Entry 195-2
University of Alabama Bass-Fishing Team Wins National Championship
Part 2: Who’s the Crimson Tide’s No. 1 Fisherman
Editor’s Note: The University of Alabama Crimson Tide Bass Anglers (CTBA) have become the National Collegiate Bass Fishing Champions. If you’ve never heard of CTBA or the National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship (NCBFC), now you know that the Crimson Tide bassers, sponsored by Strike King Lures, have won a national championship. This up-and-coming college sport, which has gained national recognition and lots of interest from outdoorsmen, will be televised on Fox College Sports.
"My father started me bluegill fishing, and then he taught me to bass fish," Jeff Aul of Daleville, Alabama, the top gun for the Crimson Tide team, mentions, "I love to compete. I played 4 years of college football for the University of Alabama as a punter. After football, I looked for another sport that I could compete in and joined the CTBA. I’m a graduate student, studying geology. I love bass fishing, and I’d love to be a touring pro angler. But I realize that I have to finish school and have financial stability before taking on the world of bass fishing if I want to make that dream come true."
Aul attributes his success in tournament fishing and his No. 1 angler rank in the CTBA to the numbers of hours he practices fishing. Aul has a 175 ProCraft boat with a 115-horsepower motor that he’s bought with the money he’s made as a teaching assistant. He keeps his boat on campus. "Because I’m in graduate school, and I teach, I have a little bit more money to buy a boat than some of the others on the team, and I can afford a boat payment," Aul comments.
Next year will be Aul’s last year to fish competitively for the CTBA because he’s graduating. He’s really looking forward to next year’s competition and the possibility of once again competing in the NCBFC. Aul credits his success to his finesse fishing. He likes to fish the shaky-head worm on fluorocarbon line, and he believes that finesse fishing has enabled him to rank as a consistent point-getter.
"I catch my limit of bass using my finesse tactics, and once I’ve got a limit in the boat, I go after a big fish to anchor my string," Aul says. "I like the Strike King 3X green-pumpkin finesse worm, and I’ve been very successful with it. I just let it sink to the bottom, shake the worm a little bit and then dead stick it to the bottom. I’ll often let the worm sit still for 30 to 45 seconds before I move it again, especially in cold weather. Most of the time, I’ll see the line move when a bass picks up the bait, but that fluorocarbon line is so sensitive, I often can feel the bite."
