BassPack, N.C. State’s club bass fishing team, has come a long way in a short time. Since the club was formed in 2005, it has won a national championship, placed high in numerous large tournaments and snagged endorsement deals with companies such as Ranger and Yamaha. Now, its members can place another patch on their uniforms.
“We are now sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, they’re our newest and biggest sponsor,” Mark Kozazcki, freshman in fisheries and wildlife sciences, said. “Each club member gets a certain amount of free gear, and in return we have to advertise and represent the Columbia company whenever we’re at an event.”
All three agreed they would like to become professional fishermen after they graduate from N.C. State.
“[BassPack] has a lot of good things going for it,” Ben Dziwulski, freshman in agriculture business management, said. “We’re still the biggest team in the nation and definitely the most organized. Other schools are inching along, trying to get to where N.C. State is. When people think of collegiate bass fishing, even in the professional realm, they know N.C. State.”
Josh Hooks, sophomore in industrial engineering, agreed that the BassPack name alone would be enough to gain some attention for himself down the road.
“That’s something I would really like to do in the future, and a prestigious name like N.C. State gets you out there a little further,” Hooks said.
Hooks participated in the Under Armour College Bass National Championships last year and participated on a team with Kozazcki in the College Bass East Super Regional March 7-8. The competition featured a two-day cumulative date, and each fish had to weigh a minimum of 12 pounds.
“It was open to the entire eastern US,” Kozazcki said. “[Hooks and I] placed twelfth out of close to fifty teams.”
Eastern Kentucky University ran away with the competition after posting a score of 24.84, and N.C. State came in at 12th with a combined weight of 12.42.
“We had some boat trouble, which pushed us back a little bit. We just never found the place where we could catch the kicker fish,” Hooks said. “We could have done better.”
Dziwulski, a Maryland native, and Kozazcki, who is from the Boston area, had impressive bass fishing pedigrees before their acceptance into N.C. State. Both said the option of a bass fishing club was part of what lured them to N.C. State.
“I wanted to go to a school that had a really strong fishing team because I’ve grown up fishing all my life,” Dziwulski said. “I fished the Junior Bassmaster Trail for kids 18 and younger and placed second in the world right before coming to N.C. State.”
The hobby was not only fun, but also profitable, according to Dziwulski.
“I made a lot more money fishing than I did working during high school, so I wanted to continue that into college,” Dziwulski said.
Dziwulski found out about the BassPack after posting on forums online. Jonathan Phillips, faculty advisor for BassPack, contacted him invited him down to take a look at the school. It turned out to be the only school Dziwulski applied to.
“This year, I haven’t been competing so well because I don’t know any of these lakes really well,” Dziwulski said. “I’ve got at least three more years here so I’ll be able to step it up.”
In the imminent future, the BassPack will take on foes many N.C. State students will recognize. Several months ago, the BassPack offered to take several Pack football players to Jordan Lake for a friendly competition after it was discovered that the pigskin enthusiasts also enjoyed fishing in their spare time. The event will take place this weekend.
“I have a few buddies on the football team, and we’re going to have a little tournament for fun,” Hooks said.
