Aggie Team Wins National College Fishing Championship

Two Texas A&M University anglers – Josh Bensema, a junior wildlife and fisheries major from Willis, Texas, and Matthew McArdle, a May wildlife and fisheries graduate from Crosby, Texas – claimed the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.

“I still feel like I’m dreaming,” Bensema said about taking home the biggest prize in college fishing over the weekend. “I’m sure it will hit me soon, but I’m trying to keep it in the back of my mind for right now because I need to keep my focus aimed at the bracket.

“When we caught a keeper right away we were very confident,” Bensema said. “To go almost the rest of the day with no fish was tough, but catching that smallmouth with five minutes to go was important. Matt looked at me and said ‘I think you just caught the winning fish.’ It turns out I did.”

Over the course of the national championship, Bensema and McArdle caught eight fish totaling 18 pounds, four ounces during the three-day event.

The two Aggies got off to a rocky start when the insurance card for Bensema’s brand new boat didn’t have the numerical amount of insurance required by the B.A.S.S. tournament officials. After trying to call their insurance agent on Saturday morning at 6 a.m. with no luck, they purchased a new policy with another insurance company in order to get on the water and start competing.

“We got a little rattled this morning and I made about 100 phone calls,” McArdle said. “We just decided to keep our heads up and just go fishing because you fish much better when you don’t stress yourself out.”

The tough nature of this fishery and the pressure that Lake DuBay received culminated with only two teams boating keeper fish on Saturday. The University of Minnesota, like Texas A&M, boated two keepers but fell short of the title by one pound.