Missouri S&T Anglers club founder William Kleine, left, joins Grady Porter and Scott Kuhl at Maramec Spring Park near St. James, Mo. Kleine and his 30-member club are preparing to represent S&T while competing in collegiate fishing tournaments. Photo by Terry Barner
William Kleine likes mechanical engineering and bass fishing. When he graduates from Missouri S&T, the senior plans to pursue a career in an industry associated with outdoor activities. He says there are lots of opportunities out there for people who know about equipment used for fishing: rods, reels, fish locators, trolling motors, boats, outboard motors, and so on.
In the meantime, Kleine started Missouri S&T Anglers club. Other universities, especially in the Midwest and South, have similar clubs. In fact, they even compete against each other in serious bass tournaments that are sponsored by companies in the angling industry.
William Kleine with his catch from a previous trip. Photo submitted
Missouri is known for good fishing, from bass to trout, so it makes sense that S&T should have such a club. Other colleges in the state, including the University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri State, have “teams.”
Kleine lined up faculty advisors, filled out the necessary paperwork to start an official student organization, and started a Facebook group.
The club goes on fishing trips together on weekends, whether they’re after smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, or rainbow trout. They are also involved in competitive bass fishing tournaments.
Kleine, who is from St. Charles, Mo., works for Bass Pro Shops during the summers. He says he got involved in fishing at an early age during family trips to Table Rock Lake in southern Missouri and to Kentucky Lake. The largest fish he ever caught was a 55-pound grass carp. His biggest bass weighed in at approximately 8 pounds.
Story by Lance Feyh
Video by Terry Barner
I’d be extremely interested in joining the fishing team if you guys were to ever get one started. I’ll be looking to apply to colleges in about a month or 2. I’m currently looking at S&T, Southern Illinois, Illinois Institute of Technology, etc. If you were to start a collegiate bass fishing team at S&T, I think that’d be an amazing recruiting tool.