Jordan Gerard/ Winonan

The Winona State University fishing club snagged themselves a spot at the Fishing League Worldwide College Fishing National Championship next spring after winning first place at a conference invitational.

Cade Laufenberg and Wyatt Stout, the bass fishing duo, traveled to Kentucky Lake the weekend of Sept. 12-14 to attend the Fishing League Worldwide College Fishing Central Conference Invitational.

The first day brought windy weather conditions, but the team placed 14th out of 45 teams and weighed in a total of 12 lbs. 4 oz., which tied them with Georgetown College.

The second day the weather improved and gave the duo more time to fish. Stout said they found a spot that “worked for them.”

“Our goal was to finish in the top ten to qualify for nationals,” Laufenberg said. “Everything went our way, and we didn’t lose any important fish.”

In order to place in the tournament, Laufenberg said they had to makeup for a three-pound defecit on the first day.

“Considering how good fishing was on the second day, we had the assumption that other people were catching them as we were,” Laufenberg said. “We knew they were going to move up and improve on our 14th place, but we didn’t think it would come close to winning the tournament.”

They weighed in a total of 15 lbs. 13 oz. of fish, which put them in first place and won the tournament.

After finding out they won the tournament, Stout said they felt “pretty jacked.”

“At the weigh in, we thought we made top ten,” Stout said. “We didn’t have a clue that we would be in the top three nonetheless win it.”

The prize was $4,000 for the fishing club and qualification for the national championship in April 2015 on Lake Murray in South Carolina.

Stout said they have not fished Lake Murray at all, but plan to pre-fish it over spring break and create a game plan.

The fishing club regularly competes in six to ten college tournaments around the Midwest and competes amongst themselves as a club to determine who will attend the larger fishing tournaments.

The fishing club was established in 2010 by Winona State alumnus Zach Cassill.

They meet every two weeks on Thursdays in Pasteur 201 for any student interested in joining.