Coastal Carolina wins college fishing event

Two Coastal Carolina University students, John Miller and Wyatt Hammond, recently won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division event on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Ala., with five bass weighing a total of 19 pounds, 3 ounces. FLW stands for Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats.

The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split between the University and the University’s bass fishing club - $7,500 for the bass club and $2,500 for the school. The win also helped them advance to the Southeast Division Regional Championship.

“This is unbelievable,” said Hammond, a senior history major from Myrtle Beach. “I’ve been trying for three years to get here.”

The team found success early as Hammond caught a fish on a chartreuse jerkbait within five minutes, and soon after, Miller caught one on a Rat-L-Trap. Miller also caught an 8-pounder on a shad-colored Rapala Shad Rap and followed that up with a 4-pounder.

“It was 32 degrees at blastoff,” Hammond said. “It was cold, to say the least. But it warmed up to 65 or 70 degrees, and I know a lot of people out here were catching a lot of good fish.”

Erin Burge, assistant professor of marine science, is faculty adviser for the fishing club.