When N.C. State students look around at clubs and organizations during the first couple weeks at school, they look for those that will represent them best, and majority of them choose more academic-based clubs. Some of us Wolfpack students wouldn’t think to look for those other, more unique clubs.

Last weekend the BassPack fishing club traveled to Kentucky to compete in the 2011 FLW College National Championship title. The team of Dziwulski-Beverly secured a Top Five spot, finishing off at 4th place.

“We went into the tournament with a game plan,” Kevin Beverly said, club president and senior in criminology. “A lot of teams went in scrounging around, but Ben and I fished the same areas all three days. Going in, our goal was to make top five. Once we made top five, we wanted to win.”

The fishing club is one of N.C. State’s most successful club sports. The Wolfpack Anglers, better known as the BassPack club, was founded in 2005 and started with just a handful of members.

“BassPack started before my time, the fishing team is the reason I came to State,” Ben Dziwulski, a junior in agricultural business management, said. “I got a call from the club advisor when I was a junior in high school. The organization and size of the club was what got me interested in North Carolina and surrounding areas.”

Three years later, along with being a veteran of the team and an officer of the club, Dziwulski is proud to be representing N.C. State on the national circuit with his teammate Kevin Beverly. Beverly, current club president, has been fishing for N.C. State since fall of his freshman year.

“It started out small when I first joined the team,” Beverly said. “We have always been the biggest team in the nation. We have grown tremendously since we started. We even have to turn down sponsors sometimes when it gets to be too much.”

This weekend the pair competed along with two other club members, giving N.C. State two teams represented. Out of the 25 teams present from across the nation, only three schools had multiple teams. Those competing for the title included popular schools such as LSU, Auburn, Wisconsin, and the defending champions from the University of Florida.

“The season starts with 500 teams,” Dziwulski said. “25 teams qualify through four regional tournaments for a spot at the national championships. From there, the top five teams of the tournament fish the last day for a chance at the national title, and we secured that fifth spot.”

Dziwulski and Beverly have been representing State together as a team ever since they joined the club. In conglomeration with the other members of the BassPack, they put together one of the most successful fishing schools in the country, which can be supported with its multiple awards.

“I would say we are definitely gaining ground every year,” Beverly said. “We won two national championships [2006, 2009] and two regional championships [2009,2010]. We have also been ranked No. 1 in the nation by the FLW College Tour.”

Today, the BassPack club membership is hovering at more than 50 active members. However, having all of these members does not discourage participation; throughout the season all members compete for the opportunity to represent N.C. State at the regional and national level. Representing the Wolfpack doesn’t just mean being the best fisher. It branches to areas such as meeting attendance, local tournament participation and community service. These requirements, which have allowed the team to be successful, have not gone unnoticed by fellow schools.

“Colleges around the country have gotten in contact with us when they wanted to start a club like ours,” Beverly said. “Some of the schools we have helped start up include Duke, UNC, UNCW and ECU.”

Although the 2011 FLW College Championships have just ended, it marks the beginning of a new season for the BassPack Fishers. As the team finishes its current year, what lies ahead is a few months of practice and tournaments in order to secure a national spot on the upcoming tour season.

“We spent a lot of time over spring break to try and go out keep skills fresh and get ready for the tournament,”  Dziwulski said. “We tracked certain areas where fish were moving a lot and get ready for the Tournament. Just as we did for the national title, we have to continue for the next season.”