a College Degree for Fishing
COLUMN
NEWELL ’ S NOTES
ROB
NEWELL
a College Degree for Fishing
Occasionally , FLW assigns me to cover YETI FLW College Fishing tournaments . When I do , I ’ m always impressed by how respectful , composed and attentive these young anglers are , both on and off the water .
During the 2017 FLW College Fishing National Championship I was interviewing a college team as the anglers ’ proud parents stood nearby and listened in . Each of the young men answered my questions directly and with quite an impressive degree of expertise .
At one point , I said , “ Wow , you guys sound like professional anglers .”
“ You think so ?” one of them questioned politely . “ Then why do I need a college degree ? I just want to fish .”
I could feel the stare of the proud parents burning a hole through me , waiting for my response . I guessed this had been a recent topic of discussion in the household . Obviously the parents were waiting for my canned “ stay in school ” speech , but I didn ’ t have one prepared .
I didn ’ t dole out any “ get a degree first ” advice that day because I was once in those very shoes , and I see both sides of the argument . I went to college at Auburn University , a campus surrounded by fantastic bass fishing impoundments . This was long before the days of FLW College Fishing , but I became a member of the Auburn Bass Club , and after experiencing the tournament-fishing lifestyle with the great guys in that club , I couldn ’ t have cared less about getting a college degree . The arguments with my parents about staying in school never ended until the day I graduated from college .
In my opinion , a college degree is not a requirement to fish the pro tours . These young anglers can walk the walk , talk the talk and catch fish , so who am I to tell them to stay in school ?
In my case , I ’ ve only been asked about the specifics of my educational background once , maybe twice , in 25 years of working in the fishing industry . Yes , I do have examples of successful professional anglers who earned degrees and now fish professionally : Anthony Gagliardi , Bryan Thrift and Michael Neal , just to name a few . But for every pro who has a college degree , there is a pro without one .
That ’ s how I felt until a recent conversation with longtime FLW Tour pro Terry Bolton gave me reason to wave the stay-inschool flag . Bolton and I were talking , catching up on fishing and life , when he mentioned he was excited about his new job . New job ? “ I now work full time for HealthWorks Safety out of Paducah as a senior safety engineer ,” Bolton said proudly . Wait . What ? Engineer ? “ I thought you had to have a college degree to be an engineer ?” I countered .
“ I do have a degree ,” Bolton said with a laugh . “ I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in occupational safety and health management from Murray State 23 years ago . I ’ ve never used it until about four years ago when a part-time opportunity came up for a safety position . I was qualified for it thanks to my degree , and I jumped on it .”
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FLWFISHING . COM I auGuSt-SepteMber 2018