Yesterday a good buddy of mine punched his ticket to the Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville next March. He got it done the right way, not in a brand new boat with $25k of electronics, just hard work and determination and an old 1996 ranger that is falling apart.
The problem in college fishing is the parents. They buy their kids brand new $80-100k bass boats, send them to schools with bass fishing scholarships and programs, the kids have a "coach" that tells them where to fish and what to throw, it really takes the work out of it.
At UNC Charlotte we never had a coach, we had minimal help from the school, and we had to provide our own trucks and boats. We always had the oldest junk out of everyone at the tournaments but we always did well. In 2014, UNCC took home the Bassmaster National Championship Title. We were the only team from the NC/SC area to put a team in the National Championship each year. It is a hard tournament to qualify for. Now in 2022 a member is headed to fish the classic. There are currently 2 UNCC alumni fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series for a living (Jake Whitaker and Shane Lehew).
Louis and his partner won team of the year this year, meaning they had the most cumulative points of all the teams over the course of the year. This put them in the College Classic Bracket, and the winner gets a ticket to the Classic, entries to all 9 bassmaster opens paid, and a free truck and boat for a year.
I'm super proud of Louis for his hard work and determination, and I can't wait to see him fishing the Bassmaster Classic. I'll attach a picture of his boat below and links to the articles.
![[Linked Image]](https://trapperman.com/forum/attachments/usergals/2022/10/full-30562-152617-capture.png)
https://www.bassmaster.com/college/news/monetti-tackles-competition-takes-home-bracket-title/https://www.bassmaster.com/college/news/torn-boat-seats-and-college-series-team-of-the-year-titles/
![[Linked Image]](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/w579/coondagger2/AADA9D0A-89A2-49D0-990E-D1A847B2F87C.jpeg)
