By Nick Brockman, Messenger Sports Reporter, nbrockman@the-messenger.com
When Kalem Tippett left for last weekend's Under Armour College Bass National Championship, the Hanson resident had hopes of capturing his second collegiate title of the summer. Unfortunately, the fish eluded his hook and dream.
Tippett, a junior at Murray State University, claimed the U.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship on May 28-29, but a change in location provided new challenges as he finished 25th in a field of 60 entries Saturday.
Tippett and partner Vincent Campisano won at Lake Lewisville, Texas thanks to solid execution of ledge fishing, but the strategy didn't pay off for Tippett and new partner Jonathan Byrn on the Arkansas River at North Little Rock, Ark.
"We had a tough week down there," Tippett said. "The whole river was tough. We pre-fished for four days and then fished two, and it only took 14.5 pounds to even make the top-five cut. We just couldn't find them."
The duo endured a bit of bad luck as well, which made the odds even more difficult.
"We found one creek that had some good fish in it, but we had a bad draw on the first day," Tippett said. "We were almost the last boat out, so I knew we wouldn't get in there first, so we never even hit it.
"I ended up the first day, I hit something with my prop and ruined my prop, bent my prop shaft up, so the second day I could barely even run the big motor. We pretty much had to drop the troll motor and fish around the ramp."
Tippett, a junior at Murray State University, claimed the U.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship on May 28-29, but a change in location provided new challenges as he finished 25th in a field of 60 entries Saturday.
Tippett and partner Vincent Campisano won at Lake Lewisville, Texas thanks to solid execution of ledge fishing, but the strategy didn't pay off for Tippett and new partner Jonathan Byrn on the Arkansas River at North Little Rock, Ark.
"We had a tough week down there," Tippett said. "The whole river was tough. We pre-fished for four days and then fished two, and it only took 14.5 pounds to even make the top-five cut. We just couldn't find them."
The duo endured a bit of bad luck as well, which made the odds even more difficult.
"We found one creek that had some good fish in it, but we had a bad draw on the first day," Tippett said. "We were almost the last boat out, so I knew we wouldn't get in there first, so we never even hit it.
"I ended up the first day, I hit something with my prop and ruined my prop, bent my prop shaft up, so the second day I could barely even run the big motor. We pretty much had to drop the troll motor and fish around the ramp."
Despite the challenging conditions, Tippett and his partner managed a bit of success.
"We had one 12.5 inch Kentucky Bass the first day," he said. "The second day we had two fish that weighed 5.5 pounds, and we lost another one about two pounds right out the boat."
After the first day, Murray placed 41st with a 1.14-pound total. With two fish on the second day, the pair jumped to 25th at 6.62 pounds. Even the event's most successful fisherman encountered some difficulty. On the third day of fishing, the top five boats held a one-day shoot to determine a winner and two different pairs recorded a blank.
During such situations, a fisherman's mindset is challenged, Tippett said.
"You lose a lot of confidence in yourself," he said. "Looking back, I know where the guys who ended up winning were fishing, and we fished a little bit of that stuff, but evidently we didn't fish it right."
Tippett said he plans to participate in a FLW qualifier at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. in October. The winner will be invited to participate in the FLW Cup.
"We had one 12.5 inch Kentucky Bass the first day," he said. "The second day we had two fish that weighed 5.5 pounds, and we lost another one about two pounds right out the boat."
After the first day, Murray placed 41st with a 1.14-pound total. With two fish on the second day, the pair jumped to 25th at 6.62 pounds. Even the event's most successful fisherman encountered some difficulty. On the third day of fishing, the top five boats held a one-day shoot to determine a winner and two different pairs recorded a blank.
During such situations, a fisherman's mindset is challenged, Tippett said.
"You lose a lot of confidence in yourself," he said. "Looking back, I know where the guys who ended up winning were fishing, and we fished a little bit of that stuff, but evidently we didn't fish it right."
Tippett said he plans to participate in a FLW qualifier at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. in October. The winner will be invited to participate in the FLW Cup.
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