When autocomplete options are available, use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
Apply Give

Bass Fishing Club duo takes second at nationals

Caleb Eppler (left) and Travis Rulle of Liberty University’s Bass Fishing Club finished second in the Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) College Fishing National Championships. (Photo courtesy of FLW Fishing)

A pair of members of Liberty University’s Bass Fishing Club, junior Travis Rulle and Caleb Eppler (’14), finished second in the Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) College Fishing National Championship this past weekend on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C. Liberty led after the opening round on Thursday, April 16, before the University of South Carolina pulled ahead on Saturday, the final day of competition. The pair won a $5,000 college club scholarship for placing No. 2 in the tournament. The tournament featured teams from 44 other institutions across the nation.

Eppler and Rulle (the boat’s captain) qualified to compete at nationals by placing in the top 15 in one of three regional qualifiers last May and then going on to finish third at the regional championships last fall (the top 10 teams in the region go on to nationals). Since the qualifier was before graduation, Eppler was eligible to compete at nationals this year despite having graduated in May 2014.

Liberty’s tandem finished with a total catch weight of 51 pounds, 13 ounces, less than two pounds behind South Carolina (53-2) and ahead of Eastern Kentucky (51-4), Colorado Mesa University (48-1), and Oregon State University (48-0). The highlight of Liberty’s performance was a 7-pound, 9-ounce largemouth bass on Thursday, which led to a tournament-best (22-2) day. Only one other team eclipsed 20 pounds on a single day (20-8, Oregon State on Friday). Though Liberty lost its first place lead on the final day of the tournament, it was the only team in the top six to not catch five qualifying (14-inch minimum) fish (the tournament per-day limit) on all three days of the competition, finishing with only four catches on Saturday and still managing to land less than two pounds out of the top spot.

“This experience meant a lot,” Eppler said. “No one had really heard of us before, so this was a great opportunity to show that Liberty can compete with big name schools from across the country. I give all the credit to God. I never expected to get this far, but Travis did; he had high goals and knew it was possible (for us to make it this far). Travis is a great fisherman; I learned so much from him, and this was a huge learning experience and a great opportunity.”

On Friday night, the team received a call from David Dudley, a Lynchburg area native who is also FLW’s winningest professional fisherman. Dudley told the team that he was impressed with their performance and was rooting for them. Eppler said this served as great encouragement.

Liberty’s Bass Fishing Club, an official university student club, was started in 2012. It currently has nearly 50 members. For more information, or to seek membership, visit www.Facebook.com/LibertyBassFishingTeam.

Chat Live Chat Live Request Info Request Info Apply Now Apply Now Visit Liberty Visit Liberty