On Saturday, Sept. 30, USC Union Anglers Isaac Greene and Bryson Holderness won the Clemson Bass Fishing Trail “Lake Keowee” event. It was their first collegiate win and only the third tournament of the year. “We capitalized on our opportunity,” said Holderness. “It was truly a special day for us.”
Holderness, a freshman from Gilbert, SC, says that the bass fishing team at Union was a perfect fit for him. After graduating from Gilbert High School, where he competed on their bass fishing team, he found that USC Union was an affordable option that allowed him to take online classes and work during the week while doing what he loves on the weekends. “What I enjoy most about the sport of fishing is being in the great outdoors,” he said. Though he says it can be challenging to persevere through the up and down results of the sport, this win had made him more confident in himself and Greene as a team. “I am excited to see how we compete against some of the best college anglers in South Carolina and across the US in the spring.”
“Our sport is never the same two days in a row,” said Greene. “Constant change makes it so anglers are always having to evolve and change as well.” On the weekend of the competition, he and Holderness were able to find some good fish on the practice day, but were not able to locate them on the day of the tournament. “We talked and made a simple move and like magic we had our five fish limit in the boat. [Soon] we were culling out (replacing smaller fish with the bigger) and we kept upgrading all day long and ended up being able to pull off the win with 15.9 pounds and a 4.7-pound big fish.” Greene is a freshman from Landrum and had competed on the Landrum High School team since he was in 6th grade. “Coach Coone reached out and I was drawn to the team chemistry and the small campus,” he said. He is looking forward to competing out of state in the spring season.
“I’m pretty happy with the overall success that we’ve had so far this season,” said Coach Cameron Coone. “I’m proud of Isaac and Bryson for getting the win on Lake Keowee, because it is not an easy place to catch a giant bag of largemouth.” He says that the team is getting to the point in the season where they tend to have a lot of success. “Fish patterns change with the weather and our anglers historically do well during the late fall to winter transition,” he said. Coone says that recruiting for the bass fishing team has been going “exceptionally well” as he has had multiple potential students visit from outside the university’s normal recruiting areas. “I am excited with the growth and momentum that we currently have going forward.”
Featured image: Greene and Holderness at Lake Keowee
The Bantam Blog 