Alabama rig, angler of the year, blade bait, umbrella rig, sinkers, snaps, and fish finder. These are all terms that may seem pretty common for a member of Battlin’ Bass, the Fredericksburg High School fishing team, but for the average FHS student, these terms sound foreign. Students in Battlin’ Bass find the team to be one of the best clubs FHS has to offer. Aside from a few members, most of the Battlin’ Bass team has been a part of the club for multiple years. “I’ve been involved with Battlin’ Bass since I was a freshman, so I’ve been fishing competitively for about three years,” junior Jack Gioffre said. Most of the team joined because their friends and family prompted them to join, but junior Dawson Wren found out about Battlin’ Bass all on his own. “When I had just moved here, I heard about Battlin’ Bass while flipping through the activities section in the Fredericksburg Middle School catalog,” Wren said. “I’ve been in Battlin’ Bass for three now.” The Battlin’ Bass team competes in fishing tournaments that normally take place on Saturdays and usually occur once a month. “As a team, we’ve been to four tournaments this year,” freshman Justin Goodman said. “You get to the tournament the day before, sign in, stay in a hotel for the night, and then wake up on Saturday and compete.” Unfortunately, this year, a major drought has impacted the team’s tournament schedule. “We usually stay around this area, but since all those lakes are so low, we’ve had to travel to Houston, Lake Limestone, and Lake Hubbard,” Gioffre said. “We went from an hour away to three or four hours away.”
 The team is structured into multiple teams of two, and the pairs compete against each other and against the rest of the teams in the tournament. Their team is organized by FHS counselor Summer Van. “Mrs. Van is in charge of getting us into tournaments, covering our entry fee, organizing jerseys, and stuff like that,” freshman Caine Rivera said. “She’s great.” One important aspect of Battlin’ Bass is the interesting and unique language they use to communicate with one another and define different pieces of equipment. “I like to fish fast instead of finesse, so I use what’s called a ‘chatter bait’ and an ‘Alabama’ or ‘umbrella rig,’” junior Hagen Jacoby said. “I use fast-moving baits instead of finesse stuff like Carolina rigs, so I can fish more efficiently. The difference between fast fishing and finesse is that in fast fishing, you use bait to excite the fish, whereas you use food-like baits in finesse fishing.” Battlin’ Bass team members who are more seasoned have received outstanding accomplishments that will assist them in future fishing careers. “I’ve won AOY through the school three times – twice in the individual tournament division and once in the tournament overall,” junior Rance Penick said. “AOY stands for Angler of the Year. After you compile points from every tournament throughout the year, at the end of the year, they add up all the points and whoever receives the most points gets an AOY.” Even if you’re not catching a lot of fish from the start, members of Battlin’ Bass say that joining is a rewarding experience and that it’s nice to have time out of class. “Being a part of Battlin’ Bass takes patience, hard work, and dedication,” Wren said. “It’s like anything else, the people that stick with it definitely reap the benefits.”