Knight bright as day

Written by Mary Helen Aguirre

Friday, 16 November 2007

Trevor Knight, Aggie wildlife and fishery grad student, angler eyes pro circuit Aggie wildlife and fishery grad student, angler eyes pro circuit Trevor Knight began fishing the clear, shallow waters of Delaware at the age of four. After watching the 1989 Bassmaster Classic, he knew he wanted to fish competitively. By the age of 12, Knight had signed up for his first tournament, where he landed at about the 6th or 7th spot. Knight, who received his bachelor’s degree from Delaware University, came south a couple of years ago to complete his graduate work at Texas A&M’s Wildlife and Fishery Department. Fishing in Delaware, he said, is quite a bit different from fishing in Texas. “Dad (Gary Knight) and I became masters of jerkbait fishing,” said Knight, who also works part-time at Gander Mountain’s fishing department. “When I moved to Texas, I became more versatile, adding finesse fishing.” Future plans, he said, are working in his chosen field — he’s focusing on aquatic vegetation management — and he wants a shot at being a professional angler. In September, Knight edged closer toward his dream. He and teammate Justin Rackley of Flower Mound snagged a first-place win in the second annual Boat U.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship. They beat out 82 other teams representing 48 colleges across the nation. The Texas A&M team was one of five top teams that advanced to the final day of the tournament. Knight and Rackley had a cumulative weight of 20.22 pounds, which put them at 4th going into the third day. Their plan was just to qualify. Rackley, an undergraduate at Texas A&M, says the two knew if they caught about 10 pounds a day, they could make the final cut. “We were careful to not burn out our fish. Once we had our limit, we got out of there,” Knight said. On the tournament’s final day, all weights were zeroed. Knight felt the key to winning the championship was consistency. “If you’re not consistent, there’s no way to win a multi-day tournament,” Knight said. His personal strategy? “I let the fish tell me what I should be doing.” It helped that he and Rackley had complementary styles of fishing. “I’m more of a power fisherman,” Rackley said. “I was throwing out a 3 1/2-inch white Mizmo tube. Trevor was throwing out a finesse worm from a shaky head. He knows how to finesse fish.” The two caught four keepers with a final weight of 7.6 pounds. They caught their biggest fish (a three-pounder) in the morning, Rackley said, with the last one coming at about 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. “I caught the first and last fish,” Rackley said. “Trevor caught the middle two.” Another Texas A&M team made up of Andy Shafer and Kenny Stewart placed 20th at that tournament, but also hooked the biggest bass of the competition, Knight said. The four are members of the Aggie Anglers. To compete at the national level, they fished eight qualifying tournaments put on by their club of about 25 members. “The top four guys got to go,” Knight said. Last month, Knight paired with Shafer to compete in the ESPN Under Armour College Bass National Championship where the two placed 8th in a field of 35. They fished on the Arkansas River in Little Rock. “It’s different from what I’m used to — no tides, few currents,” Knight said, who fished that same river last year at the ESPN College Smashmouth Championship. “This year, I knew what to expect. We had a pretty good pattern. We were one keeper short of making the top five.” This past weekend, both Knight and Rackley were headed toward Lake Conroe for a club tournament, where they would begin the process of qualifying for next year’s national meet. Part of the $14,000 scholarship check the club received for the team’s first-place win will be used by the club to cover future travel expenses.

Last Updated ( Friday, 16 November 2007 )

 

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