BROWNSTOWN
Every weekend during the summer, Reed Robinson hops into his Ranger fishing boat in the early morning looking to catch the biggest fish of his life.
The 18-year-old has fished for numerous years but started competing in national tournaments about six years ago.
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Now, the incoming Brownstown Central senior’s dreams of fishing in college have come to fruition.
USA BASSIN recently awarded Robinson a $20,000 scholarship to Bethel University.
“Bethel University picked someone that competes in a lot of fishing tournaments,” Robinson said. “I competed down in Tennessee and Kentucky, and they picked me up when I was down there.”
Robinson started fishing USA BASSIN tournaments with his father, Tim, who he has fished 67 tournaments, winning nine. They also have finished in the top 10 a total of 42 times.
Bethel, in McKenzie, Tennessee, was the first school to classify the bass team as an athletics sport and to offer a fishing scholarship. In 2013, the Bethel bass fishing team won a national championship.
The Bethel University Scholarship is awarded each year to one angler who has achieved a 2.50 GPA in high school and shown a love for the sport of bass fishing.
Fishing is widely popular in the areas surrounding Bethel.
Later this month, Bethel will host the 2015 Bass Masters High School National Championship in Henry and Carroll counties in northwest Tennessee. More than 150 boats with high school anglers from at least 45 states will converge on Kentucky Lake, fishing out of Paris Landing State Park near Paris Tennessee and Carroll County’s One Thousand Acre Recreational Lake near Huntingdon, Tennessee.
Robinson said the largest bass he’s ever caught, a 5-pound largemouth bass, was at Kentucky Lake.
“I like fishing; it’s fun,” Robinson said. “My dad got me into fishing. He’s big into fishing. He taught me how to do well at it.”
In college, Robinson plans to study law to become a police officer.
“I just want to fish for college,” Robinson said. “I really don’t know what to expect when I get there. I spend a lot of time on the weekend fishing.”