Meet the Buckeyes

The Ohio State University headed to inaugural CF National Championship

(Editor’s note: Leading up to the inaugural National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship, which will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., April 10-12, CollegeFishing.com will post semiweekly feature stories highlighting the 25 teams that qualified. At stake in the tournament is a prize package of $100,000 and a chance to compete in the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.)

Club Web site: www.osubassfishing.com.

Q&A

CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?

Moeller: I was introduced to fishing while on a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park. I was in seventh grade and we rented a small john boat and went out and caught a bunch of trout on spoons. Ever since that moment I have been obsessed with fishing. Sometimes I think my parents regretted that trip after seeing how much money and time I devote to fishing when I could have been studying.

Hammann: I was introduced to fishing through my dad when I was 5 years old just catching small panfish from local ponds around the Cincinnati area. I learned to love the old bamboo rods as they were the first rods I ever fished with. I wasn’t introduced to bass fishing until many years later, but got my start fishing tournaments when I was 15 years old.



CollegeFishing.com: What style/method of fishing are you most comfortable with?

Moeller: I am comfortable with all styles of fishing, but if I had to pick one it would be having a flipping stick in my hand. Although I think my best method is fishing fast with crankbaits, those treble hooks still scare me. My least favorite type of fishing is when I have to have a spinning rod in my hand. I do it when I have too, but it isn’t much fun. I like the power that a baitcasting outfit provides; it allows me to be in control of the fish and not the other way around.

Hammann: I am comfortable with all types of fishing but if I had to pick one I would pick flipping. I am most comfortable using some type of flipping outfit. Whether I’m flipping a jig or soft plastic I like the heavy equipment, which allows me to be more in control while fighting a fish. I also enjoy throwing chaser baits a lot, as that is what we did in the Kentucky Lake tournament. But I try to be as versatile as possible since a lot of times the lake conditions and time of year will dictate what you throw.

CollegeFishing.com: What did it feel like to qualify for the inaugural National Championship? How do you plan to prepare for the big event?

Moeller: It was a huge weight off our shoulders. My partner and I were both graduating seniors when we fished the FLW College Fishing circuit and we knew we only had one chance at this. We have been fairly successful fishing tournaments around Columbus and knew we could compete with any other college teams. But when you only have one chance to qualify for the National Championship anything can happen. We were fortunate enough to have a huge day at Kentucky Lake regional and now we have a chance to be national champions. Not many people get to say they were national champions at what they do and we have that chance.

We are planning on making one trip to Loudoun to see the lake before the tournament, but I don’t think we are going to fish much. The fish are going to be moving too much this time of year and we don’t want to get stuck fishing last week’s pattern. We are pretty good at putting a program together quickly and I think that is our plan for this tournament as well.

Hammann: It was very exciting qualifying for the National Championship for many reasons. Not just that it was the inaugural National Championship but both my partner and myself only had this one chance since we are both now graduated. Also not many people have the ability or opportunity to call themselves national champions in any capacity and we have that chance.

In regards to preparing for the tournament, we will more than likely go down to Loudoun for a few days prior to the lake going off limits to acclimate ourselves to the body of water since we’ve never been there before. More than anything we will just be graphing and scouting certain areas which we believe will be productive for the tournament without actually doing much fishing. Then on the provided practice day we will go back and check as many of these spots as our time allows. From there, we’ll decide where to focus our tournament efforts.

CollegeFishing.com: Tell us something interesting about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.

Moeller: I’ll be serving my eighth year in the Ohio Army National Guard starting in May. I was an M1 Abrams tank driver when I started my military career and have fired the tank’s main 120mm gun along with a Stinger Missile and other various weapons of our military. My partner just finished his six-year stint with the Ohio National Guard this past October.

Hammann: While deployed to Heidelberg, Germany, in 2006 I was selected as one of four individuals to represent America in a shooting competition held in Munster, Germany, against German, French, English and Belgian military personnel. Even though we only fielded one of the 20 teams at the event, our American team had a successful day placing in the top three in six of the eight events and winning three of the eight.