 season. It began in Leesburg, Fla., on Jan. 22 and will conclude on Chickamauga Lake in Dayton, Tenn., on May 30-31.
In Clewiston, Starling and his fellow Georgia Southern Anglers were facing dozens of teams from colleges ranging in size as large as LSU and North Carolina to Carson-Newman in Tennessee and Erskine in South Carolina. In all, there were about 250 boats competing, with some colleges having more the 20 boats, Starling said.
Teams actually arrived on Jan. 26 and were allowed three days of practice fishing on the massive Lake Okeechobee, which is the eighth-largest freshwater lake in the United States and the largest in the southeast.
“You may have to travel 40-50 miles in a day to find the right site to fish on Okeechobee,” Starling said. “It is especially difficult this time of year during the spawn. It is tough to really grab on to a pattern. Fish are moving in and out of places so quick.”
Teams went out each day at 6:30 a.m. and had to return by 3:30 p.m. The top five fish caught by weight by each team member during the two days were totaled to determine the winning team.
“With 20 minutes left to fish, for Quinn and Brayden to find that spot for that fish at that time – it was magical really,” Starling said.
The 7.5-pound bass gave Williams and Batchelor a total weight of 42 pounds, three ounces, which ended up being two pounds more than the second-place team from Kentucky Christian University.
“Two pounds is a huge difference,” Starling said. “Usually, it comes down to a few ounces.”
Along with two large first-place trophies, Williams and Batchelor, who is president of the Georgia Southern team, also took home checks for $2,966.50 each and qualified to participate in the College Series National Championship.
“This really is a big deal for Georgia Southern fishing,” Starling said. “We have been gaining a lot of interest in the past couple of years and I hope this gains us even more.”
He said he knows there are a lot of students at Georgia Southern who love fishing and if they would like to learn more about becoming part of the Anglers club team to call him at (912) 777-2172.
Starling said he developed a love for fishing from the moment his father and grandfather put a rod and reel in his hands. He said they fished at some ponds around Bulloch County, but they did most of their fishing on the Ogeechee River.
Since the team does not receive any financial support from Georgia Southern, Starling said sponsors help pay for equipment, travel costs to and from tournaments, including lodging and meals that otherwise team members couldn’t afford.
Sponsors for the team are: Reid and Reid Construction, Starling Plumbing and Electrical, Spike It, No Live Bait Needed, Smoak Firewood, Yellowstone Landscape, C.C. Liquidations and Doc Savage, Inc. Heating and Air.
