When Michael Longacre transferred to SUNY-ESF last semester, he had one goal in mind: start a bass fishing team.

Longacre, a junior aquatic and fisheries science major, has been fishing his entire life. His dad is a fisherman, so it’s something Longacre grew up with. In high school, he began competitive bass fishing. He wanted to continue with his lifelong hobby while at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and felt others would be interested in joining the team.

“The general curriculum and majors they have here are outdoor-based,” Longacre said. “Most people here participate in outdoor recreation — fishing, hunting, camping, hiking — I knew with all the people and all the interest in outdoor sports, there was definitely going to be fisherman that would want to get involved.”

On his first day on campus, Longacre approached the Office of Student Life with his idea. He was then redirected to the college’s Athletic Department, where he met with Daniel Ramin, the coordinator of athletics at the college.

Ramin said he felt the team would be a great fit for ESF and gave Longacre his support.

“Being the school we are, everything is very outdoors-oriented, including the activities which our students do,” Ramin said. “Things that are steered to the environment are a good fit, in that way. We knew that there would be a lot of interest in the team.”

The team and the college also share similar environmental goals, Ramin said.

“That’s part of being a fisherman,” Ramin said. “It’s not just catching the fish, it’s understanding the ecosystem.”

In two tournaments — one in May and the other in July — the team qualified for an invitational on Oct. 11 on the Potomac River. If it places in the Top 10 at the invitational, the team will have the opportunity to participate in the Fishing League Worldwide College Fishing National Tournament, which will be held on April 16–18 on Lake Murray outside of Columbia, South Carolina.

It’s something Ramin said the team is very proud of.

“It’s an unbelievable accomplishment for a first year program,” Ramin said. “We love that our students will be able to experience something like that and that’s another piece of great exposure for the school.”

Spencer Eich, a senior environmental science major and an officer of the club, didn’t have much experience with bass fishing. But being part of the club and getting to know Longacre has taught Eich more than he thought he would’ve learned in such a short amount of time.

For Eich, the club combines his academic and extracurricular interests.

“I feel really passionate about wildlife and nature in general and how those ecosystems work together,” Eich said. “You can put a competitive aspect into that, and study ecosystems and wildlife in their natural habitats while competing with our fellow colleagues. It’s a unique sport.”

Eich said he believes the team is popular among SUNY-ESF students because of how unique the sport is and how cohesively it melds with the practices of the college.

“We practice and preach conservation,” he said. “All the fish we catch, we release them. I feel like conservation and respecting wildlife is a pretty big thing at ESF, which is why people are really interested in the team.”

The team started off slowly — just a small group of students committed to fishing — but has grown significantly since its beginning.

At this year’s activities fair, about 60 students signed up for the club — more than double the previous semester’s membership.

“Campus reaction has been great, more than I ever expected,” Longacre said. “I thought I was going to start a team and no one was going to care about it, we’d slip under the radar, but people really think it’s cool.”

Published on September 30, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Anjali: acalwis@syr.edu